Beer Chilling Systems: Which Type Is Right for My Restaurant?
March 24, 2018A refrigeration unit is integral to the functioning of any restaurant.
Beers are best served cold – there’s no questioning that! But which beer chilling system is the best? From reach-in coolers to glycol chillers, a beer chilling system is an important piece of restaurant equipment that completes your commercial kitchen, ensuring a positive experience for your customers. Thus, it must be selected carefully.
The right restaurant equipment is a must if you are to set up your commercial kitchen successfully. Before buying a refrigeration unit, consider your available space. Consideration also has to be given to your restaurant concept and style. We’ll dive into two major beer chilling restaurant equipment options to help you decide.
Reach-in Freezers and Coolers
A reach-in cooler can be carefully placed in the bar area of your restaurant. This restaurant equipment is usually low to the ground, and can be set to just the right temperature for your beer. Staff will have to reach into the freezer or coolers to retrieve the beer. Such restaurant equipment is best designed for storing bottled beers. Still, there are a few factors that must be considered before making the purchase for your commercial kitchen.
Size and Position: One of your most important considerations when buying a reach-in freezer or cooler is its size. The refrigerator will likely be positioned in the bar area of your restaurant. However, you want to ensure that this restaurant equipment is easily accessible and that the size is just right for its location.
Style: There are different styles and types of reach-in coolers. While some consist of a refrigeration unit and a freezer unit, you will likely need this restaurant equipment to be all refrigeration and no freezer. The door style – transparent or opaque – should also be considered.
Glycol Chillers
This restaurant equipment keeps the beer cold from the store room to the tap, allowing your customers to enjoy fresh, cold beer without opening a bottle.
Glycol chillers are essentially refrigerators that function in a draft system. This will require a cooler, kegs, pressure gas, tubing, and a faucet for direct serving. This restaurant equipment allows you enjoy reliable control over the temperature of the beer running out the faucet. A walk-in cooler houses all beer kegs.
With the right amount of gas pressure (usually a bottled combination of carbon dioxide and nitrogen), the gas is forced out of the keg through the tube and out through the faucet. Although this process might seem straightforward, there are certain considerations to be made when employing this restaurant equipment.
Pressure: The location of your walk-in freezer and tubing will impose some resistance against the free flow of beer. You must ensure that the right amount of gas pressure is applied to see the beer through to the faucet.
Carbonation and Temperature: How carbonated is the beer in the keg? The kind of beer you are selling and the temperature of your keg will have a major impact on the kind of gas combination needed to push it through. You want to be careful not to overly carbonate the beer; it could get too foamy or go super flat.
Your choice of restaurant equipment must be made with due consideration to the style and ambience of your restaurant and bar. Ultimately, you want to ensure that your chilling system leaves your customers feeling refreshed and satisfied. With the right amount of care and consideration, your restaurant equipment can sate their thirst for the perfect, cold beer.
Don’t Buy a Commercial Refrigerator Before Considering These 4 Things
A commercial refrigerator is an equipment staple of every restaurant. There are several things to consider when acquiring a commercial refrigerator for your kitchen. When searching for the correct type of unit, here are four things to consider to help you choose the...
5 Ways to Get the Most out of Your Dishwasher
Dishwashers are an incredibly helpful timesaver, and in the fast-paced restaurant industry, staff and managers are desperate for even a small amount of extra time. Although simply putting dishes into a machine seems simple, if your dishwasher is not well-maintained...
How to Keep Having Fun while Running your Restaurant
Restaurant owners typically have a passion for cuisine. Opening and running a restaurant is exciting, providing the opportunity to fully explore and develop your vision. However, if you have been in the restaurant business for any length of time, you know that it is...
3 Great Reasons to Maintain Your Restaurant Equipment
As the owner of a restaurant, you want a healthy and clean business. In the hustle of everyday restaurant management, it can be easy to forget to take care of issues that don’t seem as pressing as the customer complaining that they got the wrong order or that their...
Avoid Surprises During an Appraisal of Your Restaurant Equipment
When it comes to time for your restaurant equipment to be appraised, confusion can set in. For the purpose of the appraisal, personal goods are given value, but goods that are classified as ‘real goods’ are considered part of the real estate or the building structure...
Essentials of Cleaning and Preventative Maintenance for Your Restaurant Equipment
When it comes to your restaurant equipment, regular cleaning and maintenance is essential for making sure your equipment lasts for years to come. And it isn’t simply a matter of making your food processors and commercial mixers more efficient. There are considerable...
3 Tips for Maintaining Your Commercial Oven
As a restaurant owner, buying a commercial oven is an enormous investment. You will desperately want this oven to work properly and you need to make sure it does. You are responsible for your restaurant business. But what if your commercial oven stops working on the...
5 Steps to Cutting Food Waste from Your Kitchen
Food waste is a problem around the world. Taking steps to prevent food waste in your kitchen doesn’t just make your restaurant more morally strong; it can also help you save money on ingredients and attract more customers. Here are some steps you can take to reduce...
Planning Your Equipment Needs When Your Restaurant is Expanding
Your restaurant is doing great, guests are coming in, and they’re spreading the word about the culinary masterpieces your restaurant offers, as well as the exceptional service that is provided by the kitchen equipment and staff. But with all the new business, you’ve...
How to Keep Cool in the Restaurant Kitchen
Being in the kitchen, it’s hard not to feel overheated, especially during the summer. The heat of the stoves and ovens will quickly make the restaurant kitchen somewhere you don’t want to be. How do you keep cool in the kitchen? We have brought together some of the...
How and Why to Make Your Restaurant Lead-Free
If you own a restaurant, then you already know how important water is to your operations, and that poor water quality can adversely impact the success of your business. That is why you should ensure a restaurant lead-free environment. Water is an integral part of all...
Can You Handle These 5 Types of Difficult Restaurant Customers?
No matter how much you love it, running a restaurant certainly has its challenges. It is time-consuming, hectic, labor-intensive and competitive. And to cap it all, there are the difficult restaurant customers you often have to deal with. It’s impossible to please...
5 Unique Restaurant Concepts Guaranteed to Thrill Diners
With restaurants on almost every block, having a unique restaurant concept can help set you apart, making your establishment stand out. These concepts may have taken a bit to catch on, but they have quickly become popular sellers. Here are 5 unique restaurant concepts...
How to Run an Energy-Efficient Restaurant
You probably don’t need to be reminded of the high cost of electricity in running a restaurant compared to an energy-efficient restaurant. Right now, many establishments, including restaurants, are going green and adopting eco-friendly strategies to conserve...
Tipping: A Restaurant Controversy
When it comes to tipping or no-tipping policies in restaurants, there are strong feelings on both sides. While many restaurants have implemented no tipping policies, others are strong proponents for tipping. Still others aren’t sure which policy is right for their...