Cold Brew On Tap… All You Need To Know
Most people know about cold brew coffee, but what about cold brew on tap? That's right, you can now get your favorite iced coffee drink on draft. All you need is a kegerator and some other dispensing equipment, and you're good to go. In this post I'm going to talk about cold brew on tap.
How to set it up a draft dispensing system, the equipment needed, maintenance program and where to get your own cold brew on tap equipment. Let's Go
What is Cold Brew on Tap?
Cold brew on tap is a way to serve cold brew coffee on a draft dispensing system.
Serving cold brew involves hooking up a keg to nitrogen and dispensing it through either a regular stainless steel faucet or a nitro faucet. There are two different ways to serve cold brew on tap. One is through a regular faucet to get cold brew and two is through a nitro faucet. Giving the cold brew a creamy nitrogenated taste.
Equipment Needed For a Coffee Draft System
First let's start out with a kegerator. You're going to need a place to store your keg. Usually these are standard kegerator's that are all built for draft coffee systems. You can also use a standard kegerator if you have one. The coffee styles come in stainless steel, or black and vinyl look. Either way you're going to need a place to keep the keg cold at 38°. Next comes the keg. It can either be a Cornelius keg or it can be a stainless steel 304 keg that Micro Matic provides.
I would prefer the 304 stainless by Micro Matic because it's a better unit and you can use regular D-sankey to dispense the coffee. Next you will need a (NIM) or a nitrogen gas infusion module. Which will turn cold brew into that creamy nitro coffee. After that, you'll need some sort of tower with the nitro faucets or regular stainless steel faucets to dispense your cold brew. Finally, you will also need a nitro primary regulator. I'd recommend the high-pressure one over the low pressure ones. The low pressure ones are 0 to 60 psi. The Higher Pressure ones go up 120psi.
Setting Up Your Cold Brew On Tap Draft System
First, set up your primary nitrogen regulator by screwing it into the nitrogen cylinder. Close the nitrogen regulator with the red valve. Open the nitrogen cylinder set the pressure appropriate to 30 psi for nitro cold brew tap or 4-8 psi for regular cold brew. Next you want to connect the kegs' coupler to the kegs. If you're using a Cornelius keg. You are going to use a gas coupler which is a gray and connect that. Followed by your product coupler which is black. The connections will are connected via a ball lock or pin lock coupler. If you're using a regular 304 stainless Sanke with a d coupler. You'll attach the coupler to the keg. Tap it and now you're ready to pour cold brew draft coffee. If you're dispensing nitrogenated cold brew coffee you're going to need a NIM. To adjust the NIM. As you're pouring cold brew turn the NIM clockwise until the desired nitro mix can be seen in your cold brew coffee.
Cold Brew Maintenance Program
The key to a successful cold brew on tap system is proper maintenance. Make sure to clean all of your equipment regularly and replace any worn parts as necessary. Additionally, keep an eye on the pressure in your nitrogen gas cylinders, and refill them as needed. Also, keeping your coffee lines clean is very important and it's recommended they get cleaned every 2 weeks like draft beer lines do. Keeping on top of your maintenance program will insure your draft system not only lasts a long time. But you'll be serving great tasting coffee to your customers.
Summary
We hope you’ve found this article helpful in your efforts to set up a cold brew on tap system. The key to a successful system is proper maintenance. The right equipment and how to use the equipment properly.
Additionally. Keeping your coffee lines clean is very important. Thanks for reading! For more information on draft beer dispensing, draft beer or system set up. Feel free to take a look at our blog or contact us here. We look forward to talking with you next time.
Cheers!
