Using a polypin

[Dennis King]

I tend to change mine after a couple of years, never had one go in that time.

Been drinking my beers from a polypin for over 30 years so heres my guide to how I do it. Polypins are not suitable for all beers. If you are after a keg style beer or lager they are not for you. If you want a pub style real ale then polypins may be the answer. This is the type I use.

Available from here
Never used the bag in a box style ones, I believe the are not as strong.

Gravity

Serving by gravity is the most straightforward. I fill the pin direct from the fermenter. You can expel the air by squeezing the pin, this lessens the chances of oxidising the beer during transfer. One tube will connect most FV taps to the polypin. I like to give the beer at least 3 weeks conditioning although I have drank after 10 days and still got a decent pint. Generally I would prime about a week before drinking, the short time the tap was open has never had any noticeable effect on the beer. Prime with 60-80 gms of sugar, rock the pin a bit to disperse and move somewhere warm. Once the pin starts to expand move to a cooler serving place and leave at least 2-3 days to settle. In this time the pin should expand fully. Sometimes it can look like it is about to pop. I have had them as hard as a football before without a problem. If you are worried you can roll it back carefully and release some gas. I have done this myself and managed not to disturb the sediment. I use a 20 lt pin, although normally get 23 lts in, and found it to keep fresh and in perfect condition for at least 2-3 weeks. Even known it to continue to produce gas right to the end and remain inflated like this.



This was after 2 weeks and the last pint still had a lot of life.



If you are using this method then you will need to experiment to find what works for you.

Hand pump

Been serving my beer via hand pump for the last 4 years now and have to say it is worth the extra expense if you want a beer as served by hand pump in a pub.


When using a hand pump I have stopped adding priming sugar as I found the action of the hand pump gives my beer sufficient life and doesn't need any extra priming.
With an Angram pump you can connect direct from pin to pump, I just use a jubilee clip to secure.


I use a food grade silicone tube and rinse the whole system with beer line cleaner between pins and clean the pins with oxy cleaner.
If treated right they can last years although I tend to replace after a few years.
I don't use the cardboard box and never had any problem with skunking but there is no direct sun light in my garage.

is your food grade tubing 1/2 inch Dennis?

Yes Mark, 1/2" Silicone tubing. Just needs a jubilee clip to hold it in place.

Cheers

I use the 3/8" internal diameter tubing that came with my hand pump. I stick the end in some boiling water for a few seconds and then I can force it over the polypin tap. No jubilee clip needed. Note that it isn't 3/8" beer line as that is 3/8" OD.

I'll get a couple of metres off ebay. We have the 3/4 tube

Great 'how to', thanks for posting.

Going to try using a polypin for the first time, see how it compares with bottling.

One question, If you leave priming for around 5 days before supping and up until this time it has been in a cold room, would you then leave the beer in a warmish spot for a couple of days after priming or just leave it in the cold?,

Thanks.

Exe Brewer

I great way of dispensing, I like bottling and cornies as well, all have there advantages.
S

[Dennis King]

One question, If you leave priming for around 5 days before supping and up until this time it has been in a cold room, would you then leave the beer in a warmish spot for a couple of days after priming or just leave it in the cold?,

After priming it needs to be somewhere warmish for the priming sugars to work.

Thanks, thought it would be, but wanted to double check, can't afford to lose a valuable batch.

Seriously looking into serving some of my ales via Beer Engine from a couple of 5 litre Polypins and I have a few questions.

1. Murphys seem to have stopped selling direct to the public - does anyone know of an online shop that sells the same pins as Murphys in the 5 litre size?
2. I assume I need some sort of inline check valve between the Beer Engine and Polypin to stop pressurised beer from the pin being pushed through the line and out of the engine. Would this be suitable?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/John-Guest-Si ... 3397f8fb49

3. Above fitting only comes in 3/8" size, not 1/2" as Dennis shows in use earlier in this thread. Would I have any trouble getting 3/8" tubing over the tap on the Polypin and the inlet on the Beer Engine (engine I am looking at is an Angram)? Also, should John Guest fittings such as above work OK with Silicon tubes?
4. When in use with a Beer Engine do the taps on a Polypin have to be at the front facing down or can they be oriented so the tap is at the top?
5. What sort of shelf life can I expect from a Polypin between filling and first pour? They must be airtight to hold pressure so I can't imagine shelf life of an untapped pin is a major concern?

The tap on the polypin and inlet on a beer engine are usually both 1/2" fitting.

You can use a 3/8" inline fitting but you will need to reduce it from 1/2" using connectors, Dennis no longer primes his beer and does not use a check valve at all.

I think he said it starts going past its best at 2 weeks from the first pour, the tap will have to be lowered to be used.

As for untapped shelf life I've only ever gone to about 3 weeks myself.

Cheers Kyle, I'll definitely be priming my pins so something like:

1/2" Silicon on Polypin tap with jubilee clip
1/2" to 3/8" reducer
3/8" Silicon to 3/8" check valve
3/8" Silicon to Beer Engine

?

I use two of these:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... ID=EBAY-GB

Little more expensive but work a treat. Then all you need is some 1/2" silicone tubing from the check valve to beer engine, 1/2" hose barb to stem and a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer.

For yours it will require:

1/2" hose barb to stem, 1/2" to 3/8" reducer, 3/8" beer line to 3/8" inline check valve, 3/8" beer line to 3/8 to 1/2" reducer and another 1/2" hose barb to stem to connect to the beer engine.

Presumably the 1/2" hose barb to stem goes on the Beer Engine itself?

Sounds like your check valve solution may work out cheaper by the time I had bought an inline check valve, two reducers and two different types of line.

The hose barb and stem is to reduce the silicone tube from the polypin to connect it to the check valve as the check valve inlet fitting is 3/8".

1. The Home Brew Shop sell them, although not in 5L.
2. I used to dispense from a polypin to a hand pump without a check valve and didn't have a problem. The pin was on the floor and the pump at table level so there would have to be a reasonable amount of pressure to drive it out of the pump. I did prime the pins.
3. As I said earlier in the thread, I used 3/8" internal diameter tubing between the polypin tap and my beer engine. Mine is an England Worthside so it's possible the Angram needs a different size tube. But the 3/8" ID definitely fits the polypin tap. You won't be able to use John Guest fittings with the silicone tube as that is 3/8" internal diameter whereas the JG fittings are for beer line which is 3/8" outside diameter. The tubing is not as rigid either so that would also cause a problem without an insert.
4. You should be able to have the tap facing up.
5. Unfortunately the shelf life of the beer in a polypin is a bit short. They do allow oxygen in and so the beer does go off. I would aim to drink the beer within 4 weeks but you might manage 6 weeks. I have abandoned polypins now and use Sankey kegs with a CO2 bottle. I use a beer engine (with check valve) and just set the pressure low. The beer lasts indefinitely, even once I've started drinking.

If I hadn't got the kegs and CO2 I would have continued using the polypins but I would have bottled most of my beer and only filled one pin per 23L brew and made sure I drank that within 4 weeks.

What sort of tubing is generally used as Beer Line?

http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=539

Are the polypin taps the same size as pressure barrels ones?

Depends, the newer ones are narrower on polypins.

I have 4x5lt polypins. How do you clean before first use. I have starsan.

I do not have a beer engine so could I wait for a week until fermentation is almost over and then fill the 4 pins.

Start drinking after 3 weeks using the first pin and then go onto the next pin etc . What is the pin management Plan?

What is the cleaning regime after use before reusing the pins?

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[Dennis King]

I sanitize with starsan before use then clean with oxy after use.

Thanks Dennis King of Polypin

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