Both the cold plate cooler and coil cooler are used in a party and/or special event environment to quickly chill warm beer to the ideal dispense temperature of 36-38° F.

In a cold plate cooler, the beer is routed through stainless-steel tubing encased in an aluminum cold plate covered with ice. The ice in contact with the plate causes the plate to become cold; thus, the beer is routed through the plate to become cold. It is important to continuously drain the cooler's melted ice water and periodically push the ice down on the cold plate surface. It will occasionally bridge away and lose contact with the plate. The typical 10" x 15" cold plate has 18’ of 5/16” outside diameter Type 304 stainless-steel tubing that beer goes through.

Cold plate coolers are only recommended for medium volume events and when the keg can be placed in a container with ice. There is a minimal amount of beer in cold plate’s 18’ of tubing. Thus, it limits how many glasses of beer can be continuously dispensed from the faucet.

In a coil cooler, the beer routes through Type 304 stainless steel coils varying in length from 50’ to 120’ depending on the model. The coil is submerged in an ice-water bath, which causes the beer to run through the coil to become cold. The longer the coil, the more glasses that can be dispensed continuously.

The advantage of a coil over a cold plate cooler is the volume of beer in contact with cooling. Even the 50’ coil has significantly more beer than a cold plate. Therefore, coil coolers are recommended over cold plate coolers when the event requires numerous glasses to be dispensed in a short amount of time.

With a 120’ coil cooler, beer can be continuously dispensed from the faucet at 36-38° F as long as keg beer temperature does not exceed 55° F. All shorter coils require the keg to be placed in a container with ice.

Since events are normally short and at times high volume, CO2 at high pressure is preferred for cold plates and coil coolers. Approximately 25 PSIG (pounds per square inch gauge) pressure is applied for cold plates and 30-35 PSIG for coils. Shorter coils will require less pressure.  

Foam may result when dispensing from kegs that are not iced or when beer temperature at keg exceeds 55° F. Increasing pressure higher than the above recommendations can improve performance. Although if too high, the beer’s flow speed will be very fast, making dispensing into glass difficult.

NOTE: Cold plate coolers are not recommended for dispensing beer from kegs that are not iced or when beer temperature at keg exceeds 55° F. Refrain from placing party coolers in direct sunlight.

Cold Plate Cooler

Coil box Cooler

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For over 60 years, Micro Matic has been recognized as one of the world’s leading suppliers of draft beer equipment. Specializing in keg-to-glass technology, we offer a total solution for meeting your draft beer equipment needs. Our dedication to customer service is supported by four regional sales and distribution centers, the Micro Matic Dispense Institute for training and education, and a Certified Installer Network for draft beer installations. Want to speak with a “perfect pour” expert? Contact Micro Matic today.