Draft beer dispensing towers are designed for use with either an air-cooled or glycol-cooled dispensing system. These systems vary greatly in how the draft beer temperature is maintained directly to the beer glass.

Keep in mind that temperature is by far the most important factor in dispensing draft beer from a keg. Temperatures of most types of beers must be maintained between 36-38° F all the way to the glass. Even a few inches of beer hose that is not kept at 36-38° F will result in foam and may promote sour/cloudy beer.

In air-cooled dispensing systems, the draft beer temperature is maintained between 36-38° F by having an open space (minimum 2-1/2" diameter) within the tower, allowing cold air from the refrigerated storage area to be circulated inside the tower surrounding the beer hoses.

With glycol-cooled dispensing systems, draft beer temperature is maintained by circulating with a pump a chilled water/glycol solution through tubing directly next to the beer lines. This maintains beer temperature inside the tower completely all the way to the faucet, thus beer glass.

Some tower designs are not available for an air-cooled system due to a lack of open space within the draft tower's body. These towers do not allow cold air circulation which is necessary to maintain beer temperature. Therefore, draft beer towers set up for glycol cooling should only be used in glycol-cooled draft beer dispensing systems.

Check out the portfolio of glycol-cooled draft beer dispensing towers.