Homark Beer Engine - Parts/Advice

[Ralph]

I have a friend who happened to have a Homark Beer Engine sitting around. I now have it on loan. Looks like it needs a good clean/service so I will be taking it apart soon. 

 

I think I will also have to build something to mount it on, as I dont really have space to have it permanently mounted at the moment.

 

I intend to put down a nice bitter to try it out with...

 

Anyone know where I might be able to get a sparkler and nozzle to go on this beast? Need a drip tray too.

[666 Brewing]

Try Alistair at [e-mail] or Steve at [e-mail]

 

Both can be a bit slow though.

[Pilgrim]

I have a Homark beer engine almost identical to the one pictured. i got a complete kit of parts to refurbish the pump whilst I was working in England on Y2K. I got the kit from http://www.hallamshire.co.uk/CompanyProfileNew.htm they stock spares for Homarks.

[Ralph]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I took it apart and cleaned it out yesterday. Seems to be in reasonable working order. Bought some new hoses as well. 

 

Having not had a beer engine before and having seen many behind bars with a big swan neck and sparkler I assumed I would need something of the like to make this one work. Having a bit more of a look around though it would appear that there is a whole debate about sparklers or not, and many beer engines dont have a long swan neck. Does that mean that this one should be good to go just using the short bit of nozzle it has there??

[Greig McGill]

The debate on sparklers is a old one, and honestly has far more to do with tradition, and regional allegiance, than rational sensory evaluation.

 

In short, those from the North of England prefer a sparkler and those from the South don't. The practical results of pushing your beer through a sparkler include:

 

* "Better" (subjective) looking head - dense and creamy

* Hop bitterness compounds generally forced from the beer into the head, leaving a mellower flavour

* Excess carbonation removed from the body of the beer, leading to a "flatter" pint (some irony here as fans of a sparkler often say it "stops the beer from being flat", when what they mean is it makes it look like it has more carbonation due to the head produced.)

 

I go both ways (ahem) on this issue. I think sparklers suit some beers and not others. I often like to try mine via both methods of dispense and decide for myself. This approach has worked well for me, so I recommend it to any non-partisan handpump lover. ;)

 

One important thing to think about is that forcing your beer through a sparkler WILL change the flavour far more than gently pulling it through the un-sparklered beer engine. Whether that's a good or a bad thing can only be decided by the person imbibing the beer.