There are three types of commercial draft systems. They are differentiated by the difference in distance from the dispensing tap to the keg. “Direct Draw” is the shortest of these systems drawing beer from the refrigerated keg box located directly underneath the tap counter. “Short Draw” means that the refrigerated kegs are within 25 feet of the tap tower. This system uses an air cooled refrigeration method. “Long Draw” systems are glycol cooled, with kegs located up to 450 feet from the tap towers. These glycol cooled systems keep the beer lines cold by surrounding them with cold propylene glycol lines. This insulates and keeps the beer cold from keg to tap. A proper glycol draft system should keep beer lines cold, carbonated, consistent, be easily cleaned, and have only stainless contact points. These are known as the 5C’s in the industry.
