From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:
Do you want to drink the clearest beer possible from your keg as quickly as possible? The Top Draw® Beer Pick Up Tube fits any ball or pin lock keg, and replaces the rigid stainless dip tube with a stainless float pick up on a 23″ food grade silicone hose. This flexible hose holds a 1″ stainless beer pickup tube which is held 1″ below the surface of the beer by the float. As the level of the beer in the keg drops, the pick up tube remains 1″ below the surface, always drawing the clearest beer all the way until empty. The stainless float ball itself is 1.75″ in diameter.
Installs in a couple minutes – just unscrew the beer post on your ball lock keg, insert the provided short pick up tube, and attach the silicone tubing to the underside of the tube. Now dangle the hole assembly in the keg and you are done. For shorter kegs, cut the silicone tube to length.
If you carbonate by C02 injection, you can also convert your keg to one that carbonates quicker, and clears faster. To do this (Cornelius threaded post kegs only), unscrew both posts and remove both dip tubes. Then on the IN side of the keg, install the long beer pickup tube and screw on the GAS side fitting (the one with a notch on the base nut). Then on the OUT side of the keg, install the Top Draw® Dip Tube, and screw on the BEER side fitting (the one without a notch in the base nut). Now when you attach the C02 to carbonate, it will bubble up from the bottom of the keg, carbonating quicker. When you dispense, the floating dip tube will make sure you get only the clearest beer from near the surface.
The only downside to this switch is your gas line is connected to a beer dip tube, and if the pressure in your gas line drops to less than the pressure in the keg, your gas line will fill with beer. This can be prevented with a ball or pin lock check valve like our items P77 and P78, or with an in line check valve like our item D37.
Includes 22″ of tubing, 304 grade stainless float with attached pickup tube, and short replacement stainless beer dip tube with seating O ring.
When we carbonate a keg, pressure is being applied to the keg from the top, via the head space. Beer at the top carbonates first. That carbonation works it’s way down the keg. I’m sure there’s also some movement in the keg that helps to mix things up and distribute carbonation. But just sitting there, I think that mixing is a slow process. However it all works, practically speaking, the beer at the top carbonates more quickly compared to the beer at the bottom. This allows you to serve from the top accessing the more carbonated portion of the keg. It’s also a benefit for clarity because trub settles out heading downward. You can see this stratification in a glass carboy. As the beer starts to clear, the top clears first. I don’t think if this is exactly accurate, but I picture carbonation happening with the same sort of stratification until the beer reaches equilibrium and is equally carbonated throughout.
