Beer, wine, cider and other cold beverages should all be served at the appropriate temperature, allowing you to fully appreciate their taste each time. Read on to find out what to keep in mind when choosing the right beverage refrigeration equipment.
Beer, wine, cider and other cold beverages should all be served at the appropriate temperature, allowing you to fully appreciate their taste each time. Read on to find out what to keep in mind when choosing the right beverage refrigeration equipment.
Sooner or later, every catering business owner will have to choose the most suitable refrigeration equipment for their needs. Standard home refrigerators – sufficient for private use – will usually not meet the needs of catering establishments. Professional refrigerators, designed with cooling beverages in mind, offer the possibility to properly store your drinks, and in the case of beverage coolers intended for bars and restaurants – attractively display what you have on offer.
Why is the temperature important?
Low temperatures have a positive effect on the quality of stored drinks. They prevent the oxidation of ingredients, allowing beer or wine to taste good for longer. Additionally, various types of drinks are served to customers chilled to a specific temperature:
- Fizzy drinks or lemonade: depending on the season, they are usually chilled to around 2-4 degrees Celsius
- Water: still – 8 degrees, sparkling – 5 degrees
- Lager: 2-4 degrees. Light American lagers can even be cooled down to 1 degrees
- Wheat beer: 4-7 degrees
- Pale Ale, IPA: 7-13 degrees. Slightly higher temperatures will make citrus aromas more distinct
- Stout, porter: approx. 10 degrees. In the case of very strong Baltic porters, it is acceptable to serve them at a temperature of up to 20 degrees
- Cider: 10-12 degrees
- Champagne, sparkling wine: 6-10 degrees.
- White wine, depending on the type: 8-15 degrees
- Rose wine: 10-12 degrees
- Red wine: 14-18 degrees
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Fridge with Two Stainless Steel Doors – 1168 L 2,499.00 €
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Glass Door Fridge – 391 L
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Fridge – 540 L – Stainless Steel 1,399.00 €
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Glass Door Fridge – 984 L 2,149.00 €
A universal refrigerator or designated wine fridge?
When choosing a professional refrigerator for cooling drinks, you should first of all consider the needs of your type of venue. If the drinks (e.g. expensive wine) are to be presented in front of the guest, you should definitely go for a model with a glass door and effective lighting. Keep in mind that in such refrigerators wine or beer should be stored for a relatively short time (up to a year). For long-term storage of alcoholic beverages, the refrigerator should not have access to light. Refrigerators with steel doors are perfect for this, and are usually used in storage rooms.
When choosing a drinks fridge, you should also decide whether you want it to be a stand-alone or built-in appliance. Undercounter fridges can be discreetly integrated into the interior of a given room, which is ideal in elegant restaurants. Stand-alone appliances, in turn, are usually cheaper and can be moved around freely. This is important in some smaller venues, where the equipment is rearranged more often.
Other key features to note are:
- Size: small refrigerators with a capacity of 16 litres provide space for 6 bottles of wine, while 23 litres – 8 bottles. Medium-sized ones with a capacity of 33 litres will hold 12 bottles, and large (60-122 litres) and very large (over 150 litres) bottle coolers will have room for several dozen bottles. When choosing the right one for your needs, consider primarily your expected turnover and number of customers. A separate category of fridges are mini refrigerators (with a capacity of 4-10 litres). Such compact devices are perfect, for example, in hotel rooms or private bedrooms. They often have a 12/24 V socket, so they can be used as a mobile device in campers or lorries.
- Type of shelves: traditional fridges with shelves for storing bottles vertically are sufficient for beer and soft drinks. Dedicated wine coolers are used for wine, which allow you to keep wine bottles in a horizontal position. The cork is then in constant contact with the wine, so it will not dry out and the bottle will remain airtight.
When choosing the right equipment, it is worth getting to know the opinions of catering experts. An overview of the most popular models of drink fridges, mini-refrigerators and special wine coolers, along with a comprehensive overview of their features, is available at this link (click the link).
Wine refrigerators – what are the additional functions?
A good wine or beer fridge should be equipped with electronic controls. The thermostat will allow you to precisely set the appropriate temperature for any given drink. LED/LCD displays will be ideal here. A ventilation fan is also good to have, as it will distribute cold air inside, which is especially important in the case of very large refrigerators. High-tech wine coolers have separate zones – each of them can be set at a different temperature. It is customary in small standard fridges to store white wine at the bottom and red at the top (cool air descends according to the principle of gravity).
The appropriate energy class is also important. Often appliances that are a bit more expensive but more energy efficient will be a better deal in the long run, thanks to lower energy bills.
If many people will have access to the refrigerator, it could be a good idea to equip it with a special lock. This will allow you to make the contents unavailable to unauthorised persons, including children. Avoiding unnecessarily frequent opening of the door will also help maintain the appropriate parameters inside the refrigerator.
Refrigerators for commercial use and for connoisseurs
Modern commercial refrigerators let you serve customers their favourite drinks at the right temperature. Thanks to the optimal storage temperature, wine or beer will not lose its quality for a very long time. Some refrigerators can even be used as an alternative to a wine cellar – they are perfect for the storage and maturation of noble wines. All this makes professional wine coolers perfect not only for catering establishments, but also home use by wine connoisseurs. You can easily find a fridge tailored to your needs among the wide range of available models.
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