How to attach a Beer Engine Hose

Having worked at the Reading Real Ale and Cider Festival for a few years, I have seen how the hand pulls are attached to the hose that runs to the cask. The first year I worked there, we had 90 beer engines. I made sure I was involved setting them up.  I was surprised how they attached their hoses. They use John Guest, one click connectors.

John Guest

These things are very much in use in the brewing world in the UK. They are pretty cool. If you push in the gray collar, the connector comes off the hose.

Here’s how they are used:

Angram Hand Pulls

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Tail Piece

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John Guest on the tail piece with hose.

Here’s how the hose is attached. There is a 1/2 to 1/2 pice that is smooth on one end and barbed on the other:

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Hose, Barb with clamp.

With your hose of choice, attach to the barbed end and slip the John Guest on the smooth end of this part then slide the other end onto the tail of your hand pull and with ease, you can change out the tube. I have one tube for a connection to a cask tap and another tube that connects to a corny keg (I’m still working on the corny keg hose version).

What if you have the Worthside (EWL) versions of the hand pull? Here’s a solution using a little more of the same parts:

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1/2in barb, piece of hose and a clamp.

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On the EWL.

The above piece stays on your engine. The photo below shows all the parts before I attached it to the tail piece.

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The full assembly before attachment to the EWL.

What if you have a Homark engine? Well if you have the barb tail like the EWL do the same thing, but if you’ve replaced the tail piece with the aftermarket….

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Original tail piece.

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Aftermarket tail piece.

You are in the position to use the same setup as the Angram above.

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New tail piece on a Homark.

Links on where to buy these parts:

1/2 in to 1/2 in John Guest connector  Part number PP0416W quantity 10 pcs
3/8 in to 3/8 in John Guest connectors. Part number PP0412W Quantity 10 pcs
1/2 plastic barb/smooth
Homark Tail Piece (this link is dead)
Article on rebuilding a Homark.
Great Article from BSG on beer clarity and finings

These are the sizes that have worked on my 1/2 pint pull Angram, 1/2 pint pull Homark and the Worthside hand pulls. Be sure to check your hand pull for the size you need. I have every reason to believe that these are the correct sizes for these engines, but you are on your own to order them.