Moving To Kegs

[craigsdickson]

Hey,

Thinking about moving to kegging (as apposed to bottles) in the near future.

Looking for guidance on what equipment I need to consider buying in general. Also any suggestions of where to buy the stuff from (including 2nd hand options).

Thanks!

[Rezzin]

As always I would check with Lyn for extra stuff as God knows he has a ton.

If you have room in a fridge/freezer, you can just buy a single keg, a Co2 tank w/ regulator, and a cobra tap and just serve that way. This would be the easiest and most economical way to go about it. The only problem is it's not as cool as a kegerator Most people either go two ways with this. They either convert those smaller Sanyo fridges (I think Tim is selling one) and mount a tower/faucet on top (it holds 2 cornies) or convert a chest freezer and add a collar for the faucets. I recommend the latter if you have the space. Depending the size, they will hold at least 4. The collar is not difficult to build (trust me - I am NOT handy and I was able to make one) and you prevent having to actually cut into the lid or doors of the freezer (in case you want to sell it later). The top lid get's removed, and is then secured to the collar.

I might have an extra corny to sell, I have to check. If I do, I'd sell it for $25 as that's what I paid for it.

Here are some pics of my converted chest freezer that I bought from Home Depot:




In hindsight, if I were to do this again I wouldn't 'waste' my money on 4 way manifold, I'd actually buy a4 way secondary regulator so that I could serve different beers at different pressure. I plan on buying one this year.

[Rezzin]

Some great information on kegging:

http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/in ... =Soda-Kegs
http://www.northernbrewer.com/docs/html ... #id2848033

On building a kegerator w/ collar from chest freezer (if you decide to go that route):

http://www.homebrewadventures.com/artic ... 0301.shtml

[dksucharda]

I had read where you would have liked to have 4 separate regulators so each beer could have it's own pressure and you plan to do this in the future. This seems like a big extra expense. Is it really a neccessity or a luxury with different beers. what is your experience and what is your advice. How unhappy are you with your current set up, because to me it looks pretty sweet.

-D-

[Rezzin]

I had read where you would have liked to have 4 separate regulators so each beer could have it's own pressure and you plan to do this in the future. This seems like a big extra expense. Is it really a neccessity or a luxury with different beers. what is your experience and what is your advice. How unhappy are you with your current set up, because to me it looks pretty sweet.

-D-

It's definitely a luxury.

A 4 way gas manifold runs about $50. The 4 way secondary co2 regulator costs about $180. It's a big difference but seeing how I'm not planning on building a new collar for my kegerator, I'll have an extra hole in it (from the gas line coming in) since I'd be mounting the regulator on the outside this time. It's not a real big deal but I'm just a little anal about things like that.

Hopefully I'll be brewing a lot more than I have in the past year so that might be motivation for me to actually pull the trigger and get it. I'm quite the cheap-skate when it comes to splurging on luxury items

[dhempy]

I actually have 4 separate regulators on my kegerator ... for 10 taps. I love it! Granted it is probably a luxury but isn't homebrewing? Anyway, I have 3 separate serving zones and a 4th zone for force carbonating.





Dan

[Rezzin]

Dan, what are those things the gas lines are coming out of on the right hand side in that bottom pic?

So tell me - have you ever managed to have all 10 taps going at the same time? I have a hard time keeping 4 going!

Nice job!

[backyard brewer]

The way Dan did it is a very good way to go; zones. Having 4 different kegs at 4 different pressures is something that you'll just end up not using right or well. For 4 kegs, 2 different pressures would be great. I would run 3 kegs at one pressure and 1 at the other. It's probably not that often that you'll have a beer that really needs to be at a different enough pressure to make a difference.

Wheat beers are usually carbonated higher and milds are usually low. Another thing to consider is balancing your serviing lines; higher pressure means a longer serving line to balance the flow at the tap. That's another reason the zone plan works well is the same faucets are usually running the higher or lower carbonated beers.

[dhempy]

Dan, what are those things the gas lines are coming out of on the right hand side in that bottom pic?

So tell me - have you ever managed to have all 10 taps going at the same time? I have a hard time keeping 4 going!

Nice job!

Yes, I've had 10 going at once ... I'm there now. We had all 10 for the Camarillo Brew Day last year.

The things you're seeing are manifolds, each with it's own valve. They are basically an aluminum block that is drilled/tapped in multiple places. Because of the valves, I had to buy larger manifolds and plug the intervening holes ... so for example, the 3 place manifolds are actually 5 place with two holes plugged. That way I have room to screw in and use the valves. I used the push connect connectors and plastic tubing for gas line. I bought the manifolds and valves from McMaster Carr .. I can probably find a parts list somewhere if you're interested. THe left side of each manifold has an elbow and a pipe that goes out through the collar to the back. Then around the side to the regulator.

The pic below is a front on shot during assembly.

Dan

[Rezzin]

Hey,

Thinking about moving to kegging (as apposed to bottles) in the near future.

Looking for guidance on what equipment I need to consider buying in general. Also any suggestions of where to buy the stuff from (including 2nd hand options).

Thanks!

So Craig, have you decided on kegging yet? I may have a keg or two I might need to sell if you are interested. It's not set in stone yet but I need to see how much 'brewery space' i have available in the new place. I may also have an analog Johnson temp controller for sale as well. Let me know if you're still interested...

[bwarbiany]

So Craig, have you decided on kegging yet? I may have a keg or two I might need to sell if you are interested. It's not set in stone yet but I need to see how much 'brewery space' i have available in the new place. I may also have an analog Johnson temp controller for sale as well. Let me know if you're still interested...

If you end up selling some cornies, I might take them off your hands. My bro-in-law started kegging as well, and we only have 5 between the two of us. We'll run out of room pretty soon at this rate...

[Rezzin]

So Craig, have you decided on kegging yet? I may have a keg or two I might need to sell if you are interested. It's not set in stone yet but I need to see how much 'brewery space' i have available in the new place. I may also have an analog Johnson temp controller for sale as well. Let me know if you're still interested...

If you end up selling some cornies, I might take them off your hands. My bro-in-law started kegging as well, and we only have 5 between the two of us. We'll run out of room pretty soon at this rate...

Sounds good, I'll let you know what I can part with.