Kegging

[Rod M]

Hello fellow brewers , I am getting prepared to start kegging my brews ,any tips tricks or information for a soon to be kegerator owner would be greatly appreciated .

[DavidM]

Lots of info here

[Classic Brewing Co]

14 minutes ago, Rod M said:

Hello fellow brewers , I am getting prepared to start kegging my brews ,any tips tricks or information for a soon to be kegerator owner would be greatly appreciated .

Hi Rod, try this link for a bit of info, Cheers Phil.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=15d26eb1ef5ff9d9JmltdHM9MTY2MTE1MDc3OSZpZ3VpZD1kNDNjOTllYi04NzdkLTRmNTktOTczOS1mZDkzNzQ2NzkyNDUmaW5zaWQ9NTEzMQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=2090ca31-21e6-11ed-8076-d282275bfac2&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9zZWFyY2g_cT1rZWdsYW5kK2tlZ2VyYXRvcnMrdHV0b3JpYWxzJnFwdnQ9a2VnbGFuZCtrZWdlcmF0b3JzK3R1dG9yaWFscyZGT1JNPVZEUkU&ntb=1

[Aussiekraut]

2 hours ago, Rod M said:

Hello fellow brewers , I am getting prepared to start kegging my brews ,any tips tricks or information for a soon to be kegerator owner would be greatly appreciated .

Get a 6kg gas bottle, not one of the little ones, if you think you need 4 kegs, get 8 and if you think 3 taps is enough, get 4 and a couple of pluto guns  I've been there, done that and nothing was enough.So save yourself the double investment and do it right from the start. Also be prepared to double your consumption  Unless you have purchased one already, Keg King seems to have a sale on pre assembled kits. Those font towers can be a royal pain in the neck unless you have the hands of a 10 year old with the strength of a 25 yo. Especially the 3 tap towers are very hard to get your fingers in. If somebody else already did the work for you, go for it. It may also pay to get a gas manifold and individual regulators for each gas line to allow you to pick the pressure you need for each keg and fast carb one, whilst the others are sitting on serving pressure. Besides that, enjoy kegged beer  

[Pale Man]

9 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Get a 6kg gas bottle, not one of the little ones, if you think you need 4 kegs, get 8 and if you think 3 taps is enough, get 4 and a couple of pluto guns  I've been there, done that and nothing was enough.So save yourself the double investment and do it right from the start. Also be prepared to double your consumption  Unless you have purchased one already, Keg King seems to have a sale on pre assembled kits. Those font towers can be a royal pain in the neck unless you have the hands of a 10 year old with the strength of a 25 yo. Especially the 3 tap towers are very hard to get your fingers in. If somebody else already did the work for you, go for it. It may also pay to get a gas manifold and individual regulators for each gas line to allow you to pick the pressure you need for each keg and fast carb one, whilst the others are sitting on serving pressure. Besides that, enjoy kegged beer  

Great post. Personally i think a good pre loved fridge beats a kegerator hands down. My fridge sits outside and ticks away beautifully, serving cold beer in 40 degree heat.

Totally agree with @Aussiekraut in regard to gas bottle. Don't faff around if you're serious. Get a 6kg bottle.

[ozdevil]

my Advive is with co2  not only get a 6kg gas bottle as others have mentioned get a spare 6kg or 2.5kg one

i currently have :

1x10kg co2 bottle(never bothered to get it refilled and out of date)
2x6kg co2  (never want to run out of co2 on Saturday night while watching footy or cricket or any sport or a party ya hosting you may not get fill until Monday or Tuesday depending on long weekends)
1x2.5kg   handy to take to a mates or a party
1 400gram soda stream bottle
3 x boxes of 10 co2 bulbs

i mainly  use 1x 6kg and the other is just a spare for those times you run out   and the 2.5kg  is used for parties and occasion  beer transfer from my  unitanks


kegerators are not hard to install,  but  AK is right  if you have fat arms getting uour hand down the font to screw it on to the font specially 4 or more taps systems can be tricky


Also color code or number your Beer lines  from the tap as well as the disconnect   nothing worse telling your mate   have a nice cold pale ale  from tap 2and it pours your imperial stout  


and nothing wrong with Fridges or chest freezers turned into  keezers or kegerators either  


my advice with beer line    , get more beer line then you think you need .   its not  easy to add more if you cut them short

the smaller the inside diameter the less beer line you need.

4mm id = 2m minimum in my opinion you can go shorter  if you want but you run the risk of frothy beers on each pour...

I run 4mm at 3m lengths   i'm tempted to shorten mine to 2.5m lengths


5mmid you may want upto 5mtres of beer line

Its all about balance  




enjoy ya journey




 

[Classic Brewing Co]

29 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Great post. Personally i think a good pre loved fridge beats a kegerator hands down. My fridge sits outside and ticks away beautifully, serving cold beer in 40 degree heat.

Totally agree with @Aussiekraut in regard to gas bottle. Don't faff around if you're serious. Get a 6kg bottle.

I agree @Pale Man there is something about an old faithful fridge with 4 taps sticking out of it, Kegerators are nice but they appear to be a bit flimsy. I have a few mates that have them & you are right about fighting for room to change kegs - there is not much room inside.

Yes make sure you have the 6kg bottle & a 2.6kg for back up.

[Rod M]

On 8/22/2022 at 7:51 PM, ozdevil said:

my Advive is with co2  not only get a 6kg gas bottle as others have mentioned get a spare 6kg or 2.5kg one

i currently have :

1x10kg co2 bottle(never bothered to get it refilled and out of date)
2x6kg co2  (never want to run out of co2 on Saturday night while watching footy or cricket or any sport or a party ya hosting you may not get fill until Monday or Tuesday depending on long weekends)
1x2.5kg   handy to take to a mates or a party
1 400gram soda stream bottle
3 x boxes of 10 co2 bulbs

i mainly  use 1x 6kg and the other is just a spare for those times you run out   and the 2.5kg  is used for parties and occasion  beer transfer from my  unitanks


kegerators are not hard to install,  but  AK is right  if you have fat arms getting uour hand down the font to screw it on to the font specially 4 or more taps systems can be tricky


Also color code or number your Beer lines  from the tap as well as the disconnect   nothing worse telling your mate   have a nice cold pale ale  from tap 2and it pours your imperial stout  


and nothing wrong with Fridges or chest freezers turned into  keezers or kegerators either  


my advice with beer line    , get more beer line then you think you need .   its not  easy to add more if you cut them short

the smaller the inside diameter the less beer line you need.

4mm id = 2m minimum in my opinion you can go shorter  if you want but you run the risk of frothy beers on each pour...

I run 4mm at 3m lengths   i'm tempted to shorten mine to 2.5m lengths


5mmid you may want upto 5mtres of beer line

Its all about balance  




enjoy ya journey




 

Thanks mate thats some good info there much appreciated . I will chase up a 6 kg bottle as that is the most mentioned item ,my LHBS is getting the kegorator and I will see them about the bottle  , it comes with a 2.5 kg and 2 x 19 l kegs we have a BOC gas depot locally so I will sound them out if the LHBS can't help ,also handy to have a price comparison .

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

The joys of kegging, yesterday I reported that one of the kegs kept offering beer so taking @MUZZY - the now younger gentleman's advice & drank faster & it worked.

The thing gave up on me so that's OK I thought there will be a couple of pours of Pale in the other one - wrong, glass full of froth !!

It actually has happened at a perfect time as I have 2 x fully fermented brews ready to take their place, so tomorrow, clean & sanitise the 2 kegs, fill them up & crank the gas up for 24 hours so I can have a drink in a couple of days.

 

 

[kmar92]

40 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

The joys of kegging, yesterday I reported that one of the kegs kept offering beer so taking @MUZZY - the now younger gentleman's advice & drank faster & it worked.

The thing gave up on me so that's OK I thought there will be a couple of pours of Pale in the other one - wrong, glass full of froth !!

It actually has happened at a perfect time as I have 2 x fully fermented brews ready to take their place, so tomorrow, clean & sanitise the 2 kegs, fill them up & crank the gas up for 24 hours so I can have a drink in a couple of days.

 

 

You need more kegs @Classic Brewing Co. You have 4 taps so you need probably 6 kegs to keep things going smoothly

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, kmar92 said:

You need more kegs @Classic Brewing Co. You have 4 taps so you need probably 6 kegs to keep things going smoothly

Yes mate I know, I am in the process of ordering 2 more as I want to keep the bottling stuff down to an absolute minimum  I don't mind the odd left overs from the keg but I am totally over bottling full time.

[Tricky Micky]

12 hours ago, kmar92 said:

You need more kegs @Classic Brewing Co. You have 4 taps so you need probably 6 kegs to keep things going smoothly

Ha, that's the rabbit hole right there - got four kegs when I first started kegging, quickly ordered two more and now I've got six, and just recently decided I need eight to keep things on the move.  

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Ha, that's the rabbit hole right there - got four kegs when I first started kegging, quickly ordered two more and now I've got six, and just recently decided I need eight to keep things on the move.  

Yeah & when you think about it production slows possibly due to the fact you don't want to be mucking around with too many bottles, kegging spoils you but I really love it now.

[Tricky Micky]

1 minute ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I really love it now.

Yep, 2nd best thing I'll probably manage to do in this home brewing caper. I suspect AG might be #1. Kegging makes the process a whole lot easier IMO. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

13 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Yep, 2nd best thing I'll probably manage to do in this home brewing caper. I suspect AG might be #1. Kegging makes the process a whole lot easier IMO. 

Yes I would agree, after many years of extract & bottling you become stale if you don't experiment with additions etc but there comes a point when you finally break away from it.

I started AG first & after tasting the difference in the brew immediately got some kegs - it changes everything, a lot more money, a lot more work, a lot more money.

We will always bottle a few due to the size of the Corny's but I still don't mind knocking up a quick extract now & again, in fact now is a good time as BIG W have the 20% off sale until the 6th September !!   

[Red devil 44]

I’ve got 15 kegs.

13 x 19L

2 x 9L 

3 came with my Kegerator but all the others are second hand, I just bought O-ring kits and replaced them all.

I can’t stress enough to get yourselves a spares kit from Kegland, worth their weight in gold for that occasion when an O-ring perishes or leaks.

‘For me $25 for a kit over losing a 6kg CO2 cylinder is a no brainer, and a lot less swearing.

 

[Pezzza]

On 8/22/2022 at 4:32 PM, Rod M said:

Hello fellow brewers , I am getting prepared to start kegging my brews ,any tips tricks or information for a soon to be kegerator owner would be greatly appreciated .

Hey there mate sounds good and all the best in getting it all sorted : ) @Rod M

Not too many things 

But a few

1. I would recommend you get a good CO2 Gas Regulator - something @Otto Von Blotto and some of the old hands helped me with - I would recommend that.  Even if it costs a little more - you are gunna have good reliable gear that way.

2. Myself - I am a believer in using Stainless Steel Clamps - not the fancy plazzi slide on things... and you will need a crimper.. but honestly... yeah I think they are good.

 

3. When you are gassing up or pouring - don't leave your gas bottle/reg on all the time - just use it to make the gas hit and then turn it off and disconnect - that way - if you have any leaks - and maybe you will never have any leaks - but that way you won't lose your whole bottle overnight... has happened to many of us don't worry : )

All the best mate : )

IP Brewing

 

[Pezzza]

23 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

a good CO2 Gas Regulator

Whoops and forgot to suggest.. the Harris 901 @Rod M apologies poor picture quality