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Kegging advice? What do you need?


ChrisM25

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Hi guys and gals.

 

I've just been given the green light to get into kegging. So I would love to hear some words of wisdom from those who are doing it. I've been looking at a unit where the kegs are in a bar fridge that has the tap on the top. I'll need kegs and CO2 gas. No doubt there are other things I'll need so just need to know the full story before I go half arsed into it.

 

Thanks

Chris

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Pending on the type of kegs you have, you will need disconnects. One gas and one liquid for each keg tapped. Buy them from Ebay as they are probably the cheapest there.

 

You should get at least one NRV (non return valve) as well, preferably one per keg but at least one for the gas line. This will stop any beer going back through to your reg.

 

A lot of people make kegerators out of chest freezers which is what I will be upgrading to sometime in the near future as I find now my king Keg kegerator just isn't enough with two taps. Hrrrmmm yep, I guess you can say I am a bit of a pisshead [innocent].

 

Once you get into kegging you definitely wont be looking back and is so good to just pour a beer from tap in your own homw.

 

Cheers

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Thanks for that insite BillK.

 

I have a bar that I would love to have the taps coming out of. This may make life hard with the cooling of the kegs but I think it will look the best.

 

The chest freezer idea seems to be popular. I'm thinking this is due to the amount of space you have inside and are able to house more kegs?

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A chest freezer just enables you to have more cold kegs. The number of taps are entirely up to you of course. Check this link out. There are a lot of good ideas here and different types of setups. Some have gone right out and built a complete bar around the taps and some have opted the cheaper versions. What ever rocks your boat I am sure this will inspire a few ideas of your own.

 

Cheers

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Thanks a heap for that link Billk. That's really helped put me in the right direction. Now to see how full on I go. Might start with something small then go bigger once I've worked out the issues I will no doubt have.

 

Cheers

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If you don't want to go down the chest freezer route, you could always use a line cooler. My set up is:

 

keg -> beer line out -> cooler -> cooler line out -> tap

 

I just use a regular bar tap, which, in my opinion, looks pretty cool to have in the house.

 

Coolers can be pretty expensive, but if you're willing to bide your time you'll get a really cheap one on ebay. They tend to be pretty heavy, so people don't want to post them, and as they are 'collection only' it means if there's one going in your area there's a good chance that you'll get it pretty cheap.

 

Here in the UK the most common coolers are the cornelius maxi range. I'd imagine that its the same in OZ (if that's where you are). If you're looking at cooling just one beer line you can use the maxi 110, 2 lines the maxi 210, and four lines the maxi 310.

 

These flash coolers are great, don't take up as much space as a chest freezer, and can cool a pint down to ice-slush if you want.

 

 

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G'Day Chris,

 

Not sure what you are looking at spending... but this bloke on E-bay has a sweet set up.

 

I got one and could not be happier with it. Also as you mentioned that you want it in the house it looks pretty neat and can be fitted into a bar with the taps coming through the top of the bench top.

 

Check out his link - he also will have the kegs (just get the 2nd hand ones they are heaps cheaper and do the job) and gas bottle.

 

All the lines and regulator come with the fridge which is a good saving.

 

Link for fridge: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dual-Double-Tap-Beer-Dispenser-Keg-Fridge-Kegerator-Bar-/320704186815?pt=AU_Business_Industrial_Restaurant_Catering_Equipment&hash=item4aab7589bf

 

Link for his other stuff : http://shop.ebay.com.au/beerspiritsdirect1/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

 

Good luck! Once you Keg you will never go back! [cool]

 

Ollie

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Ollie BeerSpiritsDirect1 has some good prices yes. But I would never buy 2nd hand kegs from him again. I bought 4 from him a while ago and never received all seals as promised also one keg's hole (where the lid fits) is slightly buckled and hard to get a seal. He stuffed up the gas & liquid posts connections by over tightening them with a Pneumatic Wrench and offered no assistance to help. Basically once they were out of his hands then he didn't want to know about them. 2 out of the 4 kegs I ordered were unusable. So I made 1 keg from the 2 stuffed ones. With a bit of mucking around I now have 3 usable kegs from the 4 I bought from him. Never again will I get kegs from him.

CraftBrewer Kegs are about the best deal you can get and with fantastic customer service. I have never had a problem with them and they are always happy to help.

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Hey Bill,

 

That is bloddy good to know! Thanks heaps!

 

I have only ever had one "transaction" with him and by the sounds of it I got lucky (so far) as I have not had an issue but the site you gave me looks pretty good! I will give them a go next time!

 

Cheers for the heads up mate!

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Another thing to look out for on the Craftbrewer site is their deal of the moment. Great deals, usually kegging related (they had cheap kegs the other week - $30 I think). Theres a nifty PET filler today.

 

Get in quick though the deals change a lot. I get all my hops from them - they're a good bunch of blokes [biggrin]

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Gee Muddy - you are following suit from Bill are'nt you?!

Good tip mate, thanks for that, I wish I had seen that special! $30 for a keg that is a BARGAIN! . . . "Tell 'em the price son!"

 

... Are the hops fresh though? Normally when I get them from Dave's they have been in the fridge/freezer... Or is this just a gimmick? Do they not need to be refridgerated? ( I have often wondered why there are some in the fridge and some on the shelf!! [lol] )

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Gee Muddy - you are following suit from Bill are'nt you?!

 

[biggrin] I'm always banging on about Craftbrewer - They're the ducks nuts!

 

The hops come in shrink sealed foil pouch like this:

 

hops.png

 

They should be kept in the fridge and preferably frozen after you open them. I reckon they're fresher than Dave's and they have a much bigger range (I generally buy some of their yeast too) - I'm not big fan of Dave's as he isn't really customer focused and seems to want to get you out of the shop asap so he can go back out to the back room.

 

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I was looking at that unit on Ebay to start with. After doing some research I have ended up with the chest freezer direction. I work in electrical retail and can get the chest freezers at very good staff pricing so that's also a help. I was looking at the kegs from that ebay site but got a little concerned reading the fact that he doesn't pack them at all when he sends them. So, as I'm in South Australia I'm going to go have a look at Brew Craft. They have fully reconditioned kegs for $69.95 each with news seals. Any thoughts on that pricing guys?

 

 

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Billk and others, how do you stop the kegs from freezing in the chest freezer, it sounds like a brilliant idea, I've been brewing kegs on and off for the past 5 years and I never would have thought of this. I'm just starting to get in to the brewing again after having a break and I'm looking for a new keg set up and this sounds like a winner.

 

Dave, NT

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