Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 Well the first part of the kegerator 'improvement program' is here today, that being the flooded cobra font, together with some adaptor thingies in order to actually be able to put the taps on it. As Hairy remarked it looks a bit like ET . It is quite heavy, so I'm imagining that the insulation is pretty bloody good in it; obviously it's a double walled thing. I will need to chop some off the end of the lines and the main threaded tube that holds it onto the kegerator as at the current length it will not fit in there with 3 kegs. But that's a minor issue. Now all I have to do is wait for the pump to arrive and get a couple of lengths of hosing to run from the pump to the font and back to the water reservoir. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 The E.T. font has landed! Just don't lend him your good records if he asks for your help to phone home! Q: Is there a Cobra Kai call for a three eyed E.T. font? A: No Sensai. Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Upon closer inspection it appears not double walled but just very thick and made of brass. The lines are a wider diameter than the barbs on the shanks in the current set up but I did a test run with a short length of unused beer line and was able to get it to stretch over with some hot water and prying it open plus a bit of keg lube on the stainless tube in the font. Now just to wait for the bloody pump to arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 That looks a lot like my font. You're right they are heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Do you use anything liquid to chill it like iced water or a glycol solution, Chad? Or just take that chilling tube out and use a font fan? Or is it not a flooded one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Hey Otto, I'm sad to say that I have yet to use my cobra font. I don't think there is any fancy cooling system for it. It was given to me a couple of years age, but I am still using my dual tap kegerator. My taps are mounted through the door so they are not really exposed to the ambient temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Ah yeah fair enough. Mine doesn't have a 'fancy' system really either, unless I was to go all out and buy a glycol chiller system. In any case, it basically just has a U shaped piece of stainless tubing that goes up inside it, which you pump the iced water or glycol or whatever you're using as a coolant through. I'll be doing this when I get my pump, although I was wondering in the meantime whether to set it up minus the chiller tube and stick the font fan up into it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkyard Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 My Kegerator was sourced for free from Gumtree over the weekend and has been given a shiny refurbishment. Very happy so far! I have a quick question for the keg gurus on this page. Is there any reason why one wouldn't put the co2 bottle in with kegs? I have room to burn for the minute and my thinking is if i dont need to drill a hole in the side i save meself a bit of work and a possible thermal loss through the resulting hole. Also wondering if it matters if they are lower or higher than kegs and can they be laid on their side? Lastly should i keep my lines as short as possible? I have read that extra friction helps with the process. Got a very basic late dry hopped draught ready to go into my first ever keg soon. Just hoping i dont turn it all into foam! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Firstly, I'd just typed a lengthy reply and then hit something on the keyboard and deleted the whole effing lot. Safe to say I'm a bit annoyed at that! This face isn't enough... Anywho..... If it's a proper kegerator there should already be a hole in the back of it up the top on one side that you can feed gas line through. I have 3 gas lines going through it in mine, but I did take out the plastic insert to make the hole big enough to fit them. Plugged the gaps with foam. A 6.8kg CO2 cylinder will not fit inside my kegerator, or any kegerator for that matter. If it's a chest freezer or other type of converted fridge type setup then that's a different scenario. The only reason apart from size why I don't put my gas bottle inside is because I have my manifold set up on the outside as well because even though I could fit it inside, it would be almost impossible to actually get at with 3 kegs in there. Also, if I need to adjust the regulator which I do a fair bit for new kegs going in, that would also be a total PITA if the thing was inside the fridge. Other than those reasons there is no problem putting the gas cylinder inside with the kegs. Positioning of the gas bottle relative to kegs matters none. As far as I know they can't be laid on their side, probably because the regulators are intended to be used with the gauges sitting vertically. Beer lines should be as long as possible (to a point). It is resistance against flow that stops foaming at the tap, with a short line you have hardly any resistance, so you pretty much pour foam and nothing else at normal serving pressure. It can be solved by venting the keg and reducing the pressure on the regulator to something like 2PSI, but who wants to dick around with that every time they want a beer? Better off getting the right length line first up. I have flow control taps which are useful as I can control the flow rate at the tap as well, although I rarely have the taps fully open. My lines are 5mm ID and about 2.2m long for each keg/tap, so perhaps for fully open taps, the lines aren't quite long enough. If you have non FC taps, while there are online calculators out there to work out beer line length, it's probably easier to simply start with too much and snip small lengths off until it pours at an ok rate. Also the smaller the ID (inner diameter), the less length you'll need to achieve the same resistance. Hope that helps a bit! Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I don't have flow control taps. My lines are 4mm ID and about 3.5m long (possibly a little bit longer). Regulator set to around 10-11 PSI and it pours fine. Note: I rolled the beer lines into a loop and clipped it together with a cable tie. Nice and neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 There's a good starting point then. I also have my beer lines looped up and held together with cable ties. Less messy inside the kegerator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkyard Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Awesome. Cheers guys. Doesn't just help a bit, it helps heaps as always. It's a fridge that ive converted otto. So far ive managed to snag my two kegs, reg., bottle and gas, and a couple of picnic guns, drip tray, and the fridge for under $400. Only thing that i really think i could do with now is a temp controller but hoping to dial the fridge in for the kegs and see how it goes. Gotta go slow on the spending for a bit to take the heat off a bit from swmbo! Once i get up and sorted will try and get approval for a couple taps on the outside. Turtle and hare type philosophy in these parts! Now to study up on coverting psi to Kpa. Regs in Kpa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Ah right, fair enough, in that case it will most likely be different dimensions to a kegerator then and you may well be able to fit the gas bottle in and access the reg and whatever more easily. And I don't blame you not wanting to drill holes in it... when I got my gas manifold and realised it'd be too difficult to have it inside the kegerator I was umming and ahhing about how the hell to get three gas lines in from the outside, didn't really want to drill any more holes... then I noticed the existing hole in the back had that plastic insert thing which could be removed. Problem solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 I've just finished fast carbing up a keg of the CPA using the CCA yeast. Smells spot on! After only recently discovering that shaking the keg more vigorously mixes the C02 & beer more thoroughly, I carbed for only 2½ minutes this time around, shaking vigorously throughout. After the usual rolling ritual with the gas line still connected, it has stopped above 20psi again, that means I have likely over-carbonated the beer again! A little annoying, but no biggy as I know how to deal with this. I say 'likely' because there is a rest period of about 1 hour after this where you allow the beer to sit before purging the head space & re-connecting the gas line at pouring pressure. If it's still over-carbonated come the pour, I'll just reduce the timeframe again next time. Maybe this 2 minute timeframe well spoken of, is true after all? I'm guessing the timeframe needed to fast carb a beer really depends on how vigorously you mix the beer & C02. Getting very close to nailing down a solid timeframe, so that is pleasing. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 I've been intrigued by your fixation for want of a better term on the pressure stopping at somewhere around 20-25 PSI. As far as I can gather from Ross's quick carb method, this is actually exactly what you want. I can only assume the reason for this is the period where it is left to settle before the keg is burped and then gas re-connected at serving pressure. I'm guessing that the beer doesn't fully absorb the CO2 that is pumped into it initially but does so during this period of settling. In any case, the method does say that the pressure should stop in this range for adequate carbonation. Lower it's not carbed enough, and higher obviously too much. Admittedly I haven't bothered with this procedure since the first ever keg which did end up over carbed. I shook it around yadda yadda until the pressure stopped dropping at about 22/23 PSI. That, however, was user error . I discovered a leak in the disconnect due to not tightening it enough, and then re-did the carbonation process as if it had not been done yet because I stupidly thought that it hadn't done anything the first time - problem was of course that it had done something the first time and there was already some carbonation in the keg. I reckon if there was no leak though, that it would have been fine. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 After carbing the keg earlier today I had to quickly get ready & head around my Sister's place for the evening. I was halfway around there & realized I forgot to burp the keg before I left! Doh! I said, "Stuff it, I'm not going back". So I've just arrived home, burped the keg, & poured one. It's pouring a little heady, but not as bad as I thought it might. I'll know more about the consistency after a few more pours. I'm quite chuffed with the beer though. It's a little green being so young, but the flavours of the CPA are right there. Really cool I reckon. You've got a good read on the fast carbing method Kelsey. It's one of those tricky things though that always looks easy in theory, but reproducing that in a practical sense is not quite as simple. It's taken a while for me to get to this point, even with the literature right in front of me. I just don't think it was explained particularly well. Well my glass is empty, no work tomorrow, so I might enjoy a couple more before bedtime. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Just dropped Otto's Red Ale into Keg#6. its been sitting in the fermenter just on four weeks and the SG measure was 1.012 for a 3.7% ABV. Cheers & Beers Scottie Valley Brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 I'm about to go and start preparing to keg (and bottle) my Cascadian Pale Ale, which will be the first keg that I've filled that isn't going straight into the kegerator, as there are already 3 in there. My plan is to fill 3 kegs and stick them all in the kegerator together, once the last one in there is emptied whenever that happens. That should give me plenty of time to get another 3 filled while those 3 are consumed, and I'll continue with that schedule from now on I think. Anyway, since this keg isn't going straight into the fridge I'm gonna use a slightly different carbing method on it (and subsequent ones). I'll be doing a sort of 3/4 carbonation using my spare gas line through the liquid out post (it has a liquid QD on it), with the high pressure shaking it around method. Then, the keg will simply be stored away until such time as the three all go into the kegerator together. The plan then, is to leave them in there for a day or two to chill down, then burp and connect at serving pressure. Should be pretty much ready to drink by that stage. It's a shame the old big freezer died... I was gonna "steal" it to use as a fridge to store kegs in to keep them cold, but I guess we can't have everything. Anywho... better get onto it I suppose! Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Well my little pond pump finally arrived on a slow boat from China today, and looking at the size of the outlet barb I should be able to use some 8mm ID tubing to connect it to the flooded font tubing. That tubing is 8mm diameter, so even if the outlet barb thingy is a little bigger, I'll be able to stretch the tube over it like I do with the beer/gas lines. I reckon I'll leave this until the Easter long weekend next week to set it all up though, as I have a wedding to go to on Saturday which means Sunday I'll likely be nursing somewhat of a hangover (like every other Sunday really ). I'm sure I can find some time in 4 days off work to set it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Well today I put the new flooded font tower on the kegerator. It was a little bit of a mission as the hole in the top was too small for the threaded part of the font to fit through, so with the aid of a hacksaw and a screwdriver I ripped out the plastic lining, gave it a light sanding and the thing slid straight in. First hurdle overcome. I knew I'd have to cut some off the thread and the stainless tubes that feed the taps, although not as much as I expected, so that was good. All went well there. You wouldn't think you could get 5mm ID beer line to go over an 8mm stainless tube, but with the help of some hot water, long nose pliers and keg lube, they actually went on rather easily. So, now the tower was in place, beer lines attached, taps re-fitted, ran some cleaner and hot water through to make sure everything was leak free and working as it should - all sweet. Now we come to the pump for the cold water to run up into the font. Epic fail. Plug and power supply all done up, plug the thing in, turn it on, test it out by pumping some of the water into a bucket, all good. Then I go and set it up in the fridge connected to the font tubing and the thing refuses to start spinning. Take it apart and while the power is getting through something is sticking the 'wheel' that forces the water through and it needs to be started manually - obviously impossible to do when it's submerged in water inside a fridge, or even when it's simply put together. So, off this will be going back from whence it came for a refund. I had to remove the gas lines a million times for all this removing and replacing power leads to stuff which was a bit of a pain and managed to stab myself in the finger with a pair of scissors when cutting the beer lines off the old shanks. One positive is that I now know how empty my kegs are after they had been sitting out of the fridge for a few minutes. Lower than I thought, probably from sharing it with people . Guess I'll probably get another 15 schooners out of them combined. Not sure how many weekends that will last though. Overall though, apart from the pump fiasco, it's all sweet. It looks really good too, and there's more sideways space between the taps to fit some of the bigger tap handles I have. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 It looks great Kelsey! Very professional looking. Sorry to read you've had some sort of issue with the pump. I can imagine what it was like going through all those adjustments necessary to accommodate the new setup, only for a part of it to fail! I hope you're able to sort the problem(s) out fairly quickly. No such issues with a 'Keezer'. Go you good thing 'Keezer'! Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Cheers mate Pretty happy with how it looks. Not having any beers tonight after last night's shenanigans , but will test it out tomorrow during the footy. The pump not working is rather a pain in the arse, especially as you said, after doing all the work to set it all up only for one element to fail straight out of the box. I guess that's what happens when you get cheap shit from China though. Will get a decent one from Whitworths on Tuesday (funnily enough, for the same price). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Kegged my Aussie Pale kit/partial mash today. I know have all of my kegs full for the first time in about 12 months, courtesy of two kit based brews. I also putdown an AG Pale Ale today so looks like I've slowed consumption enough to march production. My own little supply and demand dilemma. Cheers & Beers Scottie Valley Brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I have one of those dilemmas too. In 4 weeks I will have 3 full kegs ready to go into the kegerator, but the ones currently in there won't last that long. Luckily I have some bottled stuff available for the after work beers through the week. On Saturday I'll be kegging/bottling the Centennial/MO SMaSH ale, so another small lot of bottles will be available soon after that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 I took this photo this morning before I left for work, of the new flooded font I installed on the kegerator over the weekend. This happens most nights and mornings, there is no fan blowing air into it (you can see the conduit there too), or any cold water etc. being pumped up into it either, since the original pump never worked and the new one hasn't been installed yet. It just seems to cool itself down. It's only the bottom quarter of it that shows any condensation, but it does feel quite cold to the touch, most of the way up it. Intriguing. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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