It's Kegging Time!

[Ralph1malph]

Hi folks,

If this isn't the right thread, mods feel free to move!

I'm nearly 50 and thought I might try my hand at convincing the wife of the value and beauty of a kegerator or kegging system for my birfday! That said, money is tight so I'd happily consider a second hand set up.

Thing is , I know nuffin to bugger all about kegging systems? Is there a popular brand? Are there any do or don't buys? I assume, like most things, there are value for money options as well as gold plated solutions and those better left on the shelf.

I have read about purchasing better quality gas lines, more than one tap on the font etc...

Any advice gladly taken!

Other forums have espoused the pro's and cons of using an existing fridge and just purchasing the kegs and dispensing bits. Is that an option?

 

Cheers

Ralph

[Otto Von Blotto]

It's the right thread, it just happens that the thread meanders along between what us keggers are kegging and the advice thread that it began life as

 

Anyway, I don't have any experience with second hand set ups. I bought all mine new. From a cost perspective I would imagine it would be cheaper to buy a second hand chest freezer, and make a timber collar that sits around the top and holds the taps. You could use an existing fridge and stick the taps in the door, as long as there aren't any important bits in the door that shouldn't be drilled through.

 

I seem to see a fair few complaints about Keg King products being of dodgy quality, so the only thing of theirs that I actually bought was the kegerator itself and the kegs. Everything else is better quality brands.

 

I use Valpar Flexmaster II lines for both beer and gas, 5mm ID/8mm OD. Around 2.2m of beer line for each keg. It's pretty much top of the line stuff and worth the little extra dosh. I use John Guest push in fittings on the disconnects; some people complain about these leaking but I haven't had any problems with them in almost two years. There are inferior ones out there though, if you go with them make sure they're genuine JG. If you're worried then go with barbed disconnects. The downside of barbed is that it's more difficult to remove the line if needed.

 

For taps I've got three Perlick 650SS with flow control. These have been excellent as well. They're probably due for a dismantle and clean but they can be easily cleaned in place as well. No leaks, and they pour great as well as look nice and professional. They are mounted on a cobra flooded font, which I chill with a small reservoir of water that sits behind the kegs and is pumped/circulated through the font.

 

Micromatic CO2 regulator does the job for carbonation and dispensing very well. Harris is another well regarded brand. It feeds into a 4 way manifold; 3 lines feed into the kegerator to serve the kegs in there, and the 4th spare line is used for purging kegs etc.

 

At the end of the day, you're probably gonna have less headaches and less outlay if you buy once and buy quality, rather than buy inferior stuff and have to keep replacing it all the time.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

 

 

[mattyh77]

If you’re on a bit of a budget, you can build one up easily.

Here is my setup:

Fridge: $50 of gumtree. (You can get these from $0 up, depending on whats happening in your area.

100mm SS Shanks: approx $45 each

SS Intertap: $45 each

2.6kg Gas and Reg: $235 plus $30 p&h

About $100 for lines, fittings etc.

Kegs $75 ea second hand from LHBS (I did buy a couple of brand new ones as well, $125)

 

Its taken a little bit of time and a few pay days to get it all together, but I did get at least one tap going pretty quickly. All finished now with 3 taps (including one with a stout spout), picked up a 6kg gas bottle, 4 kegs and other odds and end for $250.

 

If you are patient and keep an eye on gumtree or the buy and sell on Aussie Home Brewer forum, you can pick up a bargain.

 

 

[James Lao]

Finally got the Keg King Series 4 yesterday.

Exciting times, even the missus was taking photos of it, and she never gets excited about anything beer related!

Will give the kegs a clean and fill with Starsan to check the lines for leaks etc.

American (Irish)Stout and Ghost Ship inspired IPA in the FV.

Should be ready to package on Sunday.

First time cold crashing and kegging coming up.

Never CCd before as I didn't want to wait longer for the bottles to carb up!

And so the journey continues....

 

Cheers

 

James

 

[mattyh77]

Just kegged my second AG.

Vienna and Simcoe SMaSH.

Will be overseas for 2 weeks now so put it straight on the gas, ready for when I get back to sample.

[James Lao]

First time kegging last night, took 1.5 hours from start to finish with 2 FVs , 2 x 19litre kegs and 7 x Coopers PET bottles.

Couldn't believe it, bottling night normally takes 4 hours from go to woh, so I am really happy with that.

Had the FVs CCing for 24 hours, couldn't get lower than 2 degC, but the 1469 persistent krausen fell away as soon as it got below about 14degC.

Set the Gas In regulator to 45psi last night at 7.30pm.

So from reading about fast carbing I turn the Gas bottle off at about 4pm today, burp the kegs, then put the gas back to 10psi right?

Then it should be drinkable tonight as well?

 

Cheers

 

James

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Yep that will do it depending on how much carbonation you want. I have been doing mine the slow carb way as it tends to allow the yeast to settle and give a clearer beer. I am like you I can't believe I waited so long to keg. Bottling sucks.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Almost with the fast carbing. The timing of the gas on and gas off is fine, but you need to let the kegs sit there for a few hours before you burp them so the beer can absorb what's in the headspace. You'll find if you burp them straight away that all that pressure flies out and the gas is wasted, but if you leave them sit there for a while first, they only give a little burp because the beer has absorbed most of it. Otherwise though, that's pretty much the method.

[James Lao]

Got that last post too late, oh well I will know for next time and I probably won't be so bloody eager to tap the kegs second time round.!

I ended up burping the kegs and then setting to 12psi then drinking.

The carbonation was good, probably a little bit less than I would normally have, solid head and lacing all the way down the glass.

The beer was cloudy, but I will put this down to my hastiness in getting it in the keg.

Probably needed a bit longer CCing.

Hopefully that will settle over the next few days.

I was surprised at how small / tight the bubbles were already, when bottling it normally takes about 3 weeks for the bubbles in the head to be compact like this.

Overall I am really happy with the outcome, probably just need to apply a bit more patience next time eh!

The Citra/Cascade IPA combo is delish, probably ended being more like A Hop Hog than a Ghost ship though, well impressed if I say so myself haha.

 

Cheers

 

James

[Otto Von Blotto]

You'll probably find that the carbonation comes up a bit more in the next day or two on serving pressure. The reason I use that method of fast carbonation is precisely because it results in the beer being a little undercarbed when the gas is re-connected at serving pressure, thus preventing any overcarbonated kegs. You can of course achieve the same thing with the shake the keg method but because the timeframes are so tiny by comparison it's a lot easier to f&$k it up.

 

The beer is always cloudy when it goes into the keg even after a good cold crash, except in the case of my pilsners lately because the yeast drops out extremely well . It's no different to how it appears in the bottles. The yeast won't all drop out in the cold crash but they will all drop out in the keg given time, usually 2-3 weeks for them to completely drop out.

 

Speaking of kegging and pilsners, my latest one will be kegged today. It would have been done yesterday but I ended up having to work instead, first public holiday in ages I've had to work... stupid roster changes Anyway, this one is only going in to a 19L keg, being a 21/22L size batch. After that's done, the FV will get a quick 15-20 minute soak before the next batch is put in, the pale ale I brewed with some home made malted barley, featuring some of my home grown Cascade hops as well.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Otto Von Blotto]

The latest Bo Pils is in the keg, and temporarily sitting on the spare gas line until I leave in an hour or so for work. I didn't have enough time to get the next batch in the FV so that will be done tomorrow morning instead. This beer was insanely clear out of the fermenter already, so I don't think it'll take too long in the keg for it to brighten fully. I took this photo of a glass I poured from it to ensure the tap area was cleared of crud and it doesn't really do it justice (condensation was hard to prevent being a humid day) but it was almost as clear as water already.

 

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Mark D Pirate]

Does it really matter if the keg isn't completely full ?

I have 23 litres getting ready for cold crash and will keg it but want to fill a 5 litre mini keg for feedback at a club night so would leave 17.5 - 18 litres for the keg .

Will this affect the carbonation rate ?

[Otto Von Blotto]

It doesn't matter no. The beer will probably carbonate a little faster being a slightly smaller volume though. Maybe shave an hour or two off the time it sits on high pressure just to be sure it's not over carbonated.

 

As an example, I don't use the high pressure method on my 10L "Heinz 57" keg, it's usually only filled to 8 or 9 litres and it just sits on serving pressure from the time it goes into the kegerator and is usually carbed in 3-4 days, whereas a 19L keg takes over a week on the same pressure to fully carbonate.

[Swill Bill]

 

 

Type: All Grain

Batch Size: 23.00 l

Boil Size: 34.54 l

Boil Time: 90 min

End of Boil Vol: 27.27 l

Final Bottling Vol: 21.60 l

Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

 

 

 

 

4.75 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 91.3 %

0.25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 2 4.8 %

0.20 kg Wheat Malt, Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 3.8 %

15.00 g Magnum [13.30 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 4 23.0 IBUs

20.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 7.2 IBUs

0.29 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 -

20.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min Hop 7 3.6 IBUs

1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 8 -

20.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

20.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs

 

 

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

 

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.8 %

Bitterness: 33.8 IBUs

Est Color: 13.7 EBC

 

Keggged this last week and has come up a treat. Really enjoying the flavour of Citra and the dry hop aromas.

Also kegged another of Kelseys Red Ale, great taste but the creamy head is awesome and always gets commented on by all that drink it.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

 

 

 

 

 

[RobW17]

Well reading all this was much more fun thank working this morning .

 

I had a busy weekend - bottled one brew, threw down a cider kit and spent most of yesterday brewing a Kolsch. Last night, just to round out the weekend in the proper manner, I bought a Kegerator!! Should have seen SWMBO's face..... she was delighted, or at least that's what it looked like from under the table where I was hiding.

 

Anyway, this has been very educational, but there's one thing I need clarified. On the off chance that I convince my beloved that the Kegerator will look classy as sitting in our front lounge, what do I do between sessions to prevent the inquisitive little people in my house from having their own Keg party?

 

Do I just shut off the Co2 to prevent the taps from pouring? And is there anything I need to be mindful of when switching back on when I'm thirsty?

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Simply shutting off the CO2 won't stop the taps from pouring because there is still pressure in the kegs. What you'd have to do is bleed the pressure from the kegs as well - but the problem with that is that you'd lose carbonation, and it is a bit of a waste of gas.

 

I'm not aware of such a thing as a tap lock although they may exist, but flow control taps might be the answer. You can just turn the flow completely off with the lever on the side of the tap and even if the handle is pulled it won't dispense anything.

 

Failing that, putting the kegerator somewhere where the little people can't access it easily might be the only real way to prevent it.

[RobW17]

Would just disconnecting the beer lines create an issue?

[Otto Von Blotto]

You could remove the disconnects off the beer out posts, they won't leak beer but they will then be exposed to the air inside the fridge and could end up harbouring nasties. Also if the beer dries and gets sticky it's pretty difficult to pull the collar of the disconnect up to re-connect it to the keg post.

 

Other than that, there's probably not much else you can do except try to make sure the kids stay away from the kegerator. I daresay sometime in the coming years I'll be dealing with this as well.

 

[fattima]

No experience with these but heard them mentioned on another forum

Your text to link here...

[Otto Von Blotto]

If you're a bit handy with DIY type stuff you could probably build something similar to that to keep the taps locked in the off position.

[Mark D Pirate]

You could enclose them in an old cupboard or box of some description .

 

I'm waiting to hear back about a second hand chest freezer , should easily hold 6 kegs and toying with making part of the collar fold down to expose the taps and become a drip tray , can easily fold it back up and lock it if required , should help keep dust and dog hair out of my taps ....this kegging caper is almost as obsessive as the brewing

[RobW17]

Cheers folks - I might have to get a couple of those faucet locks, although as it turns out the Kegerator is now going to live in the Shed - I was overruled .

 

Picked it up last night, fridge works well, still has the blue plastic protective sheet on the door, although it all needs a bit of a clean up. The bloke included a near full 6kg gas bottle as well! I'm going to get all new gas and beer lines this weekend, along with giving everything a thorough scrub.

 

Next week is pay week, so then I'll pick up a couple of kegs as I have a Kolsch and a Cider fermenting away at the moment which will be ready for packaging by then. My plan is to just do the slow carb at this point.

 

So, in as little as a fortnight I will never have to be sober again!!!

[Otto Von Blotto]

I predict you will get sick of waiting for the slower force carb after a while . It takes almost as long as the bottles with priming sugar to carbonate, and if you fill the keg too much it doesn't carbonate well at all for some reason. I use a method that has them carbed in a day or two which I'm happy with. The exception is big dark beers, I normally just leave them on serving pressure the whole time so I can gauge the level of carbonation on a daily basis. Last time I had one on tap though, it was carbed perfectly on normal serving pressure; I noticed it carbonated less than lighter, thinner styles on the same pressure which made things very easy.

 

If you can, get some Valpar Flexmaster II line for the beer and gas lines, it's a lot better quality than the shitty Keg King stuff. It's getting close to two years since I set my system up now (where did that time go?) and I'm still using the original beer lines I bought for it. I'm still using the Micromatic CO2 regulator with no problems too.

[Dirtynidge]

Evening all.

 

I need some advice on making the move to kegging.

 

I have come across some well priced 19L kegs but they're without regulator or gas.

 

I was going to go the soda stream co2 option but I can get these for a good price:

 

http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/O0184

 

And this reg:

 

http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/O0171

 

Am I barking up the wrong tree here or would this work? Any help much appreciated, this is a subject I have no idea about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

That regulator doesn't go detailed enough in its graduations to be of any real use for carbonating kegs. It might not fit the refillable cylinders, and the proper CO2 regulators might not fit those disposable things either. You're better off going to Brewers Choice or whoever who do the swap n' go type thing with CO2 cylinders, and also grabbing one of these regulators:

 

http://craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=734

 

The gauge at the top is the low pressure gauge used for setting serving pressure, the big black numbers on the outside of the scale are bar, the red ones inside it are PSI, so you can see it's a lot bigger scale and easier to set it where it needs to be. The gauge on the side of it is the high pressure gauge and it tells you how much pressure is in the cylinder itself. It doesn't drop until all the liquid CO2 has been vapourised, which lets you know the gas is running low and it's nearly time to swap for a full one.

 

It will cost more, but at least you're getting the right gear for the job.