Ready to start kegging!

[stuknkrvl]

Hey all,

My birthday's coming up and my wife wants me to get her a list of brewing toys that I want so she can make a gift wish list for me.

I really want to start kegging my brews, so I was hoping you all could help me out by suggesting a list of the bare bones necessities for a single 5 gallon keg set up - equipment, hoses, clamps, cleaning supplies - all the things a nube like myself wouldn't think about beyond a keg, regulator, and CO2 tank.

Also, any advice for getting everything set up and ready to go for the first time would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[tracyk]

Keg Connection seems to have a great kit. You just need to decide whether you want ball locks or pin locks for your canister. They usually send an extra o-ring kit with the canister. Get some keg lube, the small container will last a long time.

Then you just need something to clean you canister and beer lines out such a PBW, then StarSan. This will get you started. Enjoy kegging!!

 

[liquidcourage]

Something like this would be a good starter set. You can buy more kegs for about $40 each or upgrade from the picnic tap if you want. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Keg-Kit-Use...395541?hash=item417afed615:g:wlkAAMXQTjNSMNiX

 

[helibrewer]

When able get a second keg and a keg transfer line (short line with a black beverage connector on each end). Here's what I do:

Take that empty keg, clean it and fill it with StarSan solution (1 oz per 5 gallons)
When your serving keg kicks, vent it, open it and clean it. Seal it back up
Put a grey gas connector on the cleaned keg, with or without a line attached, this is a vent line
connect the transfer hose to the 2 kegs
Use CO2 to push the StarSan from the sanitized keg into the freshly cleaned keg

What you have now is an empty, sanitized keg filled with CO2 and a new keg filled with StarSan. Now when it is time to keg another batch just vent the sanitized keg and fill with the new batch by siphon, pump, or gravity, your fresh beer will never see oxygen (you can add CO2 to the fermenter dead space as it empties).

 

[mongoose33]

When able get a second keg and a keg transfer line (short line with a black beverage connector on each end). Here's what I do:

Take that empty keg, clean it and fill it with StarSan solution (1 oz per 5 gallons)
When your serving keg kicks, vent it, open it and clean it. Seal it back up
Put a grey gas connector on the cleaned keg, with or without a line attached, this is a vent line
connect the transfer hose to the 2 kegs
Use CO2 to push the StarSan from the sanitized keg into the freshly cleaned keg

What you have now is an empty, sanitized keg filled with CO2 and a new keg filled with StarSan. Now when it is time to keg another batch just vent the sanitized keg and fill with the new batch by siphon, pump, or gravity, your fresh beer will never see oxygen (you can add CO2 to the fermenter dead space as it empties).

This is pretty much what I do, though I usually open the lid so I can catch it when the CO2 starts creating foam through the Star San. Or you could open the PRV.

 

[55x11]

Hey all,

My birthday's coming up and my wife wants me to get her a list of brewing toys that I want so she can make a gift wish list for me.

I really want to start kegging my brews, so I was hoping you all could help me out by suggesting a list of the bare bones necessities for a single 5 gallon keg set up - equipment, hoses, clamps, cleaning supplies - all the things a nube like myself wouldn't think about beyond a keg, regulator, and CO2 tank.

Also, any advice for getting everything set up and ready to go for the first time would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

Another vote for kegconnection.

Start here: http://www.kegconnection.com/1-faucet-basic-homebrew-kegerator-kit/

Basic 1-faucet kit. I would upgrade to taprite regulator for $8 extra. 5lb CO2 tank for $64 is not a bad deal - but you may find cheaper used on craigslist, or at your local CO2 filling station. Definitely take advantage of their 1/2 off keg prices - you have to choose ball-lock or pin-lock. It's a steal!

So you are looking at ~$173 for: (from upstream to downstream):
5lb CO2 tank (you will have to fill it)
regulator (get taprite)
gas line line
keg
beer line
picnic faucet

There is a lot of discussion of pin-lock vs. ball-lock. I think most people, myself included, prefer ball-lock design but the differences are very subtle and perhaps not worth worrying about. Pin-lock kegs are cheaper (and generally easier to find used) so at $15 difference in keg prices - assuming you just keg and thats it, maybe pinlock is not a bad choice.

However, there may be a few reasons to get ball-lock keg:
1. Carbacap. You can carbonate small amounts of flat beer using these attachments. And they only work for ball-lock.
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EEAPVD2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20)

2. Pressure release ring on the lid -usually only comes on ball-lock kegs. Makes it a bit easier to purge the keg, but you can also depress the gas line poppet on either design.

3. A bit easier to get connectors on and off as they will go on at any angle

The small disadvantage of ball-lock, is that both beer and gas connectors are almost identical, so even though posts are marked, you could accidentally (especially if operated by inebrivated server, as it often happens) put the wrong connector on, it may be a pain to remove. You just physically can't do it in pin-lock kegs no matter how drunk you are.

 

[bacgabe]

+3 for keg connection

 

[mongoose33]

Here are some other ideas that I've glommed onto as I've improved my kegging:

1. Make sure you measure the area in which you'll keep the kegs. Find out the diameter of various kegs, cut round circles of cardboard/paper and fit them in the space. This may determine which kegs you get.

2. Torpedo kegs from Morebeer are, IMO, the nuts. But they have two sizes, a shorter squattier one, and a taller narrower one. I have two shorties sitting on my compressor hump; the taller Corny Kegs won't quite fit. Which ever you choose, be sure they'll fit your keezer, kegerator, refrigerator, whatever you use.

3. PlexVector had a great idea on how to not introduce oxygen while racking from fermenter to keg (works whether you have a spigot or a siphon). A transfer line from fermentor to keg, filling in the OUT post, and a gas-out line from the IN post back up to the fermenter--this takes the CO2 that you've filled the keg with (see Helibrewer above) and returns it to the fermenter. No outside air introduced during the racking procedure.