# Adapting 5l Party Kegs To Corny Fittings



## stl (23/11/11)

So I've got a couple of those minikegs and was inspired by a thread on another forum to try this out.

The pictures speak for themselves -- it's just a hose barb, elbow, cornelius plug adapter and the corny post itself. I've just half-filled one with water now and will test it out when I find a clamp for some gas line...


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## OneEye (23/11/11)

This is awesome. I was just looking at how to do something like this today.... I was looking at this thread from northernbrewer.com. Similar idea but using a T-Bar fitting so as to only use the top bung hole


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## Florian (23/11/11)

Nice work, mate, and good to see you're slowly getting into kegging. 
Very interested to hear how your tests are going, guess I'll hear tomorrow if you have results.


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## mckenry (24/11/11)

Looks good.
Why though, did you bother with the elbow and therefore have all the other pieces? Is it a height issue with the disconnect?
Cant you just put the gas in post on top of the bung (with proper fitting) ?


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## stl (24/11/11)

mckenry said:


> Why though, did you bother with the elbow and therefore have all the other pieces? Is it a height issue with the disconnect?



It was just a matter of finding the right bits...



mckenry said:


> Cant you just put the gas in post on top of the bung (with proper fitting) ?



The gas post itself has an uncommon size/thread, so you need the adapter (next piece in line). Those adapters come in two flavours, either to 1/4" male NPT (MPT) or to 1/4" FFL. So you could skip the elbow if you had a barb (it's a 1/2" barb BTW) with either 1/4" female NPT (FPT) or 1/4" MFL (male flared) on the other side.

I chose that barb because that's what others were using and I wasn't sure how well a normal one would fit. On the northern brewer forum (link above) they actually cut the last (flat) part of the barb off but I don't think I'd do that. The fit isn't as snug as I'd thought it might be, and under a bit of pressure overnight, they seem to have slid out a tiny bit and I suspect that last barb section is what's holding them in.

So far, so good...


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Hey STL, just wondering where you went to get all your fittings? Craftbrewer?


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## MarkBastard (24/11/11)

Can you please give a cost break down of all of the components that go into making that? Not including the disconnects. Kegs and fittings including posts.


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Mark^Bastard said:


> Can you please give a cost break down of all of the components that go into making that? Not including the disconnects. Kegs and fittings including posts.



Yep. This would be even better  Thanks mate


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## MarkBastard (24/11/11)

Yeah I was thinking if it works out cheap enough it'd be bloody handy.

You'd probably have to buy the parts overseas though, just the keg posts + poppets would set you back $50 for second hand ones if buying from craft brewer. You'd be better off buying a full size keg at that price, but then you'd have to toss up whether it's worth it wouldn't you.

Looks like craft brewer sell the party kegs new for $18.


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Yeah they do but from what I can tell the mini kegs Ross has have a gas widget inside of them and arent really suitable for re-use... too hard to ensure it's sanitised


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## stl (24/11/11)

Mark^Bastard said:


> Yeah I was thinking if it works out cheap enough it'd be bloody handy.



Right, it's not that cheap. I'll figure out the costs later and post the details.



Mark^Bastard said:


> You'd probably have to buy the parts overseas though, just the keg posts + poppets would set you back $50 for second hand ones if buying from craft brewer. You'd be better off buying a full size keg at that price, but then you'd have to toss up whether it's worth it wouldn't you.



Full size kegs are cheap, but they're full size... these things are very portable. Even at home, I'm a fan of variety, and I could fit a lot more of these in a fridge. My idea was to use these bugs, and have a couple of these sets of posts and just "tap" one keg at a time. Of course, once you've jammed this thing in you can't pull it out and move the post to another keg but you don't need one set for each minikeg.

I ordered the parts from the US because I had some stuff coming from there via a freight forwarder anyway. (Which turned out to be awesome.. a lot of the stuff came from near the forwarder in LA, and it only took 27 hours from when they handed it over to DHL to get to my desk at work. That cost $127 including forwarding fees (consolidating 7 orders) for 11lb of gear.)



moosebeer said:


> Yeah they do but from what I can tell the mini kegs Ross has have a gas widget inside of them and arent really suitable for re-use... too hard to ensure it's sanitised



Yeah, mine are the ones from CraftBrewer with the gas thing. I was hoping to be able to remove it looks much more firmly embedded than the tap was...


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Looks like I can get it all from Ross except I can't find the Corny post adapter. The kegs from minikegs.org are just the plain ones without the gas widget, so might be better suited to this kind of thing? Or just buy one from the bottlo and drink the contents... all for science of course


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## MarkBastard (24/11/11)

stl said:


> My idea was to use these bugs, and have a couple of these sets of posts and just "tap" one keg at a time. Of course, once you've jammed this thing in you can't pull it out and move the post to another keg but you don't need one set for each minikeg.



Now that's a good idea. Wonder if you could do that without gas as a mini real ale setup?


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## Dazza88 (24/11/11)

Awesome stuff stl.


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## Dazza88 (24/11/11)

moosebeer said:


> Looks like I can get it all from Ross except I can't find the Corny post adapter. The kegs from minikegs.org are just the plain ones without the gas widget, so might be better suited to this kind of thing? Or just buy one from the bottlo and drink the contents... all for science of course



Check out chicompany website for adaptor.


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Are those adapters 1/4" or 1/2" stl?


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## stl (24/11/11)

moosebeer said:


> Looks like I can get it all from Ross except I can't find the Corny post adapter.



I couldn't find any of those bits at CraftBrewer, apart from the post itself (don't forget to order the poppet valve separately from there though).



moosebeer said:


> The kegs from minikegs.org are just the plain ones without the gas widget, so might be better suited to this kind of thing? Or just buy one from the bottlo and drink the contents... all for science of course



I think the last option is the best 

I'm just waiting to come across Franziskaner in those kegs again. I've seen that for about $30, only $10 more than an empty one... there are things far worse than having to drink 5l of Franziskaner.



Mark^Bastard said:


> Now that's a good idea. Wonder if you could do that without gas as a mini real ale setup?



You mean just for carbonation? I was think of doing that. The bottom bung is a good few cm off the bottom anyway, and I haven't bothered with a pickup tube to get it any closer.



DazDog said:


> Check out chicompany website for adaptor.



That's where I got mine. The other option (in the US) was Midwest Brewing Supplies but their website was being flaky at the time I ordered. Both include the poppet valve with the actual posts as well.

So what I paid was:

$9.99 for each of the posts, from CHI Company
$7.35 for each corny post to 1/4" NPT adapter, from CHI
$6.64 for each SS 1/2" hose barb to 1/4" male NPT, from McMaster-Carr
$4.21 for each 1/4" elbow

So $US56.38 per set, plus shipping. Again, not cheap but I think they will be cool things to have.


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## stl (24/11/11)

moosebeer said:


> Are those adapters 1/4" or 1/2" stl?



Part 5361K39 from McMaster-Carr, "Type 304 Stainless Steel Barbed Hose Fitting, Standard-Wall Adapter, 1/2" Hose ID X 1/4" NPT Male Pipe"


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## Darkman (24/11/11)

stl said:


> It was just a matter of finding the right bits...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Could you fit a 1/4" JG fitting to the end of your 1/4" barb you are inserting into the rubber grommet? Basically the same fitting you would use on youre keg disconnect. 

If this works you would be eliminating the elbow, post and disconnect.


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## stl (24/11/11)

Another thing to consider is using the adapted bungs (discussed/sold in another thread here) which give you a Schrader (car tyre / bicycle valve) at the top. I have a set of those and went to the local bike store and picked up a hose from a floor pump (he literally cut it off a brand new pump and sold it to me for $10). It has quite a nice chuck on it, and I pump my bike tyres up to 100psi so these things have no problems with that kind of pressure. And then if you're lazy, you can pump up the tyres on your wheelbarrow/trolley/Swiss exercise ball/kid's bike/basketball with it too (bonus!) provided your reg can do those pressures.


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## stl (24/11/11)

Darkman said:


> Could you fit a 1/4" JG fitting to the end of your 1/4" barb you are inserting into the rubber grommet? Basically the same fitting you would use on youre keg disconnect.
> 
> If this works you would be eliminating the elbow, post and disconnect.



Yeah, I imagine you can get the right JG part to go on the barb. The threaded side of the barb is just that, a standard threaded fitting. But then you can't disconnect anything until it's empty, unless you also put some kind of stopcock in-line.


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## OneEye (24/11/11)

Similar thing here http://justinview.com.au/2011/03/diy-mini-5l-keg-co2-system/


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## npenno (24/11/11)

Hey Guys,

Instead of all that plumbing wouldn't just a barb to male quick disconnect do? Look in the keg king price list for product 005632.

Cheers,

Nick


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## stl (24/11/11)

Nick Penno said:


> Instead of all that plumbing wouldn't just a barb to male quick disconnect do? Look in the keg king price list for product 005632.



Do they seal up at all? I mean, there appears to be no valve in them, so same problem as above -- you can't disconnect them until the keg is empty.

Also, a lot of the point (for me) was to have standard corny posts so as to not have different fittings lying around.


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## stl (24/11/11)

Florian said:


> Very interested to hear how your tests are going, guess I'll hear tomorrow if you have results.



Well, no leaks.. I have successfully made some soda water. (Obviously not very well-carbonated soda water after <24 hours, but I'll consider it a success.)


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## Dazza88 (24/11/11)

What's your gas source?


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## stl (25/11/11)

DazDog said:


> What's your gas source?



Just one of those tiny (540g?) cylinders and a normal reg. That in itself is pretty portable, but if you're taking it somewhere, the CO2 bulbs would obviously be a good option too. Or, perhaps just giving it a bit of extra gas before heading off would be enough. Requires more testing, once I have hooked up a tap...


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## seamad (25/11/11)

I was going to buy on of these kegs from ross the other day as i have post,adaptors already. Ross said that as the kegss are enameled steel that they wont last that long so not really cost effective. Ive got a spray bottle with corny posts but has a very small leak, may need to get a 9 l keg


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## stl (9/12/11)

seamad said:


> I was going to buy on of these kegs from ross the other day as i have post,adaptors already. Ross said that as the kegss are enameled steel that they wont last that long so not really cost effective. Ive got a spray bottle with corny posts but has a very small leak, may need to get a 9 l keg



How long is "not that long"? Sure they're not going to last forever... but I imagine the commercially filled ones sit around for many months, and it's cheap enough to replace the 5l keg itself (perhaps filled with something not untasty). The adaptors will last pretty much forever...


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