I had not brewed for years and decided to get back into it. I recently had an extension to my house which included a garage, so space was no longer an issue.
After the first few brews and plenty of frustation with the quality of the bottles the big beer monopoly companies use (breaking necks when capping), plus the effort required to bottle, i decided if i was going to do this i would do it right.
So Stu, John and i started kegging.
Started with 1 keg and a pluto, a large free cycle fridge that could only hold 2 kegs to chill the beer between sessions. This fridge was Johns and to hold more than 4 kegs it would need a shelf not far from the bottom to avoid the angled back that hid the motor.
First keg was drank in about 1 hour by my very thirsty friends one friday evening, so with plenty of drunken conversations and dreams of the perfect setup, plus inspiration and input from internet savy fellow keggers, the plan was struck. Chest freezer with a wooden collar would be the ultimate design, it needed to hold 6 kegs and have them all available on tap.
Well i got sick of searching for a cheap chest freezer that was going to fit my plan of 6 kegs. I was wasting valuable drinking time. So i bought a new Fisher and Paykel chest freezer. Got it home and voided the warranty within minutes, by ripping the lid off.
A mate of mine Stu helped out with his soldiering skills and whacked together a Jaycar Tempmaster kit to keep the beer from freezing. Now sitting in the low 3 degrees celcius range.
My brother in-law Dave being a very handy skilled tradesman did the collar and shelf. Drilled some holes, slapped on some lacquer, and start the assembly.
Panel extensions, taps, gas manifold, lines and fittings, quick connects, disconnects all from GMK. Putting it together with a piece from here and a piece from there and it all came together, except for the problem of trying to put that little 4mm line onto the olive in the panel extension. The panel extension has an Olive and Nut, i believe these come in 2 sizes, 1 is for 6mm lines, and the other is for both 4mm and 5mm lines. Did not look possible to get my 4mm line onto the Olive (it would probably help if i was a plumber). Eventually i figured out a technique that makes it real simple. Boiling water, vaseline, screwdriver. Will post detailed instructions and technique with photos at a later date when we do Stu's.
What is left to do: -
- Just a bit more tweeking with external gas lines and connectors so that i can carbonate my kegs and clean lines without compromising other parts of the system.
- Need a catalog with all possible connectors etc.
- Drink beer.
Planned test. Take it to Johns farm for his farm warming on Cup weekend.
Got about 8 kegs ready to go, it will be a hoot.
