Craftbrewer Kegerators: Real World Experiences Wanted.

[Fat Bastard]

I need to start kegging, and have a lack of time and inclination to modify a freezer into something, so I'm looking at getting something ready to go.

I've used Craftbrewer many times and I'm always happy with their service, so I'm happy to use them as a supplier for this, but I'd like some opinions on their kegerators so I can make an informed call to them to discuss the set up.

I'd like to run 3 kegs with a 3 tap font, and possibly flow control taps. I'm sure Ross & Co. can do whatever I'd like (not to mention provide the good oil), but I'd also like to hear your experiences of this unit and setups etc etc. before I give them a call.

Cheers,

FB

 

[Parks]

Pretty sure BribieG has 2 of them and highly rates them. There are definitely others here who have bought them and I haven't heard any problems yet.

 

[Florian]

I'm running one with three perlick flow controls in the kitchen, mainly to supply the family with soda water, so one keg of soda water and two of beer. Currently running on two gas bottles, one inside at 80-100kpa for beer and one outside at 200kpa for soda water. Soon to get a cheap three way gas manifold so I can run one bottle at 200kpa and give the beer a squirt of gas when needed for serving. Beauty of flow controls.

Can't fault the fridges, a tiny tad noisier then I thought but very acceptable. Holds temp well and looks pretty next to the coffee machine. Good thing is wife and kids (and I) drink heaps more water since we have it in the kitchen. I don't drink more beer than before, though.

Still running a self build 4 tap fridge in the garage for the not so favourite beers and conditioning etc.

 

[QldKev]

I threw some comment into this thread, worth having a read.

QldKev

 

[Screwtop]

Bought mine Jan 2009

Never had a problem!

It's just so cool serving beer from your very own Keggerator!

Screwy

 

[maldridge]

I'm going to purchase my kegerator tomorrow from Keg King. Not far from my house so decided I'd get it from there.

Ends up being $539 if I pay cash and pickup.

Apparently their latest Kegmaster IIIs have upgraded taps. IE not your standard spring back taps that are common apparently.

I'll find out exactly which taps are included and will report back!

Unfortunately for me I won't get a chance to test it all out until the new year! I'm going on holiday and all I can think about is getting back and putting on a brew!

 

[thedragon]

I'm going to purchase my kegerator tomorrow from Keg King. Not far from my house so decided I'd get it from there.

Ends up being $539 if I pay cash and pickup.

Maldridge, is that $539 for the series 1 or series 3? Does it come with everything you need except kegs and the gas bottle? Or do you need to mess around attaching extra stuff?

I'm also looking at the series 3 and am hoping that it is convenient as it sounds.

Daniel

 

[maldridge]

Series 3 - This one


It does indeed come with everything you need. Just need to get a gas bottle (+ kegs obviously) and your away. Supposedly.

 

[Bribie G]

I have a series 1 (coming up 4 years old) with a font tower and a series 2 that I use for fermenting / lagering, about 2 years old.

They are my life :icon_drunk:

I'm glad that I got them "raw" and added my own bits as opposed to getting a package which is often padded out with cheap stuff that looks good on the Ebay ad, but is not the best in the long run.

I'm not sure what the advantages of the series 3 are, but my series 2 is a rottweiler for lagering - here's a picture of what it did to the American Wheat I lagered for only 3 days.

Need to turn the temp up methinks. More than happy with the performance of the units and the price from Rosscoe.

 

[thedragon]

Thanks Maldridge and Bribie. I'm keen to get in to kegging, but don't have the time to stuff about. Sounds like the keg king kegorators are a good, safe, low fuss option.
Cheers.

 

[Florian]

Thanks Maldridge and Bribie. I'm keen to get in to kegging, but don't have the time to stuff about. Sounds like the keg king kegorators are a good, safe, low fuss option.
Cheers.

How did you get that out of Bribie's post?

 

[Edak]

I am also looking to get one soon (series 3 from KK). I believe that you can get it without the font and taps for $100 less. This way you can choose the taps you want. It looks like a top piece of gear and if you pony up cash I am sure you get a better deal.

Keep me up to date and I will determine from this thread whether I want it or not.

 

[Fat Bastard]

I threw some comment into this thread, worth having a read.

QldKev

Thanks Kev. That's good to know. Did you ever sort your font tower cooling issues? I'm thinking a jacket made from neoprene or some other insulating material and some sort of fan to blow cool air up the hole may go some way to helping, but maybe not eliminating the issue.

I have a series 1 (coming up 4 years old) with a font tower and a series 2 that I use for fermenting / lagering, about 2 years old.

They are my life :icon_drunk:

I'm glad that I got them "raw" and added my own bits as opposed to getting a package which is often padded out with cheap stuff that looks good on the Ebay ad, but is not the best in the long run.

I'm not sure what the advantages of the series 3 are, but my series 2 is a rottweiler for lagering - here's a picture of what it did to the American Wheat I lagered for only 3 days.

Need to turn the temp up methinks. More than happy with the performance of the units and the price from Rosscoe.

Good stuff! When you say getting it 'raw' do you mean as a basic kit,or relying on the advice of Rosscoe and Co(e) to set it up properly?

I'm looking to set up as versatile keggerator as possible, so I'm thinking of the fridge, 3 tap font with flow control Perlicks, and whatever else that Ross recomends to make a truly great plug and play set up. I'm assuming I'll need 3 regulators to be able to carb 3 kegs to different levels and have NRV's etc etc. Looking at getting 4 kegs at the same time, and renting (or buying if possible) 2 gas bottles.

I'm a complete beginner at kegging, so I really have no idea of what is what, other than if I'm not going to do it all myself and make my own mistakes, I want something that's right first time for my money!

Cheers,

FB

 

[Rowy]

I got all my kegging gear from Ross at CB and all I can say is that the gear, advice and after sales service have been second to none. Thats the way I'd be going. The kegerator / taps and everything have been second to none.

 

[thedragon]

How did you get that out of Bribie's post?

I got the good from Bribie (given the "they are my life" and it's "a Rottweiler" comments), and the no fuss from Maldridge ("it does indeed come with everything you need"),

Do you have a different view on the system? If you think I've misunderstood what appears to be a straightforward statement please let me know.

 

[Paul H]

Got 3 keggerators with 3 fonts & perlicks 525's. I have 3 way manifolds installed inside each..

Cheers

Paul

 

[Puv]

I too am looking to grab one of the series 3 units from Ross. My main concern is around taps. I would rather spend a bit more now and not need to upgrade later however I have no idea and searching returns plenty of old threads with taps that appear to be unavailable now.

Does anyone know what brand the 3 tap and font that Ross reccomends is? On the site it doesn't list many options however I know he can also get product from lancer, should I be looking down this path?

 

[glenwal]

I too am looking to grab one of the series 3 units from Ross. My main concern is around taps. I would rather spend a bit more now and not need to upgrade later however I have no idea and searching returns plenty of old threads with taps that appear to be unavailable now.

Does anyone know what brand the 3 tap and font that Ross reccomends is? On the site it doesn't list many options however I know he can also get product from lancer, should I be looking down this path?

Get perlicks. 525PC (plated chrome version) if you want to save a bit, 525SS if you want Stainless bling, or the 545 for flow control (not available in SS, so its a trade of between bling and beer line length.)

 

[Florian]

I got the good from Bribie (given the "they are my life" and it's "a Rottweiler" comments), and the no fuss from Maldridge ("it does indeed come with everything you need"),

Do you have a different view on the system? If you think I've misunderstood what appears to be a straightforward statement please let me know.

What i meant was that Maldridge gave his OK on the whole KK package, whereas Bribie has the fridges from Ross and bought the taps etc also separate from him. So basically Bribie didn't approve the KK package as he doesnt have it. Not sure if that was clear to you so i thought I'd ask.

personally i've heard to many bad stories on those package taps here on the forum that i decided that it's not worth it.

besides I think that the cheap taps also look like cheap taps so there's another good argument for me seeing ours is right in the open plan kitchen next to the dining table.

 

[Florian]

I'm looking to set up as versatile keggerator as possible, so I'm thinking of the fridge, 3 tap font with flow control Perlicks, and whatever else that Ross recomends to make a truly great plug and play set up. I'm assuming I'll need 3 regulators to be able to carb 3 kegs to different levels and have NRV's etc etc. Looking at getting 4 kegs at the same time, and renting (or buying if possible) 2 gas bottles.

If you really wanted three different carb levels then I'd recommend getting two gas bottles and two regs, but one of those regs would be a dual regulator which you can set two separate carb levels with. You probably wouldn't fit the dual reg into the fridge cause it's longer, so stick that gas bottle outside (there's a hole in the fridge for the gas line, you might have to widen it a very small tad to get both lines through) and the bottle with the single reg into the fridge.

In the real world though you might find that you don't really need three differently carbed beers. Even if you really wanted them you could sort of achieve the same result by just carbing them differently and then having NRVs before the gas in post, then serve at the same pressure. Over time it will fluctuate a bit as your serving pressure will be lower or higher than some of the kegs, but will you really notice?

Personally I found that the perfect carb level is not really that important to me anymore, as long as it's somewhere 'in the range', especially since I have flow controls and the pour is always perfect.
In saying that a second (or third) gas bottle is always handy to have around the house, i wouldn't rent them though.