Going Into Kegging

[hellbent]

As I am sick of washing, sterelising and filling stubbies the time has come for kegging,,,, what I wish to know is what's the best type of setup and what is the cheapest way with gas and gas bottles?.... I will probably make on an average of about 14 kegs a year. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also when I drill a hole in the fridge how do I know where to drill without hitting any pipes etc? is a door safe?? or where in the side

 

[razz]

Have a look at some of these hellbent.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&showcat=11

 

[Cocko]

And this thread :icon_drool2:

Someone will know better but there is some way to spray water and flour, or something like that, on your fridge to track the piping... but the door is a safe spot, if it works for your setup.. Or, I THINK most fridges have a drain type outlet on the rear lower bottom which you could use, may be wrong on that one.

BTW: Kegging, you will never bottle again! except of course for the next swap or lottery or family or cellaring or.... :lol:

Do you have a fridge ready to go? if so, go go go... First beer out of that tap is a great day!

:icon_cheers:

 

[rock]

Hey mate, i went kegging bout 2 years ago and haven't looked back, I have a upright fridge freezer set up and have 2 taps through the door, didn't take much to drill the holes to insert the tapshanks and the co2 goes through the side wall. The best advice get the John Guest fittings they are great when u want to clean all the lines,to seperate all the lines and fittings..There are generally no freezing pipes through the door, normally in the rear wall or the side wall,maybe see if u can check with the manufacturer of the fridge, mine fits only 2 corny kegs but suits me, but other guys have some great set ups in chest freezers. Good luck, rod

 

[barto1308]

Hey mate, i went kegging bout 2 years ago and haven't looked back, I have a upright fridge freezer set up and have 2 taps through the door, didn't take much to drill the holes to insert the tapshanks and the co2 goes through the side wall. The best advice get the John Guest fittings they are great when u want to clean all the lines,to seperate all the lines and fittings..There are generally no freezing pipes through the door, normally in the rear wall or the side wall,maybe see if u can check with the manufacturer of the fridge, mine fits only 2 corny kegs but suits me, but other guys have some great set ups in chest freezers. Good luck, rod

Hey Rocket,

Just ordered my first 4 kegs from craftbrewer over the weekend, and I'm planning on running the gas through the side wall of the fridge. What sort of fittings did you use to achieve this? Did you use some sort of bulkhead, or just pass the gas line through a hole with a bit of silicone?

 

[Cocko]

Hey Rocket,

Just ordered my first 4 kegs from craftbrewer over the weekend, and I'm planning on running the gas through the side wall of the fridge. What sort of fittings did you use to achieve this? Did you use some sort of bulkhead, or just pass the gas line through a hole with a bit of silicone?

Ultimately, you want the hole the exact size as the gas tubing so no silicone or sealant is needed....

Also, it would be awesome to have a JG [John Guest] fitting on the outside and inside so you can quickly disconnect your piping from the gas bottle and internal etc.... something like this either side of the fridge wall: link

JG fittings = money spent IMO!!

2c.

 

[woodwormm]

John Guest fittings are the best advice i can give.


i set my system up with barb and crimp fittings but am now changing to JG for the ease of cleaning and reconfiguring lines as needed. so effectively i've outlayed twice for fittings and line.

go JG fittings to begin with, bit dearer but SO much more user friendly.

good luck, gotta love the kegs...

 

[beerbelly58]

Hey Rocket,

Just ordered my first 4 kegs from craftbrewer over the weekend, and I'm planning on running the gas through the side wall of the fridge. What sort of fittings did you use to achieve this? Did you use some sort of bulkhead, or just pass the gas line through a hole with a bit of silicone?

Dont worry bout my login name: same guy, I have a barbed fitting on my reg and is held on by a small hose clamp, and drilled the same diamater as the gas line through the side wall and no silicone, then splitting the line by a JG fitting(one in and 2 out) ,or in your case u maybe able to fit 4 kegs into the fridge then u might need a different type of splitter, run gas lines to a ( this is what I use for my 2 keg stup)inline on-off JG fitting, then to a JG fitting that screws onto a corny gas- in fitting (Grey for gas), to gas the two kegs at once..Or one only, U never have to muck around with the gas fittings though, once u have them at the right length to balance the system..(That's another story) . Connect your beer out (black for beer) connector that connect via JG screw on fittings to your beerlines,Then they are attached to the barbed shanks on the rear of the newly inserted beer fonts through your fridge door. That way work's for me, mine have about 2 meters of beer line from keg to beer font, but there are heaps of different configuations that work great also, So check them all out..There is a bit of reading to do on balancing your system to carb up properly, Hope this helps and is a great system when it's up and running so persavere, Cheers Rod

 

[BEC26]

Sorry to hijack . . .

I have a fridge that is frost free to both top and bottom (ie fans into both), does that mean I can drill where I want on the sides ( my thinking is that there are no gas lines in the walls) :unsure:

Yes a dumb question I know

Cheers :beer:

 

[hellbent]

Have a look at some of these hellbent.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&showcat=11

Now that is a great link, thanks Razz. After posting my query I was browsing in AHB and I came across the "BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO KEGGING" and it has a lot of the answers, but the rest of the articles on that link are priceless. The tips offered by you guys on fittings, and drilling the door etc are also a great help, thanks for your help....

just as a further note while reading about kegging online my step-son come in and seen I was in AHB and said he has a spare regulator and 2 kegs he can sell me cheap so I guess it's all happening.

Quick edit..... how much should I offer him I believe they are 19 ltr kegs

 

[hsb]

I just tapped my first keg at the weekend, very happy with the results. Same as you - got fed up with bottling, cleaning and storage.

I did a Force Carb and was drinking an English Special Bitter within the hour. Tasted creamier than my bottle primed beer (psychological maybe?) Amazing to be drinking it so quick, I've got so used to waiting a month for bottle priming and conditioning.

The whole process of carbing and balancing was surprisingly easy, I just put 2.5m of beer line between tap and keg with the view I could shorten it if needs be. But it's perfect for me at 80kPa, 9C - I like the lower end of carbonation though, fizzy beer isn't for me.

It's going to take a while adjusting to beer on tap 24/7, I can see the problem there straight away, quick half with breakfast anyone? Hopefully the novelty will wear off a bit before I am a total fat drunk.


re: the Corny kegs, they retail at around $60-70, regulators $70-120 depends what type, have a look at suppliers linked above ^ Good luck, won't regret it!

 

[OzBeer_MD]

Sorry to hijack . . .

I have a fridge that is frost free to both top and bottom (ie fans into both), does that mean I can drill where I want on the sides ( my thinking is that there are no gas lines in the walls) :unsure:

Yes a dumb question I know

Cheers :beer:

Unless it has the hot lines as a black grille attached to the back (old style fridge) then the hot lines are running around under the external skin. When the fridge is running hard you should be able to feel the heat with your hand and work out where they are (roughly). Frost free or fans has nothing to do with where the hot lines are. Drill though one of them and the fridge is a write off.

I saw a video once where a guy made a mixture of flour and alchohol, applied the mixture to the area where he wanted to drill, then powered up the fridge. The flour kind of "set" where the hot lines were, he marked the location with a sharpie then cleaned off the white messy mixture.

 

[hellbent]

Unless it has the hot lines as a black grille attached to the back (old style fridge) then the hot lines are running around under the external skin. When the fridge is running hard you should be able to feel the heat with your hand and work out where they are (roughly). Frost free or fans has nothing to do with where the hot lines are. Drill though one of them and the fridge is a write off.

Yup the fridge is an older one and does have the big black grill at the back, does that mean the sides are safe to drill for my gas line??

 

[OzBeer_MD]

Yup the fridge is an older one and does have the big black grill at the back, does that mean the sides are safe to drill for my gas line??

Well thats my understanding. If the innner skin of the fridge is plastic you can use something hot like a soldering iron to melt you way out to the outer skin before drilling the metal. This gives you an opportunity to inspect (or at least feel) before 'doing the damage' so to speak.