Its Time For Kegs.

[Prawned]

Well i have been making K&K homebrew for a few years now, and it is really starting to taste great! I think i can finally get into kegs! I have so many bottles that i just dont want to clean anymore, its making me just not brew.. The thing is i have no clue on kegs and setups etc.. I have the one fridge that i use for temp controlled fermenting which im guessing i will have to double as the keg fridge untill i have the cash for another fridge.. Just got a few questions i guess..

Is it pretty easy to setup kegs?

Can i carbonate my beer in the kegs without forced carbonation? (just in a cool dark place with sugar??)

Where is the cheapest place to buy a setup? (without gas bottle, buying that when the first brew is ready for the kegs)

Tap or Beer gun? Not sure which to go with here, tap looks alot better though.

What kind of bar fridge or freezer will fit 3+ kegs in it? and not cost an arm and leg (Looking at buying a brand new one for kegs sometime soon)

I have been trying to read up as much as i could in the last few days, but still dont know how to go about doing all of this lol

 

[milpod]

1.yes easy to set up kegs
2.yes.just treat your keg as a 19lt long neck
3.I'd go http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/ and talk with Ross
4.I first bought a pluto,have 4 TAPS now and a pluto
5.Have 1/300lt freezer,1/120lt bar fridge(yeast,hops and glasses),1 old fermentation fridge,and another full sized fridge for incidentals

I'm trying pretty hard now to mesh and streamline everything,it's not working

 

[OzBeer_MD]

My introduction to homebrew was a keg setup as a gift. The setup is pretty easy. I have two kegs in the bottom of a 400 litre upright Fisher and Paykel. The two kegs sit in front of the compressor mound, when I need to move to more kegs i'll add a timber shelf just above the mound (giving up one shelf above the kegs currently, but making a small spot for bottles or whatever infront of the mound below the keg shelf)

The fridge mod was pretty simple, I used a mates holesaw to pop a hole through the door for the tap (off centre with a view to perhaps having two or three taps one day). used a soldering iron to melt through the plastic inner lining in the side of the fridge (up high) whilst 'feeling' for any hot lines, then drilled the hole in the metal side of the fridge for the gas line. Since doing this i have noticed that when the fridge is running hard I can feel the hot lines just by running my hand over the side of the fridge. ( I was pretty close to hitting one now I look at it)

The Kegs; mine (Cornelius ex Seven Up USA) came from an ebay [re]seller in western Sydney. Supposedly 'reconditioned' but now that I have learned a bit more, I realise that the o-rings etc are pretty old and I have chosen to re-re-condition it myself with parts (lubricant, orings etc) from the HBS. I have also shortended the dip tubes so that they are not in the sediment. Paying $90 for a trully reconditioned keg might be the way to go, old kegs that need TLC might frustrate you when they leak from the main hatch or poppet valves etc.

You'll love kegging. Get a couple of corny (short for Cornelius Manufaturing, USA) kegs or Coke kegs (with the Quick Disconnects [QD's] and gas line), a regulator and Co2 bottle, mount a tap on the fridge or freezer. You'll need a length of PVC tube to go from your fermenter to the bottom of the Keg for filling (like a racking tube but shorter for the narrow kegs). Chill thefilled keg for two days before carbonating (there are plenty of threads on here about carbing kegs). Your current bottle conditioning/carbing time will be reduced to a miniumum of two days. (I use day three for a 24 hour 35psi carb after chilling, but the 'Ross method' is shorter)

When I opened the pressy I remember thinking 'what the hell is all of this?' 'Scuba gear?' - but after reading a bit on the web, I reallised it is very simple. Apply regulated gas to the 'IN' post on the Keg and beer comes out the 'OUT' post.

You've done the right thing by checking out this forum first. Enjoy the beer on tap.

MD

EDIT: I'm all thumbs.

 

[Parrothead]

I know what you mean when you say that bottling makes you want not to brew. It is without a doubt the worst part of the entire homebrewing process if you are by yourself. I have 2 boys and 1 daughter - the boys were smart enough to run away screaming when I asked for help one time - but my daughter pitched in. That was the last time she helped. <_< Once and done. Anyway, I went to kegs about 3 years ago and have not regretted it since. I still bottle once in a while, but I'd say 90% of my homebrew is kegged. Once you get in to it, you'll love it over bottles. Worth the investment.

 

[KGB]

As stated, kegging is the only way to fly. Read through the Wiki topics on kegging and you should have a good grasp of what it takes and how to do it.