Kegging Setups

[JestersDarts]

Nice job mate - looks like its come up a treat! perlicks all the way..

JD

 

[kelbygreen]

yep I not bothered about flashing it up well not yet, but enjoying my second beer poured from it now it needs a little tweaking, think the beer lines to long but other then that it seems good.

 

[Cocko]

Brutal!

How important is a fan in a freezer set up?

 

[MarkBastard]

Brutal!

How important is a fan in a freezer set up?

Depends on the freezer and whether or not you have a collar. I've owned three freezers and only really needed a fan in one of them.

 

[Cocko]

Cheers MB.

What did the fan do? Keep the kegs at even temp, keep the moisture controllable? What does it do?

Cheers!

Edit: Sorry, wrong thread for such Q's... but better than a new thread!

 

[chadjaja]

Without a fan my taps are definitely warmer and I also get more moisture and mould problems. A fan and a package of damp rid solves both problems, costs next to nothing to install and run.

 

[MarkBastard]

Cheers MB.

What did the fan do? Keep the kegs at even temp, keep the moisture controllable? What does it do?

Cheers!

Edit: Sorry, wrong thread for such Q's... but better than a new thread!

On some freezers you'll find that the temperature at the top of the freezer is hotter than at the bottom. This is especially true when you make a collar but I reckon the freezer itself has an impact on this as well.

When it's warmer at the top it means that your kegs may be colder than your beer lines etc and you can get foaming issues because the beer comes from the bottom of the keg via the dip tube, and hence the beer should be the coldest item in the freezer, and then it warms up on its way up the beer tubes considerably and starts foaming.

I personally think moisture is only an issue if your freezer isn't sealed very well or if you're constantly opening it (for example if you use bronco taps).

 

[kelbygreen]

I am getting a bit of condensation but that would be from opening it to adjust the beer line and been gassing the kegs so they been in and out a few times, also just a few adjustments but think its almost sorted so will be shut all the time now.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

The Evolution of a kegging system.

My first efforts at kegging - a novelty VB can shaped fridge and an upside down rubbish bin. A bit agricultural, but it certainly worked well enough and it put beer on tap in the Thirsty household.

Next we progressed to a full size fridge... Still kept the VB/bin combo going though. The bigger fridge is really my fermentation fridge and serves duty only as an auxiliary keggerator.

The vb/bin keggerator was moved out of the study and onto the balcony... With tap beer right next to the PC, I was falling off the computer chair a bit too often. I compensated myself by upgrading it to a Celi tap to cut down on the amount of line needed to run balanced.

An proper upgrade was in order, so an F&P 215L slimline was ebayed. And a twin font tower purchased and installed... With plans to add another tower later. 18 months pass....

And yesterday, under the pressure of needing to get it ready for use at ANHC club night. I finally removed finger from rectum and finished (mostly) stage two.

So now we have 4 functional taps across two towers, and a caravan hand pump that is primarily for dispensing chilled water (glass rinsing and chilling) but can be drafted into action for the service of real ales. The lump of wood the pump is mounted on is a temporary feature till I make up something less ugly and a little more robust.

Fits 4 kegs on the floor, a 2.5 kg gas bottle inside on the hump, and either a reservoir for the chilled water or a smaller keg also on the hump to feed the hand pump.

Stage 3 is to install a combined unit in the HP position that will be a base for the HP and also support a tower mount for my CP filler

 

[MarkBastard]

Will that little VB fridge hold a 9L corny keg without needing the upside down bucket?

You can run them on electricity OR ice right?

 

[technoicon]

Will that little VB fridge hold a 9L corny keg without needing the upside down bucket?

You can run them on electricity OR ice right?

The one I used to have would have fit a 23lt fermenter in it without a tap. almost fit perfect maybe a little to tall.

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

What is the concensus on freezer desiccant? Silica Gel? Damprid? Rice? BiCarb?

Just got my new keg freezer, and want to head off any condensation issues before they become real issues.....

 

[kelbygreen]

not to sure with condensation havnt bothered yet. I put a thing on says how much energy it uses and works out just under 17c a day to run my chesty. cant say if thats good or not but I guess for a 15+year old freezer its not to bad

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Will that little VB fridge hold a 9L corny keg without needing the upside down bucket?

You can run them on electricity OR ice right?

Yes on both counts.. they actually get cold enough to use as a freezer in a pinch... you can make your own ice!

I think.. but am not sure that the shorter fatter 23L "new" cornies would fit in there too.

The one I used to have would have fit a 23lt fermenter in it without a tap. almost fit perfect maybe a little to tall.

Taller thinner ones fit in with a snap tap on... but need the upside down bucket. I think the smaller bunnings fermenters will go in there with a snap tap, or with a normal tap thats been trimmed down a little. Makes a really good little fridge for ferm control and lagering.

Wouldn't be very hard to build a collar for it either. I think I am going to use it as a maturation chamber for cheese and salami etc... Turn it to its warmer settings and install a humidity controller and circulation fan.

 

[MarkBastard]

Nice. They'd be good for semi-portable setups in that case.

Good idea re making a collar for them too.

 

[Paul H]

Big thanks to Ross & Anthony at CB as well as Adrian (Lefty 246) for plumbing in the Gas. Was going to go with John Guest fittings however chose to go the way of 3 way manifolds (1 in each fridge + 1 on the back of the right hand side fridge from the bottle).


Now I just need some more novelty tap handles.



Cheers

Paul

 

[amiddler]

View attachment 41770


That is a massive set-up. Sure your not running a pub? You have more variety than most of the pubs I have ever been too. We can all dream.

Drew

 

[argon]

Big thanks to Ross & Anthony at CB as well as Adrian (Lefty 246) for plumbing in the Gas. Was going to go with John Guest fittings however chose to go the way of 3 way manifolds (1 in each fridge + 1 on the back of the right hand side fridge from the bottle).
View attachment 41770

Now I just need some more novelty tap handles.
View attachment 41771
View attachment 41772

Cheers

Paul

shiiiiiiny....love it. That's be the only way i'd get beer on tap inside the house... :icon_drool2:

 

[lefty2446]

View attachment 41770

Looks the Ducks mate :icon_drool2: glad your happy with it! :beerbang:

 

[MarkBastard]

Looks awesome Paul. Got a pic of that room?

Looks really good having a setup like that and I bet that'd be heaps easier to maintain and use than a lot of the custom setups (mine included)