Kegging Setups

[punkin]

Mine is about 500ml and works wonderfully. If the room is very hot the first half a beer will be warmer than the next one, but it's only the first one and it's fine for a couple of hours after that. I have all 4 lines running together through some armaflex, so the first pull cools the other lines.

I have a floodable font but have never bothered flooding it as it's not an issue for me.








The small cupboard is bolted to the collar from inside. It houses the 10kg gas bottle, dual regs, power board, STC, fan power supply and has room for a dozen tap handles and seal kits etc.

I think the setup is ideal, i don't have to move the drip tray and roll out the keezer to open the door like top mounted, and i don't have taps sticking out and trays at waist height like collar mounted taps.

 

[shaunous]

Maybe I'll just set mine up with the flooded side ready to go and then if it's getting to warm and spoiling I'll throw a pump at it, at least the lines and everything will be done.

 

[punkin]

Probably a good idea at 2 metres.

 

[mattyg8]

Hel looking at building a Keezer setup which will have 2 kegs going with option to add another 2 down the track, All I need to get is a Co2 bottle and was wondering if I should get one of the 6kg or 2.4kg ones

Would like to have it sit inside the keezer and will make a collar to suit, I guess Im trying to figure out if the bigger ones will take up to much room

 

[Donske]

Hel looking at building a Keezer setup which will have 2 kegs going with option to add another 2 down the track, All I need to get is a Co2 bottle and was wondering if I should get one of the 6kg or 2.4kg ones

Would like to have it sit inside the keezer and will make a collar to suit, I guess Im trying to figure out if the bigger ones will take up to much room

The bigger bottles are about the same size as a keg so if you the route of keeping it in the keezer you've essentially lost a keg space, my chesty is so tight with 4 kegs in it that I wouldn't fit a 2.6kg bottle either though.

Just keep the bottle outside and run lines through the collar would be my advise, makes it easier to adjust the reg too.

 

[mattyg8]

The bigger bottles are about the same size as a keg so if you the route of keeping it in the keezer you've essentially lost a keg space, my chesty is so tight with 4 kegs in it that I wouldn't fit a 2.6kg bottle either though.

Just keep the bottle outside and run lines through the collar would be my advise, makes it easier to adjust the reg too.

Yeh I guess I would really need to try to fit 4 kegs in there or go a 3 keg setup with gas bottle

 

[angus_grant]

I reckon you'd be better off storing the gas bottle outside. My little kegerator fits 2 cornies and a 2.6kg gas bottle.

I bought some 11L kegs and now have the gas bottle outside and 2 cornies and the 11L crammed inside. You will always want to have more beer on tap. :beerbang:

You don't necessarily have to have 4 taps for the 4 kegs. You can carbonate, condition or lager in the 3rd and 4th kegs and then work up to another tap(s) to run 3 or 4 kegs.

I vaguely remember calculating out that it would take me a year to run through a 2.6kg CO2 bottle running 2 kegs. It may not be completely accurate, but it certainly lasted a long time. So every 6 months to fill up a 2.6kg bottle for $25 doesn't sound like much trouble. No idea where you will be storing your keezer but a smaller 2.6kg bottle may be easier to hide than the 6kg bottle.

Plus with the gas bottle outside, you will have more room to store glasses, yeast , hops if required.

 

[mattyg8]

Yeh will deff have to think bout it

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

+1 on the CO2 usage being minimal. I've currently carbonated and dispensed 4 x 19L kegs and dispensed another 3x 19L kegs plus was a bit wasteful at first with flushing/cleaning lines and burping kegs (now do it at far less pressure), I've still got half of the gas bottle left (by weight). Funny thing was when I was planning on dispensing the 3x 19L kegs for a party I convinced the LHBS to sell me a refill without 'swapping' my bottle thinking I may run out mid party. The weight in the bottle did not even change 0.1kg after the party, so now I've got half a bottle still and a full bottle sitting there, I think I need to drink more.

 

[aarona1784]

My keg set up

Hi there. Only recently got back into brewing. Here is my set up which is the basic kegerator with 2 tap upgrade. Next is the digital thermostat override and if all goes well or consumption increases and I can keep up with demand maybe an upgrade on fridge which holds more kegs. My landlord owns a brew shop and is always "inspecting the house" and the home brew of course. On order also is the adaptor to make a double regulator. Dont know why my phone puts my house at 90 degrees though

 

[mattyg8]

Ive read a few references and was wondering what would be the ideal length to have my beers lines in my keezer build

 

[OzPaleAle]

KegKing have an alright guide here.

http://kegking.com.au/balancing%20your%20keg%20system.html

 

[maxim0200]

Cut it longer than you need you cant go 'to long' (within reason ofcourse) the only downside to going to long is the speed of pour and you can always cut it back.

Myne are 4meters

Edit: please correct me if im wrong, purely the opinion of a new brewer.

 

[Crusty]

Cut it longer than you need you cant go 'to long' (within reason ofcourse) the only downside to going to long is the speed of pour and you can always cut it back. Myne are 4meters Edit: please correct me if im wrong, purely the opinion of a new brewer.

The longer the line, the more chances of co2 escaping solution & getting air bubbles in your line.
The shorter you have them the better you are. I tried 3M of 5mm line @75kpa, 2deg fridge temp, 2.4 vol/co2 & I always got air in the lines.
I now run with 2.5m & it's balanced nicely.

 

[MarkBastard]

The only negative of short lines is that the beer comes out quicker. I'd argue to make the lines as short as possible while still being able to pour your beer properly without too much head etc.

The longer the lines the more the beer and gas seperate in the line. This causes your tap to fart and results in excessive head and inconsistant carbonation between your first and second pour. Some rookies will mistake this for the keg being overcarbed.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Good to see you again M^B.

:icon_offtopic:

Okey dokey.

Agree with short beer lines. When I used the curly hosed picnic taps, it made it easier to keep the lines uber short (which in turn was easier for taking kegs off-line and refilling, rather than detangling in the fridge), because I could control the pour with the reg (once carbed, leave it less than serving pressure) and the way I used the tap.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Crusty,

getting air in your beer line.....really?

If air can get in, beer can get out!!!!

 

[NickB]

I think Crusty means bubbles of CO2...

I always have a glass or so of foam before I pour especially on warm days. I have 5m I line

Cheers

 

[GundyBrewer]

The longer the line, the more chances of co2 escaping solution & getting air bubbles in your line.
The shorter you have them the better you are. I tried 3M of 5mm line @75kpa, 2deg fridge temp, 2.4 vol/co2 & I always got air in the lines.
I now run with 2.5m & it's balanced nicely.

I'm running about 3.3m of line at 80kPa, 2-3 degrees myself at the moment, and I get a glass or two of froth first up when pouring, then it comes out fairly slow. Once it starts to come out of the tap properly, the beer is carbed perfectly well. I was actually thinking about getting longer lines, but I might try cutting mine down to 2.5 instead.

Cheers!

 

[MarkBastard]

Definitely try cutting them back