Kegs And Regulators

[yardy]

gday fellas,

i'm looking for some advice/feedback on the preffered brands of kegs and regs as i'm currently pricing a new keg system.

Kegs:
Cornelius
Mytton Rod
Spartenburg

Regs:
CIG Comet
Micro-Matic
Medalist
Harris
Lancer Pacific

also, ball lock fittings seem to be the most popular, but do they have any advantage over pin locks ?

if any of the above brands are superior to the others i would appreciate the advice.

cheers
yard

 

[GMK]

stay away from pin locks

go for ball locks.

pm me your e-mail address and i can email you my price list.
Also, fill out your location and that will help others to direct you to local HBS/suppliers.

 

[Linz]

why the big bad on pin locks, GMK??

just curious....

 

[mika]

Keg was from the local HBS, no idea of what brand it is. I have a Harris regulator (good name in the fab industry) but I honestly think any of them labelled as a "beverage" regulator will do fine. Unless you're willing to pay a small fortune they all have plastic guages. It's the kind of thing that unless you let beer run up the line you're not going to need to service it much, if any at all.
I'd base the decision on what you can readily get hold of and what works out cheaper for you.
Oh... and I'm using ball lock connectors.

 

[Trough Lolly]

why the big bad on pin locks, GMK??

just curious....

[post="116334"][/post]​

//sweeping generalisations follow...//
There's probably nothing wrong with pin lock kegs, Linz, it's just that most brewers tend to use ball lock keg posts and QD's and that's also the most commonly supplied parts in Homebrew Shops as opposed to pin lock fittings. If you wanted to use pin lock kegs, by all means go for it, but it'd be a PITA if you had some ball lock and some pin lock kegs.

Me? I only use ball lock fittings because that's all I've ever bought...

Cheers,
TL

 

[yardy]

thanks for the replies fellas,

had a look in the new HBS today and bought a 19lt keg, Medalist Reg, SS Pluto Gun, 2m of each line and ball lock fittings.
also got an o ring spares chucked in.

appreciate the advice

cheers :beer:

yard

 

[mika]

Hmmm... Pluto gun might not be such a great call. Never used one, but heard they're a PITA to pour with. Though I guess it beats drilling holes in your fridge

 

[jgriffin]

Pluto's are all that bad, you just have to learn how to use them. The trick is to squeeze quickly, and release it as quickly as you can.

 

[yardy]

Hmmm... Pluto gun might not be such a great call. Never used one, but heard they're a PITA to pour with. Though I guess it beats drilling holes in your fridge

[post="116402"][/post]​

jgriffin hit the nail, i've used them before i got this setup and the trick is to have no half measures.

by that i mean, pull the trigger quickly to full position so you aren't getting froth.

my Beer glass is the same height as a 750ml bott (see my blog) and i had no trouble pouring.

i could've went with a tap but i read that cold beer to a warm tap is a no-no, so hence the Pluto.

cheers

yard

 

[razz]

G'day Yardy, I used a pluto for many years with no probs. I recently purchases a new freezer and made a timber collar for it and mounted a tap and shank through the collar. No probs with any foaming. I had thought the same thing as you. I checked with my local HBS and they put my mind at ease. I now intend to buy more taps and shanks.

Regards, John

PS. the tap and shank are easy for filling bottles/stubbies, I can't do that with a pluto.

 

[yardy]

gday Razz,

if time permits, i'm going to build a complete Bar sometime this year, atm i had to get away from bottling, no time, plus it was shitting me to tears.

can i ask what the HBS said about the unchilled taps ?

could you post a pic of your setup ?

cheers
yard

 

[razz]

If I can talk my wife in to posting the pics no probs ( I haven't worked that bit out yet) The guys at G&G in Melb have not had any probs with taps foaming. I keep my setup in the garage so I walk out there with a jug and fill that up, I find the tap chills very quickly.

John :chug:

 

[mika]

If the taps thru the fridge wall, you get conduction cooling of the tap anyway. And as Razz mentioned, the tap cools down very quickly as soon as the beer hits it.
If you've got no probs with the PLuto gun... go for it, you've got it now. Just I've heard some people swearing at them. At the end of the day, it comes down to what works for you.

 

[Trough Lolly]

If the taps thru the fridge wall, you get conduction cooling of the tap anyway. And as Razz mentioned, the tap cools down very quickly as soon as the beer hits it.
If you've got no probs with the PLuto gun... go for it, you've got it now. Just I've heard some people swearing at them. At the end of the day, it comes down to what works for you.

[post="116483"][/post]​

If you wanna go hardcore with a beer tap on the fridge door, then get a Ventmatic ultra flow. Forward seal so no sticking valve seal and they fill bottles no probs - as well as look dead sexy. Here's a couple of pics of my setup - a blowup shot of the faucet with fridge door assembly that I bought from Northern Brewers and another shot of the faucet with a stainless handle fitted...

 

[mika]

Now I have tap envy

 

[yardy]

If the taps thru the fridge wall, you get conduction cooling of the tap anyway. And as Razz mentioned, the tap cools down very quickly as soon as the beer hits it.
If you've got no probs with the PLuto gun... go for it, you've got it now. Just I've heard some people swearing at them. At the end of the day, it comes down to what works for you.

[post="116483"][/post]​

yeah m_l, no probs, it's working alright, have been 'testing' it all day for design faults. :chug:

cheers

 

[mika]

Nothing better than 'testing' a system