Kegs (finally)

[shacked]

After suffering through 18 months of brewing and bottling in a tiny unit, I'm finally moving into a house and the Mrs has given me clearance to acquire a keg set up. I use a 220L fridge for brewing right now and my old man is happy to donate a medium size chest freezer to the cause.

I'm not sure if I should buy a ready made keezer or convert the chest freezer myself. I was also thinking of using the freezer for lagering / cold conditioning. Ideally it would be nice to have a selection of beers on tap at any one time.

Any advice here? I've been given a fairly decent budget to work with.

 

[Diesel80]

Converting one is easy (chest freezer) and very efficient at cooling.
Some issues though:
1) if no plug, can't drain and you will get mould in bottom - b1tch to clean
2) Lifting empty kegs out - easy, lifting full ones in? Not so much. You will f*ck your back.
3) holds more than most fridges.
4) can be made to look AWESOME (coffin keezer setup for example).
5) easy to balance lines.

Mine died recently, and for simplicity i am buying a ready made Kegerator. One day i will DIY again, was a cool project. But i won't go a chest freezer again unless i set a pulley above it.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Bribie G]

My kegerator is now pushing six years old, amazingly, and has never given a moment's trouble. Holds three cornies. I was so impressed I bought a second unit without fonts for my fermenting fridge.

I've known a couple of people who have gone to the kegmate after their keezer died.

 

[michaeld16]

How many taps are ya planning on having on the go at once? My converted fridge will hold 3 kegs but id really like 5 on tap at once so im looking out for a 300l+ freezer to convert, but my mrs hasnt allowed me much of a budget to work with

 

[Diesel80]

My kegerator is now pushing six years old, amazingly, and has never given a moment's trouble. Holds three cornies. I was so impressed I bought a second unit without fonts for my fermenting fridge.

I've known a couple of people who have gone to the kegmate after their keezer died.

brewery.jpg

Good to know that Bribie. I am going to have mine outside, lost my man cave to the kids now, so I hope i can get even 3-4 years out of it in the elements. It is undercover though. Summer I may need to run a small fan behind it or similar.

Hey FYI your original BIAB bag is still in service.....

Cheers,
D80

 

[shacked]

How many taps are ya planning on having on the go at once? My converted fridge will hold 3 kegs but id really like 5 on tap at once so im looking out for a 300l+ freezer to convert, but my mrs hasnt allowed me much of a budget to work with

I'd like to have at least 3 taps but 6 would be even better.

I found this on a US forum and I'm tempted... http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=371438

 

[Grott]

That set up is very impressive but don't empty the kegs at the back first? :huh:

 

[Coodgee]

My kegerator is now pushing six years old, amazingly, and has never given a moment's trouble. Holds three cornies. I was so impressed I bought a second unit without fonts for my fermenting fridge.

I've known a couple of people who have gone to the kegmate after their keezer died.

brewery.jpg

did you upgrade the taps/font on the kegerator unit? I keep hearing all these vague warnings about the standard taps but I can't seem to find what is exactly wrong with them?

Also I find it a pain that no sites seem to offer a "complete kit" that has say the 3 tap system with 3 kegs, regulator beer lines and everything else you need.

 

[Rocker1986]

I found one on eBay that had the "complete kit" like that except for kegs I think, but I decided against it in favour of buying top quality once. It cost me a little more, but it's better than replacing **** in a few months or whenever and paying the extra anyway.

 

[Bribie G]

did you upgrade the taps/font on the kegerator unit? I keep hearing all these vague warnings about the standard taps but I can't seem to find what is exactly wrong with them?

Also I find it a pain that no sites seem to offer a "complete kit" that has say the 3 tap system with 3 kegs, regulator beer lines and everything else you need.

Ross has posted this in the past: every Kegmate that arrives at CraftBrewer has a box of bits inside it, including a Chinese made font set. He takes the fonts and chucks them onto a pile of old fonts. He refuses to sell them due to poor quality, foaming issues etc and feels that they would tarnish an otherwise excellent product.

I won my current font set in a comp, but even if I'd had to pay for it I'd still regard it as a good long term benefit. My set is actually made in India
I will eventually go to flow control Perlicks, having seen them in action, but for now the font set does a good job.

Ed: if you give CraftBrewer a ring I'm sure they would fill you in on the details.

 

[Blind Dog]

If you do decide to build a keezer, hinging both the collar and the lid means lifting the full kegs in is much easier as you can lift the whole collar out of the way. It does mean you need more clearance at the back, but lockable castors solves that issue.

That said, it can still be a PITA

 

[Rocker1986]

Got flow control Perlicks on mine.. love them

 

[Cube]

My kegerator is now pushing six years old, amazingly, and has never given a moment's trouble. Holds three cornies. I was so impressed I bought a second unit without fonts for my fermenting fridge.

I've known a couple of people who have gone to the kegmate after their keezer died.

brewery.jpg

Those Batz Brewery stickers sure do the rounds....

 

[shacked]

Perhaps a dumb question but if I went with a 3 font keg mate, is it feasible to switch half finished kegs with full kegs; then reconnect the half finished ones later? I'll have a spare fridge that I can cold condition in.

 

[Blind Dog]

Yes. Just be careful moving them as it'll disturb any crap at the bottom of the keg. I regularly switch lines for keg to keg inside my converted freezer (6 kega, 4 beer lines and only 4 working gas lines) and swap partly full kegs in and out if required

 

[shacked]

This just arrived:

 

[Rocker1986]

Looks good mate! And you've saved me the admittedly small amount of trouble working out how to fit 3 kegs in mine when I get them filled with beer... :lol:

 

[real_beer]

Any advice here? I've been given a fairly decent budget to work with.

Forget all the above, fridges & freezers galore taking up all your space and chewing up electricity quicker than New York City at Xmas. Dive in and build a yourself coldroom straight from the start, you'll be able to fit and do almost anything in it. If you build it against the side of your house or even put it in your man shed you can have your serving taps coming directly out of the wall! It's much more efficient than running all them separate units all around the house :beer: :beerbang: :kooi:
Wish I'd done it. Strike now while you have approval and a decent budget to work with before the missus comes to her senses!

 

[shacked]

Forget all the above, fridges & freezers galore taking up all your space and chewing up electricity quicker than New York City at Xmas. Dive in and build a yourself coldroom straight from the start, you'll be able to fit and do almost anything in it. If you build it against the side of your house or even put it in your man shed you can have your serving taps coming directly out of the wall! It's much more efficient than running all them separate units all around the house
Wish I'd done it. Strike now while you have approval and a decent budget to work with before the missus comes to her senses!

After it was all said and done, this sucker came it at approximately twice the budget I was given (I *had* to upgrade taps etc...). I may have destroyed all evidence of the cost.

I'll start lobbying for the cool room but I don't like my chances :unsure:

 

[shacked]

Looks good mate! And you've saved me the admittedly small amount of trouble working out how to fit 3 kegs in mine when I get them filled with beer... :lol:

You're welcome...

Now I've got to turn 3 cubes into finished beer ASAP and get a drinkin'...!!!

 

[Rocker1986]

You're welcome...

Now I've got to turn 3 cubes into finished beer ASAP and get a drinkin'...!!!

That's the bit I'm having trouble with at the moment because I keep drinking the first one before the next one is ready. :lol:

Have shown more restraint on the current one though so at least I'll get up to two in there from Saturday.