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xknifepointx

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Hi guys, another question here:

I've only ever done kit brews, started doing it when I bought my old man a Coopers kit last year and then stopped when the first few brews were "bad" and didn't bother with it again until I found this forum. I made one at home and it was alright, not great but not the worst either.

I have two old fridges at my old folks place just sitting there and I was thinking maybe I could setup a one-tap keg system for my dad and that would get him back into the hobby I know he would really love? the first few bottling experiences turned him off after they went bad but I'm sure if kegging is easier/less hassle he would enjoy that more.

The only problem is that me and my younger brother will be trying to set it all up, on a budget. We aren't rich, infact, quite the opposite. I'm paying a mortgage and he's only just out of high school and working part time so in total how much would we need to spend to get one keg, one tap coming from a fridge door ? also, with the kit beers making 23 liters at a time, what happens with the remaining beer? do we bottle it or do we buy another cornelius keg and put all the "leftover" into a second keg?

do I buy another fermenter? would it be better having two 23 liter batches for 2 18lt kegs? it seems like an awful waste.

I have a friend with a CUB keg he bought from the scrap metal yard he works in, would it be easier or harder to put homebrew in this? with 50liters(?) it might work out that I'm wasting less?

any help would be appreciated, also any help as to where to source parts for cheap, I'm located in Sydney but the stuff is going to be put together in Wollongong.

also any advice as to how to remove a bit of rust from one of the fridges, maybe an orbital sander I can borrow or belt sander and sand it all back and then repaint it?

sorry for sounding like a knob.
 
x, there's no dumb questions here so don't worry about that.

Kegging is definitely the way to go if you are at all lazy (like me :p ). The cheapest keg package I've seen is at Craftbrewer (link above) and Country Brewer (http://www.countrybrewer.com.au) for around $350 for 2 kegs and all the other stuff you need but if you only want 1 keg then you'd knock $60-70 off that. There's been a few other threads lately on setting up for less than that but the main concensus was to use ebay and be patient. For a first up kegger it's probably better to get the proper setup with instructions.

There's 3 options with the dregs after kegging:
1. Bottle it as normal
2. Store it in a plastic container and top up with each brew until you have enough to keg to make a ******* brew.
3. Chuck it out

I just chuck it because I only fill up the fermenter to 21 ltrs so there's not much left after testing, tasting, tasting, tasting and kegging. This also gives me a stronger brew in flavour and alc so that's a good thing. :beer:

I can't help with the CUB kegs but I know you need to buy couplers for them but I'm not sure how much they are or how they work :blink: .
 
I think FazerPete has summed most of it up. I'm also a brew just enough for the final keg space required. I also use a plastic jerry can between fermentor and keg. So I loose in the fermentor tap down, then leave about the same in the cube, leaving just enough for a full keg.
 
I third the opinion. Making the kit beer to 20 or 21 litres instead of 23 improves the result IMHO.

Having said that I always get 1 stubby left over to give to another brewer, and he does the same. That way if either of us flukes a brew that the other thinks is amazing we just swap recipes.



Fess.
 
Dont forget to add the cost of CO2 to the above mentioned prices.
Many options for this (eg. buy a bottle, fire extiguisher, rent from boc, soda stream with adapter) but it is an added cost to consider.
 
The big kegs are more difficult to deal with at home. Apart from the lifting and moving, cleaning them is difficult without the brewery's cleaning line.

Stick to the cornies. As you're going to install them in the Gong, give Alan a call at Northern Brew in Woonona. He's got tons of kegging gear and it would be good for your old man to have backup and spares locally. If your dad lives down south, there's Terry at All Things Brewing in Albion Park. No affiliation with either of these stores, btw.
 
The big kegs are more difficult to deal with at home. Apart from the lifting and moving, cleaning them is difficult without the brewery's cleaning line.

Stick to the cornies. As you're going to install them in the Gong, give Alan a call at Northern Brew in Woonona. He's got tons of kegging gear and it would be good for your old man to have backup and spares locally. If your dad lives down south, there's Terry at All Things Brewing in Albion Park. No affiliation with either of these stores, btw.


cheers PostModern, the shop at Woonona is nice and close, we're in Balgownie. I'm just about to borrow a mates belt sander and give the fridge a good going over this weekend and see if we can get it painted this weekend too. Then I'll order all the parts and try and have it up and running as soon as I can. I've just found a guide from beveragefactory.com that has step by step instructions with pictures as to how to set the fridge up, so everything can't be too hard really.

I'll pop in on the weekend on my way down to the Gong and see the bloke at Woonona and see if he has any cheap gear or advice for me. I think I'll stick to the 19litre Cornys, probably a lot easier as you guys said to move around, clean and fill. plus the fridge should be able to hold about 3 or 4 of them if I decide to go bigger and better later on down the track.


am I right in thinking that with the kegging setup, all I need to do is tip the coopers can into the fermenter, sprinkle the yeast on top, wait until it stops bubbling, then tip all the liquid from the fermenter into the 19 liter corny keg and then connect the c02 (which is what gives it bubbles im guessing here?)

so theres no need for carbonation drops at all this method?
 
My kids play soccer for the Balgownie Magpies!

If you do go into Al's, be sure and tell him Rob sent you ;) He probably isn't the cheapest guy around, but you can try and haggle if you can get better prices elsewhere.
 

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