new to keg setup

[kevo78]

G'day from outback nsw, Cobar
The name is Kev and last year we went on a little trip around OZ and i met a guy who was home brewing with a kegarator setup and after a beer or six I was inspired . I have purchased some gear to make my own Kegarator which will be here this week but in the mean time i shall get a brew started. We can only get the supermarket kit beers out here so i was wondering what peoples recommendations are and what works well on tap? Will probably need a little advice when it comes to setting up the fridge too,
Thanks, Kev

 

[Yob]

The coopers pale ale was always a favourite of mine, lightly bittered only so a good canvas for making your own additions.

Kegs rule man, you wont regret that decision :beerbang:

 

[LAGERFRENZY]

G'day Kevo78 - my 3 go-to kits from Coopers have been the Australian Pale Ale, the Canadian Blonde and the Original Series Lager. As with the Pale Ale these kits are lightly hopped and lend themselves to you making your own hop additions down the track. The two most important things to making any beer are Sanitation and Temperature Control. Ignore the kit instructions about ideal fermentation temperatures and try to keep your brews around a steady 18 C. Fight all temptation to bottle your first brew when the airlock stops bubbling and give it a week extra in the Fermentation Vessel.

 

[kevo78]

Thanks guys, I have gone with the coopers Australian pale ale. Unfortunately the brew is around 26c, next time i will have to find a better way to keep the brew cooler, dam weather is warm out this way. Looking forward to get my keg setup next week.

 

[Rocker1986]

Stick the fermenter in a tub of water with a wet towel around it, and change in and out frozen soft drink bottles of water periodically. It's ghetto but it works. A temp controlled fridge is the best way but not always possible of course. Ignore the airlock if your fermenter has one - use your hydrometer to determine when the brew stops fermenting, and then give it another week before bottling. B)

 

[kevo78]

Well the taps are in and the beer is carbonating so looking forward to testing and commissioning this afternoon

tried to include a pic but not having any luck

 

[Rocker1986]

Look forward to hearing how it goes mate. If you can't add a pic in the normal reply screen, click on "More Reply Options" and it will have an option to upload a photo directly to the post, instead of uploading it to a third party site and then using the URL of the photo to share it here.

 

[Grott]

Same here, and try the photo recommendation by Rocker1986.
Cheers

 

[kevo78]

still been having some dramas get the beer to carbonate, i tried the ross method and still find it flat so left it overnight. the other thing i found is that it pours slowly, I had 1.9m of hose and have halved that and is much better, i did buy the perlick flow control so it should't be able to control the flow

 

[Grott]

If you forced carbed and it's still flat then something is obviously amiss. What did you do re the Ross method and what pressure have you set for pouring a beer?
Cheers

 

[kevo78]

I followed the guide on here to force carbonate, put co2 into the out post @ 42psi, shook for 50 secs, turned off at bottle shook some more but the pressure stayed up, after an hour i vented and tried some but flat so left at serving pressure about 16psi tried again yesterday but no better. left it and how just tried another and i do have some bubbles but not much head and to me it poors slow compared to at a pub? it's at 16psi so should i wind that up?

Thanks for the support to

 

[Rocker1986]

I wouldn't increase the pressure, you'll only end up carbonating it more than you want it. Are the flow controls fully open on the taps? Mine sits about 10-11PSI and when the FC is fully open they pour quite quickly, however I normally don't have them open all the way because it foams too much initially and the reduced flow rate helps limit this.

 

[Grott]

I assume the keg was cold when you forced carbed and if so 42psi for 50 seconds is not enough on its own IMO. I'm surprised pressure stayed up after you turned the gas off and continued shaking. (did you here bubbling when doing this) Once done, then back in fridge, wait for beer to settle (couple of hours) release pressure from keg, hook up gas at serving pressure- suggest 10psi as stated by Rocker1986.
Hope helps, Cheers

 

[kevo78]

after doing some tests, found that there is a difference in pressures between the reg and a 2nd gauge i put in at the manifold so there keg was only getting around 5 psi, hence the slow poors. have adjusted the pressures and happy to say it is pouring nicely, and getting better by the day. I have another brew on now, a canadian blonde, so with this one i will just let it chill then apply serving pressure for a week or so.