IainMcLean
Well-Known Member
On the dual regulator thing.... is it possible to fabricate one from two smaller regulators? I've had a look at them and it seems to be feasible....
Noob Looking Into Kegging
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Lord Raja Goomba I
Prisoner of Sobriety
Buy more taps later if you want.
As for a dual pressure - if you are mostly ales, lagers and wheat beers, you can get away with a single pressure - I'm currently running a weiss (well, rye+wheat) alongside an AIPA - and I'm not upset with either pour.
I like the plastic taps, I have two from craftbrewer, which have the curly hose (which means they sit snug to the keg and no more lines over the fridge. I don't see any need to "upgrade" - I certainly cannot see any extra benefit for spending the extra money for metal taps. If I was handy and thinking about a buying/building a kegerator, maybe then. But the solution I have (which is cheap fridge, and not altering it), it is the perfect fit cost wise and skill wise, and the pour is very good (so long as the keg is in balance).
Goomba
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+1 for the plastic bronco taps!
if were doing the keg thing again i would do it like this:
0. cheap fridge or freezer. if you get the shits with it you haven't wasted much money
1. kegs, 4 pack from craft brewer with the seal kits
2. regulator, single
3. gas splitter from bottle with an on/off valve + NRV and a gas disconnect for force carbing, sealing kegs, huffing, etc. outside of the fridge/freezer
4. bronco taps for all the kegs. they give the best pour, and by keeping them inside the fridge they don't go manky too quickly, if at all
5. gas manifold with on/off valves + NRV's for each line. this means i can carb up beers or even rum'n'coke at different pressures and use the normal pressure to dispense without gas trying to equalise over all the attached kegs. turn off the gas at bottle or the manifold valves after a session so that any leaks will only make 1 keg flat, not your whole fleet. if you are carbing a new keg over a week or overnight then use the gas manifold valves
6. wait a few months to decide where you want the taps. nothing like fridge drillers remorse
7. get taps with flow restrictors. all that beer & gas line makes it like a game of 'operation' every time you need to remove a keg
but thats just me
if were doing the keg thing again i would do it like this:
0. cheap fridge or freezer. if you get the shits with it you haven't wasted much money
1. kegs, 4 pack from craft brewer with the seal kits
2. regulator, single
3. gas splitter from bottle with an on/off valve + NRV and a gas disconnect for force carbing, sealing kegs, huffing, etc. outside of the fridge/freezer
4. bronco taps for all the kegs. they give the best pour, and by keeping them inside the fridge they don't go manky too quickly, if at all
5. gas manifold with on/off valves + NRV's for each line. this means i can carb up beers or even rum'n'coke at different pressures and use the normal pressure to dispense without gas trying to equalise over all the attached kegs. turn off the gas at bottle or the manifold valves after a session so that any leaks will only make 1 keg flat, not your whole fleet. if you are carbing a new keg over a week or overnight then use the gas manifold valves
6. wait a few months to decide where you want the taps. nothing like fridge drillers remorse
7. get taps with flow restrictors. all that beer & gas line makes it like a game of 'operation' every time you need to remove a keg
but thats just me
seanokil
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Man ,check ebay i just scored a awesome fridge with a flow control tap and the lines and fittings for wait for it $1 .All it needs is a seal kit that costs 45 bucks freaking bargain . Now i just have to wait for the wife to buy me some kegs and a reg for chrissie, and im set!!!
IMO a single reg + manifold + small (non-filtered/non-seperating) "air" regulators from ebay are the way to go. They are about $15ea delivered and you can set a pressure for each beer individually. I also changed the gauges to ones that read lower pressures so it was easier to set my pressures more accurately
I have a 6 way setup I have my main reg set to a higher pressure then all my "secondary" regs set to lower pressures to suit my beers, cider, soda water. You will need individual check valves on each line though or when you turn your main gas bottle off you'll throw all your pressures out (I think?...)
Mind you I have just bought a nitrogen/CO2 mixer off a fellow forum member so my setup will change again soon.
Edit: though to start out I think a single reg and a manfold is the way to go and upgrade to the secondary reg as funds become available.
I have a 6 way setup I have my main reg set to a higher pressure then all my "secondary" regs set to lower pressures to suit my beers, cider, soda water. You will need individual check valves on each line though or when you turn your main gas bottle off you'll throw all your pressures out (I think?...)
Mind you I have just bought a nitrogen/CO2 mixer off a fellow forum member so my setup will change again soon.
Edit: though to start out I think a single reg and a manfold is the way to go and upgrade to the secondary reg as funds become available.
Lord Raja Goomba I
Prisoner of Sobriety
These splitters are what I use.
I can even force carbonate one keg by turning the other off for a few minutes, doing the rock n roll, turning the reg to normal and then turning the tap to the existing keg back on. I of course have a NRV on all.
Worst that's ever happened is losing 10kpa in balance (e.g. you put it down to 90kpa, it gradually works it's way to 80kpa), as the new keg balances itself, but it at worse takes half an hour to fix (by turning the reg back up to serving pressure).
IT also allowed me to taste properly the 50g worth of extra dry hop keg hopping, in that first 3 or 4 intense days. Yum!
I can even force carbonate one keg by turning the other off for a few minutes, doing the rock n roll, turning the reg to normal and then turning the tap to the existing keg back on. I of course have a NRV on all.
Worst that's ever happened is losing 10kpa in balance (e.g. you put it down to 90kpa, it gradually works it's way to 80kpa), as the new keg balances itself, but it at worse takes half an hour to fix (by turning the reg back up to serving pressure).
IT also allowed me to taste properly the 50g worth of extra dry hop keg hopping, in that first 3 or 4 intense days. Yum!
Awesome, thanks guys
I picked up a micromatic reg for $30 on gumtree apparently hardly used. Hopefully its all good because I can't test it yet! Looks pretty much new though.
Scored a freezer also!
Will get kegs and the rest from craftbrewer probably (4 keg deal). What else will I need apart from a CO2 cylinder, splitters and NRV's?
Couple more questions... sorry.
I have read I will need a quick disconnect for each tap on the beer line. Do I need 1 quick disconnect for the gas for each tap or is it just the 1? Bit confused.
Are the digital temp controllers linked in page 1 any good? the ones from HK and are they pretty easy to wire up?
Also what do I need to look out for with CO2 cannisters? I have seen some on ebay quite cheap, would you recommend a 2.6kg standard or larger?
Thanks guys
.
I picked up a micromatic reg for $30 on gumtree apparently hardly used. Hopefully its all good because I can't test it yet! Looks pretty much new though.
Scored a freezer also!
Will get kegs and the rest from craftbrewer probably (4 keg deal). What else will I need apart from a CO2 cylinder, splitters and NRV's?
Couple more questions... sorry.
I have read I will need a quick disconnect for each tap on the beer line. Do I need 1 quick disconnect for the gas for each tap or is it just the 1? Bit confused.
Are the digital temp controllers linked in page 1 any good? the ones from HK and are they pretty easy to wire up?
Also what do I need to look out for with CO2 cannisters? I have seen some on ebay quite cheap, would you recommend a 2.6kg standard or larger?
Thanks guys
.
IainMcLean
Well-Known Member
The only thing I can help with is that looking at CO2 bottles as far as I know [from what I've been told] the major difference is aluminium or steel. The difference being should it fail and 'burst' steel will rip open whereas aluminium will shatter - obviously more dangerous.
Having said that I bought aluminium as it's lighter and won't rust...
Having said that I bought aluminium as it's lighter and won't rust...
With the NRV, do you just put one before the splitters (so you can use only 1) or one on each line going to each keg.
Does anybody know if there is a diagram or something somewhere so I can stop annoying you guys? I have tried looking one up but finding it hard.
My limited understanding so far is that you need the CO2 cylinder going into the reg which then goes into the NRV then into 4-5 splitters (4 kegs + 1 extra maybe ?) then each line goes into a QD (gas) then into the keg and out of the keg comes the beer line then a QD (beer) (on each line) then into the taps. Please correct me if I am wrong, going to order soon
Cheers.
Does anybody know if there is a diagram or something somewhere so I can stop annoying you guys? I have tried looking one up but finding it hard.
My limited understanding so far is that you need the CO2 cylinder going into the reg which then goes into the NRV then into 4-5 splitters (4 kegs + 1 extra maybe ?) then each line goes into a QD (gas) then into the keg and out of the keg comes the beer line then a QD (beer) (on each line) then into the taps. Please correct me if I am wrong, going to order soon
Cheers.
RdeVjun
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Seems to work OK so far for the three I have in my dispensing fridge, just placed it after the regulator and before the two splitters. Haven't done a lot of mucking about though, eg. sometimes force carbing a PET ends up with beer in the beer line, but no biggies anticipated this way.
Gave CB a call. Great service there!
Put in my order today
I got -
4 Keg special
Bronco Faucet with curly hose
Quick disconnect (barb - beer)
Quick disconnect (MFL - gas) + JG fitting for it
NRV
3M Flexmaster line
Paraliq lubricating grease
2 x stepless clamp (wasnt sure if I will need)
So to begin with I will have a basic setup and then add splitters and extra QD's and more taps (will decide if I want to do the drilling thing... haha)
Cheers for all the help guys, will let u know how it goes. Also please let me know if u think theres anything else I might need.
Put in my order today
I got -
4 Keg special
Bronco Faucet with curly hose
Quick disconnect (barb - beer)
Quick disconnect (MFL - gas) + JG fitting for it
NRV
3M Flexmaster line
Paraliq lubricating grease
2 x stepless clamp (wasnt sure if I will need)
So to begin with I will have a basic setup and then add splitters and extra QD's and more taps (will decide if I want to do the drilling thing... haha)
Cheers for all the help guys, will let u know how it goes. Also please let me know if u think theres anything else I might need.
jacknohe
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God stuff Blakie. I've been looking at going the way of the Keg for a while now. Need to get the costs lined up and understand how/where I will set it up at home before telling (i.e. asking really nicely) SWMBO about the Keg plan :lol: . I'm keen to start simple and add-on over time so your list is looking good there for my needs.
Just a question regarding your "Drilling" comment. Does this mean that you can store your entire setup (gas bottle, reg, etc) in the fridge with the keg so you don't have to drill holes in your fridge?
Just a question regarding your "Drilling" comment. Does this mean that you can store your entire setup (gas bottle, reg, etc) in the fridge with the keg so you don't have to drill holes in your fridge?
stux
Hacienda Brewhaus
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Each keg has two disconnect posts, gas in, beer out.
You need a disconnect for each post for each keg you want connected up.
So, if you have 4 taps, that's four beer out disconnects
if you have 5 kegs you want on gas, that's 5 gas disconnects.
I have a 5 keg kegerator, with 4 taps, and a 6 way manifold.
with six gas disconnects, and 4 beer disconnects, I can have 5 kegs on gas, and a spare for use with a carb cap on a PET bottle, or for flushing kegs before filling, and other utility tasks, without having to disconnect one of the 5 kegs.
With the 5th keg gives me a nice hot spare, which I can have slow-carbing, or I can always swap over if I really want to. When I had a 4 keg fridge, with 4 taps, I was always having to disconnect a keg in order to carb up a new one. Which was annoying.
You don't *need* any NRVs, but at a minimum you should have 1 before your manifold/splitters, to prevent backflow to the reg. BUT its better to have NRVs after the splitters/manifolds (or built into the manifold) before the kegs. That means you can keep each keg at a different pressure without them all equalizing.
Also, if you don't have NRVs before each keg, it might be possible for aromas to equalize amongst all your kegs too, but that's debatable.
If you have flow-controllers on your beerlines or taps, you can easily vary the pressure you have your kegs at at any time you want.
Its probably a good idea to work out what you *need* to get where you want, and what you can aquire as time goes on and you get a better understanding of what you want.
Perhaps plan on this being your starter setup, and one day you'll want another one
Its probably better advice to get uber cheap plastic taps if you can't afford celli's or perlicks (yet), as you'll want them one day, and if you have cheap chrome taps, then you may feel some buyers remorse
You need a disconnect for each post for each keg you want connected up.
So, if you have 4 taps, that's four beer out disconnects
if you have 5 kegs you want on gas, that's 5 gas disconnects.
I have a 5 keg kegerator, with 4 taps, and a 6 way manifold.
with six gas disconnects, and 4 beer disconnects, I can have 5 kegs on gas, and a spare for use with a carb cap on a PET bottle, or for flushing kegs before filling, and other utility tasks, without having to disconnect one of the 5 kegs.
With the 5th keg gives me a nice hot spare, which I can have slow-carbing, or I can always swap over if I really want to. When I had a 4 keg fridge, with 4 taps, I was always having to disconnect a keg in order to carb up a new one. Which was annoying.
You don't *need* any NRVs, but at a minimum you should have 1 before your manifold/splitters, to prevent backflow to the reg. BUT its better to have NRVs after the splitters/manifolds (or built into the manifold) before the kegs. That means you can keep each keg at a different pressure without them all equalizing.
Also, if you don't have NRVs before each keg, it might be possible for aromas to equalize amongst all your kegs too, but that's debatable.
If you have flow-controllers on your beerlines or taps, you can easily vary the pressure you have your kegs at at any time you want.
Its probably a good idea to work out what you *need* to get where you want, and what you can aquire as time goes on and you get a better understanding of what you want.
Perhaps plan on this being your starter setup, and one day you'll want another one
Its probably better advice to get uber cheap plastic taps if you can't afford celli's or perlicks (yet), as you'll want them one day, and if you have cheap chrome taps, then you may feel some buyers remorse
I have a fairly large chest freezer so I am pretty sure everything will fit.
My plan for now is to have everything in the freezer until I can afford some nice taps. That all cost me around 350 dollars jacknohe so u know. now I just need a CO2 bottle (180ish?).
So I will carb up each keg then just have just 1 keg connected for dispensing on the gas and beer QD. Will this work?
Hope it was a good move, only making kit beers so far but have enjoyed every single one of them so far!
Stux, they mentioned on the phone that I would only really need 1 gas QD because I could carb up and then disconnect and it would stay pretty much carbed? Then when I want to dispense I just put the gas back on the keg. I hope that is the case because I already put my order in :/.
So later on down the track, when I decide on taps, I will grab 3 more QD's for beer and 3-4 more gas QD's (maybe 1 spare) plus 4-5 splitters. Is that right?
With the different pressures and NRV's on each keg line, how do you control the pressures? I thought you needed a dual reg for that
My plan for now is to have everything in the freezer until I can afford some nice taps. That all cost me around 350 dollars jacknohe so u know. now I just need a CO2 bottle (180ish?).
So I will carb up each keg then just have just 1 keg connected for dispensing on the gas and beer QD. Will this work?
Hope it was a good move, only making kit beers so far but have enjoyed every single one of them so far!
Stux, they mentioned on the phone that I would only really need 1 gas QD because I could carb up and then disconnect and it would stay pretty much carbed? Then when I want to dispense I just put the gas back on the keg. I hope that is the case because I already put my order in :/.
So later on down the track, when I decide on taps, I will grab 3 more QD's for beer and 3-4 more gas QD's (maybe 1 spare) plus 4-5 splitters. Is that right?
With the different pressures and NRV's on each keg line, how do you control the pressures? I thought you needed a dual reg for that
stux
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Yes, you only *need* one gas and one liquid disconnect
Its a good idea to start like that, as I'm sure it'll make a lot of sense once you get it all.
When you carb up a keg, you can dial it to a certain pressure, and then no matter how much you shake it, it won't carb past a certain number of volumes dependant on pressure and temperature.
So, its possible to have soda at 4 volumes, cider at 3, lager at 2.5 and british ale at 2, and then you can put them all on a dispense (or maintenance pressure).
The problem is, as you consume the contents, the carb level will drop, or alternatively, if its low carbonated, it will increase slowly
I get around this by disabling the gas on some kegs and increasing the pressure on others to increase their carbonation again.
Its a lot of dicking around, so at the end of the day, I tend to keep everything at 2.4-2.5 volumes, which I'm happy with for most styles
