Party Kegs

[lucas]

As an "adaptor" I used a short (3inch) bit of beva gas line. Onto a nut and tail for a QD at one end, and fudged onto a mag wheel type car valve (schrader) at the other. Saves mucking about looking for fittings with the right thread.

It performed well in partnership with a sodastream connected to a schrader filler fitting, for my x-mas and new year party rig. Carted from Melb to port maquarie via stops in Myrtleford, Albury, Sydney, Newcastle, Foster... Toatal of 3 cornies dispensed plus various bottles. Its not pretty, but with a few bags of ice, it did the job!!

many drunk people created. mission accomplished :beer:

Thanks for the photos thirsty, I guess I missed this the first time around. I picked up an old soda streamer for $5 at a garage sale but it's sat in the cupboard unused because I didnt have one of those nuts to screw my regulator on. Now that I've seen the way you're doing it I pulled mine out and ripped it apart. just need to pick up some sort of tubing to join the dispenser to a qd and I'll have party gas! A reg just seems like overkill for a one night shindig

 

[Jye]

This is interesting.party kegs

They look pretty good and convenient, its easy enough to brew an extra 4L. From what I have read the regulator is fully adjustable but once you have attached the tap to the keg you cant remove it with out degassing... not a huge problem if your taking it to a party.

I like the look of this one better.

 

[barls]

Bulk buy !

im in any other interest

 

[Jye]

im in any other interest

Maybe... but would much prefer someone to come up with a unit like in the pic above but that screwed onto a PET bottle, like a 3L coke bottle.

 

[glenos]

Bulk buy !

I'd be in. I've been thinking about buying a tap for one of these for ages and then buying some DAB mini kegs

 

[geoffi]

I've just set up a couple of party kegs with $9 plastic pressure sprayers from Bunnings. These are sold as 5L, but I think you can actually get about 6L into them.

I used rubber tyre valves, as I couldn't find SS. Anyway, as they will not come in contact with the beer I can't see there's a problem as far as contamination goes. The only issue I can see is that the rubber valves rely on little flanges to keep them in place on the keg wall. Without sufficient outward pressure I can see the possibility of forcing the valve back into the keg if you're not careful. On balance I'd say metal valves with washers would be better, if you can find them.

I took about 1cm or so off the dip tube to keep it out of the yeast. The sprayer has moulded feet so the yeast settles nicely in there.

The only fitting I've changed is the hose and tap. The hose that comes with the sprayer emits a foul chemical stench, definitely not 'food grade'! I got a couple of Bronco taps from Ross at craftbrewer, the ones with the black hoses already fitted ($15). This is quite a thick hose, but with a bit of a squeeze it fits beautifully and tightly onto the sprayer.

I left the pump handles on for the moment, as they seem useful for tightening and loosening the lid as well as making it easy to carry the whole thing. The relief valves I left as is.

My gas source is a very ancient but functioning Soda Stream unit. I squeezed some vinyl tube onto the outlet (I needed to hacksaw some of the plastic casing off to get to the outlet) and fixed a Schraeder inflator valve on the other end.

About 10 days ago I filled one keg with primed American amber ale. Today I tried my first glass. Slightly undercarbonated, no surpise considering the cold nights, but the whole setup worked like a dream. I'm planning to make a couple more.

BBQ coming up on the weekend, so this rig will get a good workout. It may be Claytons kegging, but it sure beats bottling!

 

[therook]

Weres the Pics Geoff????

rook

 

[afromaiko]

I left the pump handles on for the moment, as they seem useful for tightening and loosening the lid as well as making it easy to carry the whole thing. The relief valves I left as is.

Since you are leaving the pump in there, did you clean out the pump mechanism first? I removed mine, but when I disassembled it I noticed that inside it is packed with grease. Tasty!

 

[Andyd]

They look pretty good and convenient, its easy enough to brew an extra 4L. From what I have read the regulator is fully adjustable but once you have attached the tap to the keg you cant remove it with out degassing... not a huge problem if your taking it to a party.

I like the look of this one better.

I've just bought a similar device to the above called a "Beer King". Grabbed it off ebay for $30 AUD shipped here. The guy I bought it from has a few as I understand, but the recent changes to USPS services will probably impact the final price now.

They're great, and so easy to handle. Well worth while IMHO.

 

[winkle]

I've just bought a similar device to the above called a "Beer King". Grabbed it off ebay for $30 AUD shipped here. The guy I bought it from has a few as I understand, but the recent changes to USPS services will probably impact the final price now.

They're great, and so easy to handle. Well worth while IMHO.

I've got the Beer King plastic version but managed to lose the spear :angry: Worked ok until the 5 litre kegs started to lose the protective coating (within 2 years) and rust. If I wanted rusty beers I'd drink VB

 

[geoffi]

Since you are leaving the pump in there, did you clean out the pump mechanism first? I removed mine, but when I disassembled it I noticed that inside it is packed with grease. Tasty!

I did take it apart and cleaned it thoroughly. There was a little grease in there, but it wasn't too bad.

Weres the Pics Geoff????

rook

I haven't taken any pics, but you can see almost exactly the same setup with lots of how-to on the ozcraftbrewer.org site:

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Gear/GSa...CheapKegs.shtml

 

[geoffi]

Just made another one of these using an 8L sprayer ($15 from Bummings), the Craftbrewer Bronco tap/hose, and a metal valve (bought from Jax Tyres at Warilla for $4.) The valve was tricky to fit, due to the narrow opening at the top, but it can be done. Pix later. The 5L version I made has proved a big hit. Pours beautifully with the occasional squirt from the Soda Stream.

 

[Ross]

Just made another one of these using an 8L sprayer ($15 from Bummings), the Craftbrewer Bronco tap/hose, and a metal valve (bought from Jax Tyres at Warilla for $4.) The valve was tricky to fit, due to the narrow opening at the top, but it can be done. Pix later. The 5L version I made has proved a big hit. Pours beautifully with the occasional squirt from the Soda Stream.

I look forward the pics Geoffi, sounds like a very good value system....

cheers Ross

 

[geoffi]

OK.

Pic time.

Here's the 8L (with SS valve) and 5L version (with the black rubber valve). Note that the tide is getting low on the 5L!

A closeup of the top of the 8L.

Here's the Soda Stream unit with the hose and Schraeder inflator.

Here are the two valves, with the SS valve nuts and washer.

Fitting the SS valve was tricky, as the nuts are on the inside and I can only get two fingers inside the opening. (Ooh, err, Carry On Up the Brewery) In the end I found I could get a socket in there and hold it with enough pressure to let me tighten from the outside using the valve cap. It took a few goes before I could get it tight enough to eliminate leaks, but I got there and I think it's a better setup that the rubber valves.

I drilled a 12mm hole for the SS valve, and 14mm for the rubber valve (countersunk a few mm as well.)

So there you have it. It's cheap, it's dirty, but it works. The most expensive items are the taps and hoses. You might get away with using the tap/gun that comes with the sprayer, but replacing the hose with some beer line or similar is an absolute must.

How much pressure these things can really take, I don't know. Certainly enough for a respectable ale. A Weizen or a pils, I don't know. The plastic itself is very thick, so I think the fittings and connections are the potential trouble spots. There is a relief valve, so I might do some tests and see what PSI it takes for that to kick in.

 

[boingk]

Hey - nice work with the pressurised sprayer! Great!

At the moment I've got a 5L demijohn - I carbonate it up with 30~35g of dextrose, and bust it out at a party every now and then. I just use the swing-top for pouring, and it seems to go down well with everyone. The dextrose priming is a must, and so is secondarying the brew that goes into the demi, otherwise you end up with too much sediment. Funnily enough, I've found a toucan of coles farmland draught [using stock yeast] has the least sediment of anything yet. You can see through the layer of it!!!

[PS: I carbonate the demi in a collapsible esky in case of any 'pressurising mishap']

EDIT: Geoffi - you may want to find something like this for your pressure sprayers brews: eBay Link

 

[geoffi]

EDIT: Geoffi - you may want to find something like this for your pressure sprayers brews: eBay Link

I have been planning to get one of these inflators. Much better idea for parties etc than lugging around a Soda Stream.

The SS does win on the economy front for day-to-day use, though. The CO2 works out way cheaper than the inflator bulbs.

 

[geoffi]

I should add that the handles on those sprayers can easily be removed. I just left them on to make it easier to carry, although they come with a black carrying strap that works fine. Without the handles they would fit better into a fridge, esky or whatever.

 

[afromaiko]

I ended up cutting a disc out of an old fermenter lid and using that to block up the hole that was left when I removed the pump handle & mechanism. The existing rubber ring/washer seals fine and it was an easy task to fit a stainless steel valve in the centre of the removable disk.

I also cut another small disk and used that to block up the pressure release valve hole so I wouldn't accidentally spill or spray beer everywhere. Kept the dip tube, but trimmed a little off the bottom. Used one of those plastic picnic (brumby?) taps that others are using with about three feet of beva hose.

With the soda stream unit I needed to replace the rubber washer on the fitment, and found that a tap washer fits perfectly. I've removed the fitment from the soda stream case and had that just screwed onto the gas bottle making it a bit more compact. But, eventually the plastic where the lever/button pivots goes through broke so I ground back all the unnecessary plastic to make it smaller again, and fitted a press button to the top of the soda stream pressure release pin. For gas used same beva hose again with screw type hose clamps on each end with a Super Cheap inflater connection for a couple of bucks.

Actually, I found the support that usually sits inside the soda stream machine and holds the bottom of the drink bottle up made an excellent big press button once I drilled a small hole in the bottom so it would sit on the release pin properly.

If anyone is looking for stainless valves there is a guy in the UK called Canmec who sells stainless valves on eBay in sets of 4 for AUD$20 and shipping was reasonably priced and quick. I know I could have gone hunting around town for them, and hear that places that specialise in 4WD tyres are most likely to have them, but all I had to do was sit in my chair and click a few buttons.

 

[geoffi]

I ended up cutting a disc out of an old fermenter lid and using that to block up the hole that was left when I removed the pump handle & mechanism. The existing rubber ring/washer seals fine and it was an easy task to fit a stainless steel valve in the centre of the removable disk.

I also cut another small disk and used that to block up the pressure release valve hole so I wouldn't accidentally spill or spray beer everywhere. Kept the dip tube, but trimmed a little off the bottom. Used one of those plastic picnic (brumby?) taps that others are using with about three feet of beva hose.

With the soda stream unit I needed to replace the rubber washer on the fitment, and found that a tap washer fits perfectly. I've removed the fitment from the soda stream case and had that just screwed onto the gas bottle making it a bit more compact. But, eventually the plastic where the lever/button pivots goes through broke so I ground back all the unnecessary plastic to make it smaller again, and fitted a press button to the top of the soda stream pressure release pin. For gas used same beva hose again with screw type hose clamps on each end with a Super Cheap inflater connection for a couple of bucks.

Actually, I found the support that usually sits inside the soda stream machine and holds the bottom of the drink bottle up made an excellent big press button once I drilled a small hole in the bottom so it would sit on the release pin properly.

If anyone is looking for stainless valves there is a guy in the UK called Canmec who sells stainless valves on eBay in sets of 4 for AUD$20 and shipping was reasonably priced and quick. I know I could have gone hunting around town for them, and hear that places that specialise in 4WD tyres are most likely to have them, but all I had to do was sit in my chair and click a few buttons.

More good ideas to explore. Getting rid of the pump mechanism altogether will also increase the capacity of the keg a little.

I found the stainless steel valves at Jax Tyres (Warilla) for $4 a pop.

 

[TidalPete]

I ended up cutting a disc out of an old fermenter lid and using that to block up the hole that was left when I removed the pump handle & mechanism. The existing rubber ring/washer seals fine and it was an easy task to fit a stainless steel valve in the centre of the removable disk.

I also cut another small disk and used that to block up the pressure release valve hole so I wouldn't accidentally spill or spray beer everywhere. Kept the dip tube, but trimmed a little off the bottom. Used one of those plastic picnic (brumby?) taps that others are using with about three feet of beva hose.

With the soda stream unit I needed to replace the rubber washer on the fitment, and found that a tap washer fits perfectly. I've removed the fitment from the soda stream case and had that just screwed onto the gas bottle making it a bit more compact. But, eventually the plastic where the lever/button pivots goes through broke so I ground back all the unnecessary plastic to make it smaller again, and fitted a press button to the top of the soda stream pressure release pin. For gas used same beva hose again with screw type hose clamps on each end with a Super Cheap inflater connection for a couple of bucks.

Actually, I found the support that usually sits inside the soda stream machine and holds the bottom of the drink bottle up made an excellent big press button once I drilled a small hole in the bottom so it would sit on the release pin properly.

If anyone is looking for stainless valves there is a guy in the UK called Canmec who sells stainless valves on eBay in sets of 4 for AUD$20 and shipping was reasonably priced and quick. I know I could have gone hunting around town for them, and hear that places that specialise in 4WD tyres are most likely to have them, but all I had to do was sit in my chair and click a few buttons.

Not too sure how you sealed the hole left after the pump handle was removed afromaiko?
Are you modifying an "Aqua" brand sprayer from Bunnings?
Different makes may need different solutions.
Can you post pics of what you've done?

:beer: