Purchased A Kegerator

[RussTaylor]

Mine's a Keg King. Happy with it so far. Here's a picture of the regulator which has Micromatic gauges but an unbranded body.

 

[OzBeer_MD]

Mine's a Keg King. Happy with it so far. Here's a picture of the regulator which has Micromatic gauges but an unbranded body.

View attachment 34176

Just looking back through this thread, kentr had a reg dump the contents of his Co2 bottle as well. That's more than half the value of a new reg! Maybe see if you can order a single guage micromatic from the US and fit your HP guage?

 

[francismcphail]

Sicnarf, out of interest, does your dodgey reg look like the Premium series Micromatic here? http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/r...rs-cid-297.html

Yes it does, however the release valve doesn't have the red tag at the end and the flow adjuster just has a red sticker on it with a + and - sign.

There are no markings on it with any standards certifications. (As per my BOC regulator on the other keg fridge.)

 

[whitegoose]

Well I bought a third keg so that I could keg a third brew before finishing either of the kegs I had on tap - and discovered that my fridge *can* fit 3 kegs in it!! Stoked. So I bought a third gas disconnect and a splitter and hooked it all up.

Now I have a wheat beer on tap (nearly finished), an APA on tap (nearly full), and a pilsner in the fridge carbonating! I can now have 2 beers on tap for all eternity!

 

[Peteoz77]

Well I bought a third keg so that I could keg a third brew before finishing either of the kegs I had on tap - and discovered that my fridge *can* fit 3 kegs in it!! Stoked. So I bought a third gas disconnect and a splitter and hooked it all up.

Now I have a wheat beer on tap (nearly finished), an APA on tap (nearly full), and a pilsner in the fridge carbonating! I can now have 2 beers on tap for all eternity!

Get more kegs....

Get 2 kegs for every tap.. then get another tap!


3 taps, 6 kegs = MUCH better!

(BTW, I have 13 kegs, 6 taps and 7 fermenters)

 

[RussTaylor]

Kegged my first beer recently and it was finished within the week! :icon_cheers: I'll have to start on my case swap beers now until my next batch is ready.

 

[pmolou]

I'm looking at buying a complete keg set-up soon and been reading all these threads and just wanted to pretty much confirm.. t
hat ebay+pinnacle is cheaper but can have lots of dodgy problems,
converting your own fridge is cheap if you can find a cheap fridge + have time and good at fiddly sort of set-ups,
kegmate is more expensive but reliable and has quality parts?

so is kegmate the way to go? I thought it would have been simple to start kegging but i seem to be more confused than when i started haha

 

[RussTaylor]

I'm looking at buying a complete keg set-up soon and been reading all these threads and just wanted to pretty much confirm.. t
hat ebay+pinnacle is cheaper but can have lots of dodgy problems,

Yes. I think I've been lucky compared to others. I've fitted a blower fan for the tower and replumbed with 5mm line and everything is working really well.

converting your own fridge is cheap if you can find a cheap fridge + have time and good at fiddly sort of set-ups,
kegmate is more expensive but reliable and has quality parts?

Yes

so is kegmate the way to go? I thought it would have been simple to start kegging but i seem to be more confused than when i started haha

Maybe. The wife always tells me I'm a cheapskate so naturally I went for the cheap option but I expected some issues along the way. Luckily my issues have been minor so far. I'm also a useless twit when it comes to mechanical things so I didn't want to be cutting into a fridge/freezer. The Kegmate/Keg King are pretty sexy and so I'm 'allowed' to have them in the kitchen. Some home made kegarators are pretty ugly and get religated to the garage.

 

[camedmeades]

Yes. I think I've been lucky compared to others. I've fitted a blower fan for the tower and replumbed with 5mm line and everything is working really well.


Yes


Maybe. The wife always tells me I'm a cheapskate so naturally I went for the cheap option but I expected some issues along the way. Luckily my issues have been minor so far. I'm also a useless twit when it comes to mechanical things so I didn't want to be cutting into a fridge/freezer. The Kegmate/Keg King are pretty sexy and so I'm 'allowed' to have them in the kitchen. Some home made kegarators are pretty ugly and get religated to the garage.

Hey guys,

Originally posted this when I bought my kegerator from pinnacle. Still going strong after replacing the 90o angle barbs from the taps with some from Ross.

Now have 3 kegs and thinking of punching a hole in the fridge door for the 3rd tap (have a spare celli tap lying around). I won't bother replacing the font until I can afford a 4 or 5 tap glycol flooded font for my yet-to-be-made solid oak bar in the living room. Joy!

I don't really see the need for the fan in the font as it cools very quickly. Have a Fat Yak clone and an AG American Brown Ale at the moment with an Irish Red Ale in the fermentor as i type.

Reg is fine, taps are fine and fridge is fine. For $550 bucks all up, can't go wrong (so to speak)

 

[OzBeer_MD]

I have a pair of the same 90 degree barbs waiting to be married up to some new perlick taps currently in transit. The weird "pour" and resulting foam has been driving me mad. Did you notice a big improvement putting the new barbs on?

 

[camedmeades]

No, as the original barbs actually didn't fit in the font (to be honest, I didn't have the patience to make them fit

 

[OzBeer_MD]

Seems that I ordered the wrong Barbs. The only way that I can see them being useful is if I hacksaw the back of my current shank off and then screw on the new SS Barbs. Effort v reward? I decided to leave the cheap shanks/barb combination, lengthen the beer lines, add a 3 way Co2 manifold with non-return valves and pop the perlick 525SS taps on. Pretty pleased. http://twitpic.com/1gt3jy

 

[Banshee]

When you get home from work and pour beer is the first bit frothy or is the mount chilled somehow to prevent this. If it is frothy how much do you lose and when you go for a refill is it frothy agian or not?

 

[brewmasterz]

When you get home from work and pour beer is the first bit frothy or is the mount chilled somehow to prevent this. If it is frothy how much do you lose and when you go for a refill is it frothy agian or not?

Hi there,

It could be a number of things....
is the beer cold??
How long is your beer line??
what pressure is ur reg at??
** maybe a little more info could help....
Cheers,

 

[Banshee]

When you get home from work and pour beer is the first bit frothy or is the mount chilled somehow to prevent this. If it is frothy how much do you lose and when you go for a refill is it frothy agian or not?

I am thinkin about 1 but if there is alot of waste it could be a waste.
Maybe good for parties when frequent pouring, anyone shed some light for me?

 

[OzBeer_MD]

I am thinkin about 1 but if there is alot of waste it could be a waste.
Maybe good for parties when frequent pouring, anyone shed some light for me?

Not sure what you mean by that last post.

1) The first beer poured on just about any system is often a little foamy due to the beer being warmer in the font / tap.
2) look back through this thread and you will see some easy mods to make the cool air from the fridge chill the font tower.
3) as mentioned in the above post you will find that lengthening the beer line helps alot. (I currently have one at over 3 metres) Do a search for the spreadsheet on balancing keg systems, it helped my understanding of these things alot.
4) adding a computer fan to simply circulate the air within any beer fridge (including kegerators with small fans that only come on with the compressor) will actually assist in balancing the co2/foaming aspect of the system by preventing the top of the fridge being much warmer than the bottom.

Let us know how you go. It takes a bit of tweaking but its worth it.

 

[dougy2010]

Hi Guys, my first post.

I have been looking at these pinnacle setups. My question is, would it be possible to sit this under a bar and then mount the font that is supplied on the bar. I have a corner bar with limited space, I'm guessing that that the bottom of the font might be something like 300mm - 500mm from where it would have mounted on the fridge.

If its possible then I guess the length wont be a balance issue due to the type of tap... but the beer warming in the line might be an issue? I guess a fan isn't going to solve this one... any thoughts?

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Hi Guys, my first post.

I have been looking at these pinnacle setups. My question is, would it be possible to sit this under a bar and then mount the font that is supplied on the bar. I have a corner bar with limited space, I'm guessing that that the bottom of the font might be something like 300mm - 500mm from where it would have mounted on the fridge.

If its possible then I guess the length wont be a balance issue due to the type of tap... but the beer warming in the line might be an issue? I guess a fan isn't going to solve this one... any thoughts?

Congrats on your first post Dougy :icon_cheers:

The distance from the kegerator shouldn't be a prob, but you're likely to have excessive foaming on the first pour (not too bad though).

 

[Jerry]

Hi Guys, my first post.

I have been looking at these pinnacle setups. My question is, would it be possible to sit this under a bar and then mount the font that is supplied on the bar. I have a corner bar with limited space, I'm guessing that that the bottom of the font might be something like 300mm - 500mm from where it would have mounted on the fridge.

If its possible then I guess the length wont be a balance issue due to the type of tap... but the beer warming in the line might be an issue? I guess a fan isn't going to solve this one... any thoughts?

G'day dougy,

Certainly is possible. Font only sits around 50mm above fridge top.



No pouring issues either.

Scott

 

[mxd]

nice setup there Jerry.

 

[Siborg]

G'day dougy,

Certainly is possible. Font only sits around 50mm above fridge top.

View attachment 40381

No pouring issues either.

Scott

f**king WOW!

That is an awesome setup you have going there, Jerry. I just purchased exactly the same fridge and you've inspired me to build a bar around it similar to you have (will probably even leave a space for a second fridge).

Quick question, though: how do you run the gas line from an external gas bottle in to the fridge? Do you need to drill a hole or is there one already? I'd put it through the hole for the font, but once the font is bolted down, there is no way to do that.

 

[Jerry]

Thanks guys. Pretty happy with the whole thing. Just need to find enough time to keep the beer flowing.

Siborg,

I don't leave the gas connected.

I've got a fridge downstairs that hold 3 kegs and I carbonate them down there. Again, gas is not continously connected, just topped up to achieve correct level. I'm generally not in that much of a hurry to tap the next keg.

In the bar, I add gas as the keg needs it.

Cheers

Scott

 

[Fents]

you brought TWO? you win at pouring beer, that setup rocks.

 

[Jerry]

you brought TWO? you win at pouring beer, that setup rocks.

Thanks Fents,

Yeah, buying 2 was the simplest and most cost effective way of achieving what I wanted.

Scott

 

[goomboogo]

Siborg, there is a hole for the gas line in the back (top corner). There is probably a black rubber plug over it at the moment.

 

[Phoney]

Anyone purchased or seen one of these before that can comment?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Single-Tap-Beer-Keg...#ht_7215wt_1137

Cheers

 

[peterl1981]

yeah i seen that the other day.. bloody cheap aye just had my birthday, i would have been a great present..