Wanting To Buy Kegs.

[JakeSm]

Hey everyone,

Im looking to buy a keg or two as i am trying to get into kegging my beer.

Was wondering if anyone has any spare kegs or kegs they arnt using and would consider selling for a good price, would you be able to let me know.

Cheers jake

 

[Cocko]

Hey Mate,

Kegging is a great step in brewing, one you will be glad you made...

'Cheap' kegs are very few and far between, they are one of the things you will invest in for brewing that will hold their value and I would assume, from experience, it is a very rare scenario that a brewer would turn around and say "Oh, I have too many kegs, I better sell some off cheaper than anyone else is selling them..."

There are plenty around, eBay, retailers, sponsors above...

You will pay $60-80, Search, post, advertise, dream for cheap ones.. they wont come... maybe $50 but need a seal kit...

Anyway, if you find some please let me know!

:icon_cheers:

 

[Dunkelbrau]

There are a few sellers on eBay with 45 dollar kegs, but shipping cost bumps it up (if buying 2+) to around 60 bucks each, they do need some new o-rings and a lid seal, but those are cheap enough.

I got mine all for around 60, and i bought 2 to start, then 3 more, i can see why no one would sell them off cheaper, as the "rotation" of the kegs is sure to make sense once you empty your first one and need more sitting there chilled and carbed ready to tap!

 

[bradsbrew]

Kegs are the cheap part of kegging, its all the bits and peices that add up. I am a bit tight with my money and have not paid more than $40 for any of my 19L kegs. When I first started kegging I was on a budget but I bought a good quality regulator and non return valve as I believe these are the important parts of the system. My first taps were just picnic taps, after disconnects and line and a soda stream adaptor and two $40 kegs I had a working 2 keg set up for around $250. Now i have 12 19L kegs and 1 9L keg, a stout tap, 3 perlicks, an andale font and tap for camping, a mounted CPBF and a box full of connections and snaplocks that would be worth more than my original set up. I still have been to tight purchase a proper gas bottle though and run a 4 keg system with a sodastream.

Kegging can be cheap to get into if you deal with the right people.

Cheers

 

[Robbo2234]

12 kegs????? show us ya bits!!

I would love some brew porn about now!

 

[iralosavic]

I got mine off eBay for $37.50ea (pick up, so no shipping) and I haven't even needed to replace any seals yet. Maybe I was lucky? I don't know how the guy sells them so cheap as the going wholesale price in the states is $20usd and shipping takes it close to the sale price... Industry secrets perhaps.

 

[kalbarluke]

For me the kegs were the cheap part. The gas and the regulator were where I spent my dough.

I got three kegs for about $50 each. The gas cylinder cost $200 (lasted a year. $20 refill) and the regulator was $100 ish.

I use the (cheap) bronco taps and they have been really good. Probably don't pour like a professional tap but I am more than satisfied.

Kegs have still been the best investment I have made with brewing. I was soooo over washing bottles and my wife was sick of seeing empty ones around the house (and gathering in the kitchen to be washed out). It is a fairly hefty outlay (I think all up my setup was about $600) but you can do it a bit cheaper. Regardless, beer on tap rocks.

Do it.

 

[JakeSm]

Ok thanks for all the replies guys, i have found that i can get a keg for around $50-$70 each, but thats not what worries me..

I have just organised to purchase a 2 tap font of a fellow ahb member so im slowly gathering my parts.

I am worried about the gassing...what size can should i look at fgor a 2 keg setup and how long would that last??

Also where do you get refills from?? How do the soda bomb attachments work, how many do you use at once and is there much difference between CO2 and N2O when carbonating the kegs??

Any help would be much appreciated.... Also let me know of you have any parts or kegs for my new system build i would be interested in!!

Cheers jake.

 

[Maheel]

IMO in the end the best option is to get a "real co2" bottle like the keg on legs ones or the keg king ones or some other fully certified bottle

i have fire X's and two normal bottles and the normal ones are just simpler to use and fill

nothing wrong with using fire x's or other stange and interesting methods to carbonate but in the end your "investment" in a real bottle will reward you in the end

i know it's hard to outlay the $$$ i'm a TAB but on some gear i reckon it's worth the expense...

 

[kalbarluke]

I agree with Maheel. Get a decent sized gas bottle. Don't bother with soda bulbs. Too fiddly and not accurate enough.

The first time you use kegs you may find it difficult to get the pressure right but there is lots of info on this site to help.

I am also a TAB but I have no regrets at all outlaying a few hundred clams for a keg setup. In terms of gas and refills, ring some LHB stores and ask them. They will probably have a good idea. FWIW mine is a keg king and it has been good. I can refill it at one of the chain HB stores.

 

[Dunkelbrau]

I find that having the "Swap and go" system with the CO2 a good option, don't need to worry about rental, or recertification of the bottle after it goes out. I got mine for around 300, and its a 6.8kg bottle, there are 2.6 i think and 4.8 or something sizes as well at my LHBS, but i decided to go the bigger and get the bigger "refill" (swap over like your BBQ gas bottle) for 50 bucks anyway.

If you are willing to wait, you might get some cheaper kegs, that one that sells em for 45 bucks that i mentioned probably does pickup as well, just have to find out.

My biggest outlay was the gas bottle, followed by perlick taps, and then probably kegs.

Take your time, do your research, and get it right so you enjoy it!

 

[bradsbrew]

Agree totally with the gas bottle. Sodastreams are a pain, I have 3 and only get 3 kegs carbed and served for around $13 so in the big picture I could have bought a proper bottle buy now.

 

[seemax]

Roughly need 200g including waste to force carb a 19L keg.

2.6kg CO2 bottle should be good for 10 kegs and serving. Swap n go makes life simple.

There are also the Diemen's kegs (450g?) but not sure if they are easily refillable.

 

[fraser_john]

Agree totally with the gas bottle. Sodastreams are a pain, I have 3 and only get 3 kegs carbed and served for around $13 so in the big picture I could have bought a proper bottle buy now.

You'd save a boatload of CO2 if you naturally carbonated in the keg, 90gm dissolved sugar into the keg before filling, sit for a week or two and ta-da. Might make soda stream bottles worth while.

This really works if you have more than four kegs, so one or two kegs of beer can be carbonating and kept waiting till one in the fridge runs dry.

I have had a 2.6kg bottle (or whatever that size is) now for almost four years now and not had to refill it, all kegs naturally carbonated.

 

[sim]

Try to get ball-lock rather than pin-lock style kegs. There seems to be more of them around, making disconnectors and parts cheaper and more readily available.

At the very least make sure you get all of one style.

 

[bradsbrew]

You'd save a boatload of CO2 if you naturally carbonated in the keg, 90gm dissolved sugar into the keg before filling, sit for a week or two and ta-da. Might make soda stream bottles worth while.

This really works if you have more than four kegs, so one or two kegs of beer can be carbonating and kept waiting till one in the fridge runs dry.

I have had a 2.6kg bottle (or whatever that size is) now for almost four years now and not had to refill it, all kegs naturally carbonated.

I am still not sold on whether you benefit with the body and flavour of naturally carbed kegs vs force carbed. Some styles may be better but some may not. Just as some brews that I have made have turned out better in the kegs than bottles and vice versa. Still worth a try when you have excess kegs.

Cheers

 

[DU99]

found this ad on gumtree bit old he might still have stock

 

[Smokomark]

Agree totally with the gas bottle. Sodastreams are a pain, I have 3 and only get 3 kegs carbed and served for around $13 so in the big picture I could have bought a proper bottle buy now.

I've got a spare 540gm bottle if you want one. Same fitting as sodastream but without valve.

Mark

 

[DU99]

i have 6kg bottle and a spare 540g Diemen's as a standby and i natural carb..