Kegco K309

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LibertyTrailBrewing

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I'm currently researching Kegerators and I'm considering this one:

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kegerators/dualkegerator/Kegco_K309B-2_dual_faucet_kegerator.html

I've looked all over for some reviews on this unit but came up with zilch. This unit looks very similar to the Kegco K209 with the addition of a digital thermostat, cooling fan and deep chill function.

I found one favorable review for the K209 on amazon and a short thread here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/anyone-have-kegco-k209b-2-a-351056/


I thought I would check here to see if anyone has any experience with the Kegco K309.

I like the fact that this unit has a built in cooling fan. I'm wondering if I could modify the included fan to push cold air up into the tower. I also think it's a nice looking unit.

Thoughts?
 
I am currently debating on this as I am wondering if I truly need the digital temperature and deep chill. My fear is that someone might accidentally hit the deep chill button and i could have some freezing going on. Did you make a decision??
 
Were you able to modify the built in cooling fan? I just ordered a Kegco K309SS-3 and I'm considering doing the same.

I'm currently researching Kegerators and I'm considering this one:

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kegerators/dualkegerator/Kegco_K309B-2_dual_faucet_kegerator.html

I like the fact that this unit has a built in cooling fan. I'm wondering if I could modify the included fan to push cold air up into the tower. I also think it's a nice looking unit.

Thoughts?
 
I just purchased this as well from BerverageFactory.com. I live in San Diego so I was able to go check it out beforehand. The guy had a modified hose already inside the unit going up to the cooling fan. He said it will keep it cool but not ice cold like a commercial unit would. He also said it would cost $30 a year to run as opposed to a Commercial unit which would be hundreds so it works out.

Setting it up tonight. Very excited to see how well it functions.
 
Subscribed. I just ordered this one yesterday. I ordered over the phone so I could upgrade my regulator and increase the bev lines to 10 feet. The agent was very nice but definitely tried to talk me out of getting the longer lines. She said I could do it, but that it's a pain to change the lines. I've tried googling it with no luck. A little nervous now, but I went ahead and ordered the longer lines regardless.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as a tutorial on installing new beverage lines?

Thanks!
 
I've had the K309SS-2 since April and I couldn't be happier. I upgraded to the SS Perlicks and tower, and ordered it with sankey fitting on on side and ball-lock fitting on the other. Right now it has a slim 1/4 keg of Yuengling and a corny of a Black IPA carbonating.

I have to keep my regulator at around 7 PSI to keep foaming from being an issue, but it pours beautifully at that pressure. This is only my second batch of homebrew through it, and I'm interested in seeing how long it will take to non-force carbonate at that pressure. My first batch I force carbonated and it was a pain to get the regulator dialed back in to pouring perfection afterward so I'll just be patient this go-round.
 
hifidelity - Have you had any issues with the first pour being foamy? I am considering hooking a hose up the fan in the back and running it up the tower to help circulate air flow a bit. I was also thinking if it stays set at 32 degrees the tower has to keep semi-cool? Right?
 
So just an update on this for anyone interested in purchasing. We drank from it for the first time yesterday. We carbed a hoppy pale we made a few weeks back and drank the entire 5 gallons yesterday during a brew day/party. I kept the fridge at 34 degrees and never had a foam problem...not even the first beer. I didn't run a hose from the fan up the tower. This fridge is made very well and keeps very cold so I feel there really isn't a need for the fan.
 
Good to hear. Can't wait to get mine. They delivered me someone else's kegerator last week - my wife signed for it and I didn't notice the model number until two days later the morning of our move. Beverage Air has been nothing short of gracious and apologetic. The shipping company on the other hand has been fairly rude about it and hasn't apologized. They're coming tomorrow to pick it up and drop off the right one.
 
I had an issue with the first pour being a bit more foamy than subsequent pours. (3 fingers of foam vs. < 1 finger of foam) I found adding a tower cooler resolved this issue completely and I was able to precisely dial in hose length and keg pressure once the temperature from the tap to the keg was the same. (I keep my fridge at 38ºF)

If my understanding of what causes foam (CO2 to be released) is accurate, it's simply a difference in temperature (among other things, such as turbulence in the beer lines, ice in a glass, etc). So, hypothetically, if the beer line in the fridge is 32º, the lines in the tower are 38º, and the tap is 45º, you'll get foam. Once some beer flows through and all components begin to reach a similar temperature, the CO2 remains in solution (beer). I would hypothesize that it doesn't matter how cold you set the fridge since the tower will always be a bit warmer than the fridge since it's higher up and not as well insulated. A tower cooling fan mitigates this.

My fridge is about 5,200 ft and another issue to overcome was the length of my beer lines. When I followed the instructions of setting the keg pressure according to the brewer the beer would flow too fast (and foam). I went from 6 feet to 10 feet of line and it resolved the issue.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read the Brewers Association - Draught Beer Quality Manual. I learned quite a bit.

hifidelity - Have you had any issues with the first pour being foamy? I am considering hooking a hose up the fan in the back and running it up the tower to help circulate air flow a bit. I was also thinking if it stays set at 32 degrees the tower has to keep semi-cool? Right?
 
If anyone is wondering, you can fit 3 kegs, 1 CO2 bottle, 1 nitro bottle, regulators, and tower cooling fan. Also, the 1/2" hose for the cooling fan + 3 beer lines fit in the tower too.
 
Did you make a tower fan or just attach a hose to the fan inside the fridge?

I had an issue with the first pour being a bit more foamy than subsequent pours. (3 fingers of foam vs. < 1 finger of foam) I found adding a tower cooler resolved this issue completely and I was able to precisely dial in hose length and keg pressure once the temperature from the tap to the keg was the same. (I keep my fridge at 38ºF)

If my understanding of what causes foam (CO2 to be released) is accurate, it's simply a difference in temperature (among other things, such as turbulence in the beer lines, ice in a glass, etc). So, hypothetically, if the beer line in the fridge is 32º, the lines in the tower are 38º, and the tap is 45º, you'll get foam. Once some beer flows through and all components begin to reach a similar temperature, the CO2 remains in solution (beer). I would hypothesize that it doesn't matter how cold you set the fridge since the tower will always be a bit warmer than the fridge since it's higher up and not as well insulated. A tower cooling fan mitigates this.

My fridge is about 5,200 ft and another issue to overcome was the length of my beer lines. When I followed the instructions of setting the keg pressure according to the brewer the beer would flow too fast (and foam). I went from 6 feet to 10 feet of line and it resolved the issue.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read the Brewers Association - Draught Beer Quality Manual. I learned quite a bit.
 
I explored the possibility of attaching a hose to the preinstalled fan, but it wasn't powerful enough to send air to the top of the hose. I went with the Coldtower Super Beer Tower Cooler (1/2" air hose). The fan in the first one was noisy and quickly died but the replacement has been working great for a couple months now.

I attached some pics of the 12v connector inside the fridge. I toyed with the idea of powering the tower cooler with the 12v supplied by the fridge but I was recommended to let tower cooler fan run continuously, and the fridge's thermostat turns the built in fan off when the compressor is off. Plus there's an external on/off switch for the tower cooler fan if you won't be using it for a while.

In my testing I found using the tower cooling increased power consumption a bit, but it's ultimately only about a $1 extra per month. I think regular consumption with a chilled keg and no tower cooler is about .035 kWh per hour?

~0.0436 kWh per hr with tower cooler
~0.0546 kWh per hr while chilling new keg & tower cooler

Did you make a tower fan or just attach a hose to the fan inside the fridge?

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Just wanted to check in with a long term update.

I did pull the trigger and bought this kegerator a little over a year ago. I've been very happy with it. No problems whatsoever. I never felt the need to modify the fan because I never had a foaming problem. The first pour after a few days may contain a little more foam than the next several pours, but it has never been excessive. I run the kegerator at 39 to 41 degrees.

I agree that the fan is a little loud and a bit weak, but it is still going strong. I upgraded to the SS Tower and Perlicks. Definitely worth the price to upgrade. Love the flush mounted drip tray... Very clean looking. Outside digital display is good looking and very convenient. Occasionally I bump the temp down depending on the beer I'm pouring.

Thanks for the post on the fan modification. It's good to have strong options if I need them in the future.

If you are in the market, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

Cheers
 
I have the three tap version, loving it so far. Also found I don't need any extra fan as the internal fan does a fine enough job of circulating air. No foaming with 12 foot lines and no warm pours at all. Digital temp control also makes for perfect temp settings both for beer and for use as a fermentation chamber during my usual warm/off brew season.


Rev.
 
Just ordered this unit the other day. Went with the SS tower with two perlick taps. I've been reading lots of good things. I almost decided to hack a Danby fridge instead, but after lots of research and pricing things out I decided to fork out a few hundred more for a ready to go system that has consistently gotten 4-5 star feedback. The Danby hacks had plenty of negative feedback, not to mention they would barely fit two pin lock corny kegs.

Super excited to get it set up, this is my first step into kegging after 7 years of bottling my home brew. It was quite an investment, but I feel it will be worth it. I'll drop back in and leave some feedback after I get it up and running. First on tap will be some of my home pressed hard cider!
 
5 months and 6 kegs later and it's working great. Only issue I've had was when I first set it up the fan was causing a vibration to amplify thru the fridge loud enough that it drove me nuts. I took the fan off and put some rubber washers on the screws and only partially screwed it back on and was able to eliminate the noise. That also increased the air flow a bit. They have it mounted so close to the back wall that it was hardly moving air at all. After putting spacers on it and only loosely screwing it back on (with longer screws) there was noticeably higher air flow. I haven't had any issues with excessive foam even without a tower cooling mod. I run it at 36F and 12lb pressure. Only thing I wish it did was display the actual internal temp instead of just what you have it set at. Other than that, it's been awesome. I do not regret buying this unit instead of trying to mod a cheap mini fridge. Money well spent... now my only problem is trying not to drink all the time. I gained a lot of winter weight thanks to my new kegerator!
 
5 months and 6 kegs later and it's working great. Only issue I've had was when I first set it up the fan was causing a vibration to amplify thru the fridge loud enough that it drove me nuts. I took the fan off and put some rubber washers on the screws and only partially screwed it back on and was able to eliminate the noise. That also increased the air flow a bit. They have it mounted so close to the back wall that it was hardly moving air at all. After putting spacers on it and only loosely screwing it back on (with longer screws) there was noticeably higher air flow. I haven't had any issues with excessive foam even without a tower cooling mod. I run it at 36F and 12lb pressure. Only thing I wish it did was display the actual internal temp instead of just what you have it set at. Other than that, it's been awesome. I do not regret buying this unit instead of trying to mod a cheap mini fridge. Money well spent... now my only problem is trying not to drink all the time. I gained a lot of winter weight thanks to my new kegerator!

Thank you for the update!
 
No problem. A few other things... I just went with the default 5ft lines and live at 4500ft elevation. I noticed others said they had to change out to 10ft lines to fix foaming issues which seems like a lot of hose to stuff in there. You have to be careful that your liquid lines don't end up too close to the chiller plate in the back or you can end up with a frozen line.

I also have to add that after 7 years of bottling everything, kegging is amazingly easy and has me much more enthusiastic about brewing.

I've done a few kegs of my hard cider mixed 50/50 with either grape juice or sweet cider I jarred when I started the hard cider. It's awesome and the wife loves it. Back sweetening like that is pretty much impossible without a kegerator because you have to get it cold quick and keep it cold enough the yeast don't reactivate and carbonation is obviously not a problem. That's something I could have only dreamed about before... homemade wine coolers on tap!
 
Ill be kegging cider first and I want to sweeten it a little. How did you sweeten 5gal at kegging? 2 cans FAJC? Ever try like a cerry apple or pomegranate juice?
 
If you don't want to significantly lower your ABV, concentrate would be a good way to go, just make sure you mix it in really good if it's frozen when you add it. Also, make sure you get it chilling ASAP, you don't want to ferment in your keg.

My straight hard cider was 6.7%. I just split my last 5 gal carboy into two kegs and added 2 gallons juice to each, which gave me 9 gallons of 3.7% sweet wine. Both of them are super tasty, I really like the one I added my sweet cider to, it's much closer to store bought hard ciders, really strong apple flavor where straight cider is normally pretty dry with very little apple character left to it. I don't mind the lower ABV either.. I drank the first two kegs straight hard cider and found it was a little too easy to over do it. I'm thinking I'll try other juices with this year's cider. Maybe try some strawberry or something...

I use this calculator to figure out ABV when mixing. I just use gallons for the weight and ABV as the "percent active ingredient". http://www.handymath.com/cgi-bin/chemcalcc.cgi?submit=Entry

and ya.... we are getting a little off topic now... :off:
 
I haven't had any issues with excessive foam even without a tower cooling mod.

Same here, no tower cooling and I don't have any foaming issue with any of my beers but one - my hefeweizen. I do run 12' lines but I use 18-19psi on my hefeweizens and always get a bunch of foam. Been considering swapping out one of my Perlick 630SS' with a flow control Perlick just for the hefeweizen. But outside of that beer all other pour flawlessly. I've had my K309 since September. In addition to your sentiments about the joys of kegging and the ability to backsweeten or use fruit in beer without the yeast eating the sugars I'd like to add:

1. It's great to be able to set each beer's carbonation level separately
2. It's great to be able to fix a beers carbonation by raising or lower the psi if not up to desired level
3. It's great to not have to pour super slow from the bottle while paying careful attention to stop before the yeast flows into the glass (haaated that)
4. It's great to not have to wait as long for carbing/conditioning
5. My beers have been clearer than ever - think that's due to the dimple in the keg that collects yeast and sucks up a good portion of it in that first few ounces
6. And this is a big one for me... never having to deal with a sticking bottle wand. My god that would drive me nuts when the wand would stick open overfilling the bottle and spilling over onto the floor.
7. No more having to rinse a bottle out after every glass fill
8. No more bottle tree wasting space :)

Heh, I'm sure there's plenty more positives but I'll stop there :mug:


Rev.
 
I gave away probably 2/3rds of my bottle collection. I wish I was brave enough to ditch all my bottling stuff, especially the bottle tree, but I know I'll still have to do some bottling for gifts or wine. But now that I have my K309 probably 90% of what I do will be kegged. Sooo much nicer than bottling! Plus if I'm going somewhere I can always COF a couple chilled growlers and I'm good to go.

Cheers!:mug:
 
Great info guys. I picked up a Bev Air bm23 locally now I just need to get a regulator, tank and perlicks. Any suggestions on regulators?
 
Any suggestions on regulators?

Yes, Taprite. I have their dual gauge primary and a 3-product secondary. Love their products! They do the job extremely well, are USA made (usually not a big thing for me but whatever), have a very easy to turn knob as opposed to some of the smaller metal knobbed ones, etc. Prior to my Taprite primary reg I had a KegCo that failed. They replaced it but a bunch of Googling revealed a very large amount of failures with them so I just ordered the Taprite since I love my Taprite secondary. Boxed up the KegCo and am just keeping it as a backup should I somehow bust the Taprite (doubt it).


Rev.
 
I gave away probably 2/3rds of my bottle collection. I wish I was brave enough to ditch all my bottling stuff, especially the bottle tree

I tried to give away my bottles, posted on here, but I guess either no one close by wanted or needed them. They were delabeled 500ml (16.9oz) Franziskaner bottles. And removing the gold foil was a real PITA! I wound up throwing out 6 cases and keeping two for whenever the situation calls where I may need to bottle some. Felt awful just throwing them out LOL :eek: Kept everything else though, no reason to get rid of the bottle tree. I've found often when one makes a switch and discards old items you wind up needing them for something later on and wish you'd waited or just held onto them.


Rev.
 
Yes, Taprite. I have their dual gauge primary and a 3-product secondary. Love their products! They do the job extremely well, are USA made (usually not a big thing for me but whatever), have a very easy to turn knob as opposed to some of the smaller metal knobbed ones, etc. Prior to my Taprite primary reg I had a KegCo that failed. They replaced it but a bunch of Googling revealed a very large amount of failures with them so I just ordered the Taprite since I love my Taprite secondary. Boxed up the KegCo and am just keeping it as a backup should I somehow bust the Taprite (doubt it).


Rev.

I was leaning towards their products and your review made that choice easy. It looks like I can order a customized tower & reg from kegconnection. I will piece that together tonight.

Now im down to the Perlick 630ss vs 650ss.... decisions!
 
Debating grabbing a two or three tap version from beverage factory soon. Hoping to get sanke and ball lock couplers. Planning to go with perlicks up front. Should I go with the factory single gauge regulator and buy a taprite dual on my own or upgrade to one of their dual regulators?

Any other advice or reviews? I like the 309 vs the one that is about $60 less because it has the forced air fan near the tower (I think this is missing in the 200 model), digital display, and ability to go up to 75f, so I can use as a fermentation chamber in warmer weather if necessary.

Thanks
 
Should I go with the factory single gauge regulator and buy a taprite dual on my own or upgrade to one of their dual regulators?

Any other advice or reviews? I like the 309 vs the one that is about $60 less because it has the forced air fan near the tower (I think this is missing in the 200 model), digital display, and ability to go up to 75f, so I can use as a fermentation chamber in warmer weather if necessary.

Thanks

BeverageFactory carries Taprite regulators. Just call in and tell them you want to pay the difference to upgrade to the Taprite.

As for the kegerator, I personally highly recommend the digital display. And yep, I've used it as a fermentation chamber, worked perfectly.


Rev.
 
The only thing that bugs me is that the digital display thermostat resets to 5C every time the power goes out. I have to switch it back to F and dial it down a few degrees. That would not be a good thing if you were trying to ferment in it and the power went out while you were gone. I don't understand why they didn't build in static memory for the temp setting.
 
The only thing that bugs me is that the digital display thermostat resets to 5C every time the power goes out.

Is that applicable to the K309B model as well? The instructions for mine said it is supposed to remember the last temp used and reset to that temp when the power goes out then comes back on. I haven't lost power yet so I don't know for sure if that feature works.
 
I'm the OP, I have the K309B.

Same one I have as well. Interesting that the temp didn't return. Here's the info I read taken right from their PDF manual:

"In the event of a power interruption, all previous temperature settings will be automatically saved and the unit will return to the previous temperature setting."


Rev.
 
That is interesting. I know it's getting reset, it's happened multiple times in the year or so I've had it. I wonder if it matters how long the power is out. They may be using a capacitor to power dynamic memory which would eventually drain if the power's off long enough. I should try unplugging it for just a few minutes and see if it resets.
 
I like my K309, and definitely recommend the 650SS Perlicks over the 630SS.

I reduce the flow for the first glass, reducing the amount of foaming.
 
I have 2 309's and both reset to 5 degrees Celsius after a power outage. It's so easy to change it back that I don't even consider it a minor annoyance...even having to do it on two separate kegerators.

I have no complaints whatsoever with mine now that I've replaced all the beer lines with 12' lines.

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I like my K309, and definitely recommend the 650SS Perlicks over the 630SS.

I reduce the flow for the first glass, reducing the amount of foaming.

In the long run it's easier to just lengthen the beer lines than have to worry about adjusting flow control faucets a couple times each session. It solves the problem of an unbalanced system rather than being a bandaid fix.
 
In the long run it's easier to just lengthen the beer lines than have to worry about adjusting flow control faucets a couple times each session. It solves the problem of an unbalanced system rather than being a bandaid fix.

Yeah with my 12' lines I literally have no pour problems. I was lucky in that I did a lot of reading up before buying and saw many say to just do 12' when most were recommending 10' lines. Figured if I'm going to coil the excess why not just do the 12'? And I don't even use a fan or any other tower cooling method (like the copper pipes). The 309 has a fan but it only turns on once in a while.


Rev.
 
The temp reset isn't really an issue unless you're using it for a ferm chamber with temps 55-70F. The drop in temp would almost certainly stall fermentation. I guess if that's what you were using it for you could put it on a UPS.
 
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