rth97601
Member
I'm new to this whole forum thing, so my apologies if this has already been answered--I did a couple of searches and am still confused ...
I've been brewing and bottling for a couple of years, and just today got a kegerator conversion kit off Craigslist. It's got a five pound CO2 bottle and regulator, a couple lengths of hose, a Sankey coupler, and a beer faucet and mount. It's a standard setup originally purchased from a local distributor, and I arranged to bring it in and have them check it out, have them show me how to set it up, and then get the corny keg fittings at the same time. I don't have a fridge yet, or any corny kegs (though I do have a batch of bitter in the fermenter that'll need a new home in a few days), so the guy gave me some fridge advice and suggested a couple places I could get kegs.
Here's the weird bit--
I told him I was planning to keep my beer at cellar temps (50 or so), and at lower carbonation, as I normally do English style bitters and ales, and he told me emphatically that this was not possible, that I would get nothing but foam unless I kept the beer in the fridge and at 36-38 degrees. This came up when I asked what commercial 1/6 kegs were available, with the intention of picking up a nice pale ale and just setting it up in the basement (always in the 50s in Rochester in the winter, and even colder in the back closet--I never fridge my beer between November and March, b/c I don't have to). When I said that, you'd have thought I'd insulted his mother--he was determined that I had to have a fridge at a low set temp with standard lager-style carb or the whole thing would fail.
Now, this seems odd to me, as I see carb charts with a range of temperatures and atmospheres, and I know that changing the tubing array will change the balance ... Plus, temp and carb are big parts of style profiles and I've been to bars that keep beer at higher temps and lower carb levels, so I know it's possible.
Is he right? If so, is it only with commercial kegs? Homebrew kegs? force carb or primed? I was really surprised by all this.
So ...can I get a keg of Brooklyn brown and serve it at cellar temp with this setup? Can I do my own? Anybody have the key to this mystery, before I go into random experimentation?
Oh, and also, since I'm starting fresh ... pin-lock or ball-lock? It seems I can get either one locally, and the pins are a bit cheaper ($29) when they're in stock (I'm waiting to hear back on that one). And any fridge recommendations? I'm a grad student on a real tight budget, and will probably have to go used/refurb unless there's some really good deal ...
I've been brewing and bottling for a couple of years, and just today got a kegerator conversion kit off Craigslist. It's got a five pound CO2 bottle and regulator, a couple lengths of hose, a Sankey coupler, and a beer faucet and mount. It's a standard setup originally purchased from a local distributor, and I arranged to bring it in and have them check it out, have them show me how to set it up, and then get the corny keg fittings at the same time. I don't have a fridge yet, or any corny kegs (though I do have a batch of bitter in the fermenter that'll need a new home in a few days), so the guy gave me some fridge advice and suggested a couple places I could get kegs.
Here's the weird bit--
I told him I was planning to keep my beer at cellar temps (50 or so), and at lower carbonation, as I normally do English style bitters and ales, and he told me emphatically that this was not possible, that I would get nothing but foam unless I kept the beer in the fridge and at 36-38 degrees. This came up when I asked what commercial 1/6 kegs were available, with the intention of picking up a nice pale ale and just setting it up in the basement (always in the 50s in Rochester in the winter, and even colder in the back closet--I never fridge my beer between November and March, b/c I don't have to). When I said that, you'd have thought I'd insulted his mother--he was determined that I had to have a fridge at a low set temp with standard lager-style carb or the whole thing would fail.
Now, this seems odd to me, as I see carb charts with a range of temperatures and atmospheres, and I know that changing the tubing array will change the balance ... Plus, temp and carb are big parts of style profiles and I've been to bars that keep beer at higher temps and lower carb levels, so I know it's possible.
Is he right? If so, is it only with commercial kegs? Homebrew kegs? force carb or primed? I was really surprised by all this.
So ...can I get a keg of Brooklyn brown and serve it at cellar temp with this setup? Can I do my own? Anybody have the key to this mystery, before I go into random experimentation?
Oh, and also, since I'm starting fresh ... pin-lock or ball-lock? It seems I can get either one locally, and the pins are a bit cheaper ($29) when they're in stock (I'm waiting to hear back on that one). And any fridge recommendations? I'm a grad student on a real tight budget, and will probably have to go used/refurb unless there's some really good deal ...
