Unsure of where to go from here could use some advice

So I picked up a beer making kit for $8 at a yard sale a while back. Used to make beer ages ago but got tired of the cleaning and filling of bottles so I left the hobby. Been thinking about getting back into it for a while now so finding NIB kit for $8 kind of sealed the deal.

Don't want to do the bottling thing again so I would like to keg. Money is an issue right now so I can't just build a whole kegerator right out of the gate. I can't afford the force carbing kits with a 5lb tank right now.

What I got is the beer making kit, the beer making ingrediants, and today I picked up a ball lock corny keg.

I plan on making darker ales as opposed to pilsner, lagers.

I want to start making beer so how should I proceed?

I'm thinking I brew the beer transfer to corny keg, carb naturally, and then either make a DIY hand pump for dispensing or get one of these:

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=16

Any steps I'm missing? Any other ideas? Any ways I can minimize/eliminate the sludge before dispensing?

Throw away the ingredients. They are not any good.

Forrest

I've been brewing in stainless steel pots - not tightly sealed.

I decant to another container and leave the trub behind at the bottling stage. Might that work for your kegging too?

+1 on throwing out the ingredients if you're unsure of their freshness.

Carbing naturally with priming sugar in the keg works great.

Pumping air into the keg to serve, like using a bronco tap, will oxygenate the beer and cause it to go bad very quickly. A DIY pump will work fine if you plan on drinking the whole keg in one day, but otherwise not a great idea.

Unless you know for a fact the beer kit is really fresh - definitely +1 on throwing out those ingredients/kit....they can't be any good if you grabbed them from a garage sale/discount place. Who knows how old they are. Malt (especially liquid malt) goes bad/rancid over time. You don't want to brew with that!
You could carb naturally in the keg using some priming sugar and such - plus you would definitely need that portable CO2 kit to keep the beer drinkable for any length of time. Like, JuanMoore said: oxygen is the worst enemy of beer, and a DIY hand pump would only introduce oxygen and other unwanted gases into the beer and make it go bad very quickly. CO2 is the only way to dispense the beer (unless you get into a N2/CO2 "Beer Gas" mix, but that's way down the line from where you are right now).

Sorry I should have been clearer. I got the beer making kit (equipment) at the yard sale. I bought the beer making kit (ingredients) at the natural food store in town yesterday, they also had corny kegs so I grabbed it too.

Looking online it seems a hand pump is the same if not more than the portable C02 kit so a no brainer there. Though drinking it in one is not a problem I lan on using the beer for occasions and get togethers not for home use. Maybe someday if I get kegerator made. Baby steps.

So is there anything I can do to eliminate the sediment? I was thinking brew the beer, transfer to keg, carb naturally, then after like 4 weeks transfer it to a clean keg being careful to leave the sediment in the first keg, attach the C02 dispenser to force out the air disconnect the C02 and then the keg is good to go. It can sit there until we are ready to use it?

Good idea? bad? any other thoughts?

Yes, you can build a "keg jumper" (two liquid disconnects connected by beverage line) and transfer from the natural carbing keg to another keg. You will want to give the first keg plenty of time to condition, cold crash for a few days or more if you can, then dispense a pint or two from it until it runs clear. Then you can hit the second keg with CO2 to purge oxygen, hook the CO2 to the first keg, connect the jumper, and periodically pull the second keg's relief valve while you transfer.

Truthfully, though, while the CO2 cartridge method is a way to start, you will likely go through multiple cartridges per keg. Over time, it will be less costly to get a CO2 tank and regulator. Also, you need to make sure that some fool doesn't decide to pull the trigger for laughs, wasting CO2 and dispensing foam.

Wouldn't it be easier just to syphon it from one keg to the other keeping the hose a couple inches above the sediment?

Yeah I am thinking I get the guage and the adapter to use paintball tanks for dispensing that way i just need a 5lb tank when I move to a kegerator in the future.

akthor said:

Wouldn't it be easier just to syphon it from one keg to the other keeping the hose a couple inches above the sediment?

Yeah I am thinking I get the guage and the adapter to use paintball tanks for dispensing that way i just need a 5lb tank when I move to a kegerator in the future.

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I do not find that easier, but it will certainly work. The advantage to the jumper is that you can do a closed CO2 transfer without exposing the beer to air.

But won't the pickup inside the keg grab all the sediment in the transfer? It's right on the bottom?

akthor said:

But won't the pickup inside the keg grab all the sediment in the transfer? It's right on the bottom?

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You pull a couple of pints after cold crashing to eliminate the sediment near the pickup. After that it runs clear.