Corny Keg Dispensing

Okay so I'm completely new to kegging and need some help. I'm buying a kegging system (three 5 gal corny kegs) this weekend and need to know what all parts I should expect to buy so that I can dispense beer easily after finally using the system.

I'm not in a hurry to buy the dispensing equipment as it will be a month or so at minimum before I'll have kegged and have beer that is ready to drink but I'd like to go ahead and start buying the stuff I'll need piece by piece over the next few weeks.

At the minimum, you'll need:

- keg(s)
- CO2 tank
- CO2 regulator
- gas quick disconnect(s)
- beer quick disconnect(s)
- gas line
- beer line
- stainless steel hose clamps for attaching hoses to QDs and CO2 regulator
- if planning on serving multiple kegs, a gas distribution manifold is helpful
- for the short term, a "picnic faucet" with six feet of beer line attached to actually pour the beer,
- sanitizer (eg: Five Star "Star-San") for prepping kegs


Notes:

o For the regulator and QDs, if you go with barbed type fittings you don't need to buy the MFL connectors to hook the gas and beer lines to the QDs and the regulator.

o You should also pick up a tubing brush for cleaning the dip tubes in the kegs. You'll need that sooner or later.

o Unless the kegs have had their O-ring sets replaced, you should pick up a set per keg (usually costs around $6 a set).

o A container of "Keg Lube" is worth the $4 it costs. A thin smear on all keg gaskets can help them seal and prevent pinched/nicked O-rings when installing QDs.

That should get you started...

Cheers!

Great thanks for the quick reply. I came out a lot better than I thought since the kegging kit has everything you mentioned but the picnic line and manifold.

Now just to decide on what I'm going to do for a kegerator later on.

You don't necessarily need a manifold. If you're careful not to fill the kegs up to the level of the gas diptube (some people even cut them shorter), you can just use a plastic T to split the gas line to several kegs from the regulator. The trouble is that if you fill up the keg past the gas dip tube and for some reason the pressure in the keg is higher than the regulator, beer can shoot into the regulator and ruin it. Most manifolds come with check valves that will prevent any liquid from flowing through them so it would save you a regulator, all depends on how much you'd like to risk it.

Also, sounds like you've got it taken care of, but if you get any more kegs don't buy the O-rings from a beer shop. Instead, do a search on here for the McMaster Carr numbers for the O-rings and buy them that way. Rather than $6 a set, you can get something like 100 of the little ones for $5-10 and 10 of the big ones for $10, saving a bit of money. Plus knowing I saved money this way, I don't feel so bad about switching out an O-ring from time to time if they start to get crappy.