How I spent my Sunday! (Kegerator, bottling wine photos)

Well, I have very few tools, not much cash, but a lot of wants, and I decided my cottage needed a kegerator. I took the dorm fridge that I've been using out there, and put a shank/faucet on it. A tower is more expensive, plus we use the top of it for storing a few items, so a faucet out the door was the way to go for me. I had a simple set up, a 3 gallon keg with picnic taps but wanted something "nicer". I bought a discount kit for a sanke set up, and this is the result:



I still need to add the drip tray. The "kit" has a weird drip tray with a back on it that goes over the faucet (not removable) and I wanted a removable drip tray so we'll be adding that later. I have a perlick faucet coming from Brewmaster's Warehouse, because that kegerator is for our cottage and I think sticking with that cheap faucet will be an issue.

Next, I bottled 5 gallons of blackberry wine, 4 gallons of plum wine, and 2 gallons of cranberry wine. I also tried out "emptywineboxes.com" for the first time to compare and filled two 3L boxes when I bottled:

I see you got it done. Looks great. The decal fits perfectly too! I will cut the drip tray for you next week and any internal fridge demolition that needs to be done.

So.....how was the experience with the wine bag???? I am looking into getting some as well but just havent pulled the trigger yet

I only drew blood once! You'd have been proud of me.

The winebox thing was pretty cool- I'm still not 100% sure if I will buy more. I have three more to use for the chokecherry wine (I racked 15 gallons of that today, also!) and I'll see how that goes.

I love the concept, and filling it was easy. But, filling wine bottles isn't exactly hard! Bob has a technique now where he rinses each wine bottle immediately and hangs the bottle on a bottle tree in the basement so they are clean and dry to begin with. I think the boxes will be great for camping and the cottage, and I'm looking forward to comparing the wine I bottled vs. the wine I boxed.

Yooper you way rock !!!!

I hadn't even considered that there was a way to "home box" wine. Backpacking trips just got a lot more fun.

Looks like a pretty damn good Sunday!

We put the drip tray on today, after Bob sawed off the excess part with a hacksaw while I was at work. Now, I have to fill a three gallon keg to put in it!

Yooper said:

Now, I have to fill a three gallon keg to put in it!

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Something tells me that won't be long. Looks great Yoop!

yee haw! a kegerator!

Whutever said:

Something tells me that won't be long. Looks great Yoop!

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android said:

yee haw! a kegerator!

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Well, the mini kegerator is at the cottage, but I didn't put the beer on tap yet out there! I was still sort of waiting for some beerline to come in from Brewmaster's Warehouse. I didn't like the beer line that came with that kit.

Ipa?

Homercidal said:

Ipa?

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Me, an IPA?

Of course! It's the Surly Furious clone. The next beer going on tap out there will be a dryhopped APA, though, for visitors who might not be hopheads.

Wyzazz sent me a Cascade Pale Ale that double dryhopped and it was AWESOME!

Homercidal said:

Wyzazz sent me a Cascade Pale Ale that double dryhopped and it was AWESOME!

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The Cascade version is pretty good, I'm disappointed with the Centennial version. I'm going to do the same recipe with some other hops to see what comes out. It was the Epic Pale Ale recipe from CYBI, I just subbed MO for the base malt because that's what I had on hand. 2 seperate whirlpool additions and a warm and a cold dry hop.

I'm glad you like it!

wyzazz said:

The Cascade version is pretty good, I'm disappointed with the Centennial version. I'm going to do the same recipe with some other hops to see what comes out. It was the Epic Pale Ale recipe from CYBI, I just subbed MO for the base malt because that's what I had on hand. 2 seperate whirlpool additions and a warm and a cold dry hop.

I'm glad you like it!

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Sounds great! Now I have another beer on my "to brew" list! :rockin:

wyzazz said:

The Cascade version is pretty good, I'm disappointed with the Centennial version. I'm going to do the same recipe with some other hops to see what comes out. It was the Epic Pale Ale recipe from CYBI, I just subbed MO for the base malt because that's what I had on hand. 2 seperate whirlpool additions and a warm and a cold dry hop.

I'm glad you like it!

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I have had both and the Cascade was definitely better IMO. I might have to buy a sack of MO and put my Cascades to some good use!

I'll be looking that recipe up.

Below is the exact recipe I used... ...I changed the yeast and base malt. Everything else was essentially the same as the CYBI recipe. Calc'd for 75% efficiency.

8lbs MO
1lb C10
11oz C20
5oz Carapils
.5oz Cascade 75min 5%aa
.75oz Cascade 30min 5%aa
1oz Cascade 10min 5%aa
1.25oz Cascade Whirlpool for 20mins
1.25oz Cascade 2nd Whirlpool for 20mins
1.75oz Cascade (Warm Dry Hop 5 days)
1oz Cascade (Cold Dry Hop 5 days)
WLP041 Pacific Ale Yeast

Mashed at 148 for 60 mins
Boiled for 90mins

Homercidal said:

I have had both and the Cascade was definitely better IMO. I might have to buy a sack of MO and put my Cascades to some good use!

I'll be looking that recipe up.

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That reminds me- you can test out the new mini-kegerator when you come up this way this summer!

We can do a "brewery tour" of Iron County Michigan. We can start at my cottage, go visit lschaivo's brewery (wait till you see his HLT!) and drink some of his beer, then to my house and see my kegerator and my new HLT set up. We can brew, if we want. Then back to the cottage for a campfire and a few beers.

Homercidal said:

I have had both and the Cascade was definitely better IMO. I might have to buy a sack of MO and put my Cascades to some good use!

I'll be looking that recipe up.

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I'm not a fan of the MO, I think I'll stick with regular old 2-row for my base malt in my lighter beers. I get a really distinct Crackery/Sesame Seed kind of aroma and flavor from it. Maybe I'm just super sensitive to it, or maybe the malt was a little old or something.

If you're looking for something to set the fridge on to make the height more convenient for dispensing, this is a cheap option that works great:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40104270

Here's a picture of this side table with my old setup. The size of table is perfect for a sanyo 4912, not sure about your fridge though.

Great idea! Thanks!

I guess it wouldn't kill me to have to lean over to have a beer, but I do like the idea of raising it a bit and then just using the area underneath for storage.