Minimal equipment for Kegging

Hey all,
I've been trying understand kegging and I think I might be at a point where I need some expert opinions.

First of all, I live in an apartment with very little space. I do not have space for additional cooling, i.e. chest freezer or extra fridge for fermentation or kegerating. I also want to avoid having hundreds of bottles on hand as I want to have about 2-3 batches in my pipeline at a time. Right now I can only have one primary going in my cooler + ice.

I would like to get 3 corny kegs and carb them by priming with corn sugar. I need to get a CO2 tank for dispensing but what I want to know is if I can use one CO2 tank and switch between the kegs easily or can I just get one tank, regulator and connect that up to a 3-way air distributor with individual shut off valves?

Basically, what is the most economical way to go about using CO2 just for dispensing multiple kegs?

You can get one tank with one regulator and split it to 3 kegs - but they will all have to stay at the same pressure levels.

citizenlee, I have the exact same problem as you. Being a University student with a smallish apartment I didnt know what to do. My roommate is cool with paying the electric for a kegerator so I went ahead and bought a Three keg kit from Midwest (for sure the best deal) and picked up a free fridge off of craigslist. I bought two taps and Ill be running the thrid one as a picnic tap inside the fridge (for the beer i dont want my friends to get at!)

wow. that package looks like a steal!

the free fridge from craigslist is definitely a bonus, i'm keeping my eye on craigslist here in boston and hopefully figure out where i'm going to keep the fridge in the meantime! don't forget to get an external temp controller.

I'm in the same boat... I am also a student and I have gotten a free 17cuft chest freezer for free from craigslist and also got a co2 tank with regulator and 4 secondairies off craigslist for $35. I purchased a temp controller and 3 party taps for $40 from another craigslist add. Once I am done with the wi keg buy, I will have 3 soda kegs for $45 making for a total of $115 invested and have 3 homebrews on tap. Once I can afford to buy shnaks and faucets, I will slowly begin adding those as well... I am thinking i will end up getting one or 2 a month till it is finished.

brew a metric ass ton of Ed's Haus Pale and Apfelwein and have a big ass party. Charge by the head and you'll have your system paid for in a minute. That's what I did when I was in college.

I think you mean.... free beer with "donations"" to your brewing ventures

mnadamn said:

I'm in the same boat... I am also a student and I have gotten a free 17cuft chest freezer for free from craigslist and also got a co2 tank with regulator and 4 secondairies off craigslist for $35. I purchased a temp controller and 3 party taps for $40 from another craigslist add. Once I am done with the wi keg buy, I will have 3 soda kegs for $45 making for a total of $115 invested and have 3 homebrews on tap. Once I can afford to buy shnaks and faucets, I will slowly begin adding those as well... I am thinking i will end up getting one or 2 a month till it is finished.

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holy... you scored big time. i've been scouring boston craigslist for 2 weeks and haven't found anything close to those prices...

eschatz said:

brew a metric ass ton of Ed's Haus Pale and Apfelwein and have a big ass party. Charge by the head and you'll have your system paid for in a minute. That's what I did when I was in college.

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that's a brilliant idea. i'm on it.

citizenlee said:

holy... you scored big time. i've been scouring boston craigslist for 2 weeks and haven't found anything close to those prices...

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Well, I have the craigslist free postings and garage sales on my homescreen tabs. I noticed the other day that there was a 20cuft freezer for free in the area and i woulda picked it up for a fermentation chamber... but no car big enough to pick it up with so I posted on here. craigslist is an amazing thing... I found a guy that is wanting a keggle and a chiller but cant afford them so I talked to him, he is getting the chiller and I already have the keggle so we are just sharing the 2 until one of us gets enough money to get their own.