What parts do I need to keg?

I purchased a kegging set up on craigslist recently that was for commercial kegs (it's one of the beverage factory ones from all the labels on stuff) and it includes a co2 tank (10lb maybe, about 6in diameter, 18in high) dual gauge regulator, door taper (for fridge) and a sanke tap. To keg homebrew would I just need a picnic tapper (assuming I don't want to put a hole in my fridge) and a reconditioned Cornelius keg? or are there more fittings to?

Also if anyone knows where I can find a keg cheap on the internet that would be great, so far the cheapest I've found is Austin Homebrew at 50 dollars shipped.

I bought some kegs from Adventures In Homebrewing last December, and they had the best deal I could find. At the time, used kegs were $17.99 a piece. It looks like the price has gone up a little, but still likely hard to beat the price. You'll also need gas and liquid disconnects to hook corny up to the regulator and your picnic tap.

Kegconnection.com.. If you cant find what your looking for just call them.

They are great to work with!!

I did get the 4 pack of kegs from Adventure in homebrewing but they have since went up on the price... I would give kegconnection.com a chance.

I just purchased some taps to convert my old fridge to a kegerator and I changed my mind on the order. I called them up to add some items to the invoice.. They threw the items in for free ($20) without even increasing the shipping price.. They have went above and beyond with customer service each time I have purchased from them.


Good luck with your purchase!

Corney kegs and sanke kegs have different connections. Sanke kegs combine the gas and liquid on one post. Corney kegs have separate gas and liquid connections. I think the cheapest I have seen them online is here.
BALL & PIN LOCK KEG CONNECTORS @ Williams Brewing

As for finding corney kegs, you can look online, craigslist, some people even have good luck buying them from restaurants.

Good luck.

Keg connection has 30 dollar kegs with a free set of replacement 0-rings, so along with that I also need to order:

KegConnection.com Items
KG101 Cornelius Keg (or Firestone), 5 Gallon, Ball Lock (Pepsi Style) for Homebrew/Soda $29.95 $29.95
DC503 Dis-connect set (2) Ball Lock 5/16 gas, 1/4 liquid barbed $13.89 $13.89
FA602 Draft Party Faucet, with 5 foot Line $5.39 $5.39

Sub-Total
$49.23

KegConnection.com ESTIMATED TOTAL w/ shipping $61.80

Do I need anything else?

You might want to get more beer line.. From what I have read the longer the beer line you have the less foam you will have when you pour.. I am using 5 feet which is what came with my setup and wish it was 10. I will be getting longer beer line when I can.

True, but I've also heard you can turn down the pressure to alleviate that problem. Plus I can always stop by the local homebrew store to get some if I need it.

eatpuppies said:

True, but I've also heard you can turn down the pressure to alleviate that problem. Plus I can always stop by the local homebrew store to get some if I need it.

Click to expand...

just ask them to increase the length of your beer lines. turning down the pressure isn't a good solution for a number of reasons. sure, you can disconnect the 5 footers, buy the length you need at the local lhbs, etc. later on, but if you spend a couple of bucks now to have them make the lines longer, it'll be a lot less hassle and cost you less time and money in the long run.

Hit up Pedalbiker in the classified forum for kegs, 4 kegs 100$ + shipping. New rings + holding pressure + kegs came in the best shape I've gotten before, even the outsides were clean along with the insides.

Do I need a disconnect set for each keg (assuming I'll only be dispensing out of 1 at a time) or do I need just 1 set for co2 in and beer out lines?

you need a set for every keg you plan to dispense simultaneously. Sorta. You could get by with only 1 gas connect but moving it to each keg to top up the co2 every couple serves would suck.

Since you apparently want only 1 keg serving at a time, then ya 1 gas and 1 liquid connect is plenty. Though you may consider getting an extra gas one and using it so you can pressurize kegs without toying with your serving keg (or throwing the next keg to be served into the fridge 2 weeks ahead of time hooked up to gas to force carb).

I ended up just getting stuff from keg connection and having them put a longer hose on it, the keg is a few dollars more but you save money shipping everything together rather than buying each part somewhere else. Just ordered 2 beers from AHS (Miami Weiss and Texas Blonde) can't wait for everything to come in the mail.

I'm a little late, since you already ordered your beer lines, but this is a useful web page for balancing your keg system. http://www.iancrockett.com/brewing/info/kegbalance.shtml. You plug in the serving temperature and PSI, and the calculator tells you how long your lines need to be.

I just bought a kegerator off craigslist myself, with the tap in the door and a CO2 tank w/regulator. It had a Sanke tap on it, so I purchased a conversion kit from Adventures in Homebrewing that gives me the Quick Disconnects to use my Cornelius kegs with the tap & regulator, as well as quickly re-connect the Sanke tap if I should want to buy a commercial keg for a party of lowlife non-HB drinkers.

Kegerator Homebrew Conversion Kit