Transition to kegging

I am only 15 gallons into my brewing career but i am already considering to let go of bottling and start kegging. How much money am i realistically looking at spending to start being able to keg my beer. i currently dont have any of the necessary equipment for kegging.

250.00-300.00 for a complete 2 keg system with dual regulators.

but you need a fridge to put it in!

kegs were 25.00 two years ago, now they are 50.00 each.

the kits at
midwestsupplies dot com
are really cheap and the customer service is awesome.

I just did my first batch and I went straight to corny keg. Next batch I may bottle. At a local store I spent $300 for two used kegs,new seals,tank already filled,regualor and gauge and all hoses and tap. I'm sure you could get it cheaper but I had my brew kegged 2 hours later
Doug

mattne421 said:

I am only 15 gallons into my brewing career but i am already considering to let go of bottling and start kegging. How much money am i realistically looking at spending to start being able to keg my beer. i currently dont have any of the necessary equipment for kegging.

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This is the same thing I did after my third brew I was ready to keg and have never looked back. Good Luck.

Thanks for the input. Hopefully within a couple of pay checks ill have some money saved up to put to good use. From what I've been reading on here kegging is the way to go.

Now that I do 10-15 gallon batches I am forced to keg half, bottle half. Guess which of the two is more enjoyable and faster? Kegging is awesome, but it helps to have a 4 and 5 year old on hand to load the bottles into the cases as I cap!

I actually went to kegging before brewing...yeah, totally backwards...but am kind of like that...started stock-piling equipment since day after thanksgiving sales (picked up chest freezer that day)...and have slowly added to my gear...finally brewed first batch this sunday and i will be building the keezer very, very soon...i think i have all the gear...

And yaup, might bottle down the line just to say i did it...and maybe certain brews...

I just purchased my "keg kit" from my LHBS and it ran me about $180. Used keg, new regulator, lines, and filled co2 tank.

Hello,
I believe 300 hundy is a little pricey, I started with a reconditioned keg 50$, plus a 20 lb co2 tank and various knick knacks... I believe I got started for about 125$ all told from my local brewstore....

Is the difference in the process from bottling to kegging that much harder? I've been putting of kegging til I can make a decent beer to bring out in public to a mass of people instead of those I know who like craft beer.

Kegging can really start to add up in price but the nice thing is you can pick up stuff for cheap a bit at a time and you build your system up. I got 6 ball lock kegs for $210 (probably could have gotten by with fewer kegs but they will keep going up in price) 6 o ring kits for $18 2 20lb CO2 tanks used of CL for $50 a reconditioned regulator with two shut off valves from beverage elements for $35. I got two sets of disconnects 20 feet of beer line 10 feet of gas line and 2 picnic taps from my MIL for christmas I'm guessing thats like 35 bucks. So all I have left to get is a fridge or freezer and I will have my basic setup for about $350 plus whatever I spend on my fridge or freezer. In the future I would like to get some more beverage line and gas line at least 2 more sets of disconnects plus 4 taps 4 shanks 4 tap handles.

After switching to 5 gallon batches, bottling is my least favorite day. I like having the bottles personally, but just sanitizing, filling, and capping kind of sucks. I also don't want to spend the cash on kegging. Bottling is fairly cheap, never had to buy bottles, so only had to buy capper and caps. But I really should just try to accumulate kegging equipment when I see stuff cheaper. I assume the the main things are a keg, co2 tank, and then some little accessories I could find online.

3 used ball lock 5gal kegs for less than $50! Thank you Craigslist! Sure they were used for something other than beer before, but enough OxyClean and StarSan will do the trick! Got the large dorm fridge for free but I'm still trying to find a used tank and cheap regulator. I'm all about the bargains. I'm still going to bottle the next batch since there's a line of people wanting some and I don't want them at my house constantly. This is what happens when you make a decent IPA or APA.

I too went straight into kegging. I have three batches under my belt now, and have bottled from the tap just to give away. i probably have close to $300 in everything. I built a keezer first and made sure it was holding the temp before i brewed my first batch. Look on Craigslist, in my area there is always something related to hombrewing on there. I got the chest freezer for $60, and a used 5lb CO2 tank for $50, tow cornys for $40 each. Really the only new equipment I purchased was the tower and regulator and lines. Good luck.

i just got into kegging after almost four years of brewing. I have dropped about 800 so far. I bought a 5 keg premium kit from keg connection, a chest freezer from lowes, a temperature controller online, a used 20 lbs CO2 tank, and 6 corny kegs. Mind you I could have spent a lot less, but I have been brewing a while, so I made the decision to to buy for the long haul instead of buying a setup for only one or two beers to have on tap at one time. Once I the collar to my keezer, i'll be able to have 6 beers on tap instead of four.

That's the other thing, I don't have an extra fridge/freezer to use for keg conditioning. That will be another $100+ pending on size, shape, etc. And then have to craft it to work for kegging which may be over my head.