What do you guys use 2.5 gallon cornys for?

I picked up a new 2.5 gallon corny along with the 5s I ordered recently from Keg Connection, mostly because I've always just wanted one :fro:

But I got to thinking, what do people do with these? Split a 5 gallon batch to fit more easily in the fridge? Keg 2.5 and bottle 2.5? Store yeast? Transfer from a larger keg to take to a party?

I know you guys come up with all kinds of crazyness, so I want to know what you'd do with one!

I have two each 3 gallon Corey's and love them. I use them to take to parties and to the pool. I have two portable cooler kegerators. One is made from a 70 quart Igloo ice cube cooler and the other one is made from a 5 gallon Igloo beverage cooler on wheels. The 70 quart has a hole drilled in the front where the spigot comes out, just like dozens of other members here, the 5 gallon one has the lid hollowed out with a hole in the back for the co2 connection and a hole in the front of the lid for the direct mount spigot. I also epoxied a piece of wood to the back which has a water bottle holder and a Velcro strap screwed to it to hold a paintball co2 tank. I used to LOVE the 70 qt, but it's very, very heavy when full of ice and beer, the 5 gallon one is awesome, I used a keg glove ice pack wrapped around it with no ice at all. It's very light and easy to get around due to the retractable handle, Walmart has these for around $30.

Hi

1) The little guys will sit on the hump in a keezer - less need for a collar / more beer variety.

2) When you get down below 1/2 of a keg - what do you do? Being able to transfer to a little guy gives you just as much real capacity as having more big kegs.

3) Small kegs fit in normal fridges with more normal shelf spacing. Much better for that weekend expedition to the beach or party at a friends house.

4) If you do a batch and decide to split it, you often wind up with a small keg sized split on one side.

5) Also nice for carting around when doing stuff like pushing solution to clean your beer lines. Unless you have a *big* setup, one or two gallons of solution is all you need.

Lots of uses...

No, I take that all back, they are useless, send yours to me

Bob

i have 2x 2.5 (10L) cornys, i use them to carb up 5 or 10L batches of cider and country wines, and sometimes i split a batch of beer between them and dryhop each corny differently

I use my 3 for an extra keg on the keezer hump, as well as a PBW/Starsan reservoir for when you need to clean lines etc. As stated previously, you can also use it as a picnic/party keg but I usually bring 5's for that as my friends are thirsty biitches.

Sweet! Glad I bought one! Looks like I may need another

I like the idea of putting solution in it for cleaning lines. Hadn't thought of that.

cscade said:

Sweet! Glad I bought one! Looks like I may need another

I like the idea of putting solution in it for cleaning lines. Hadn't thought of that.

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Hi

I have two 2.5's and a 1.5. If I could find more on the cheap I'd grab them.

Bob

I have one 2.5G. I love it for keg to keg transfers from a 5G to the 2.5G for bringing to a party, to softball game, etc. I have the beer faucet that connects directly to the liquid out quick disconnect and the co2 cartridge charger. It's great for portability.

When you transfer to the little one, how do you know when it's full? I'm assuming if you transfer under pressure you have to do it as a closed system right?

BrewThruYou said:

I have one 2.5G. I love it for keg to keg transfers from a 5G to the 2.5G for bringing to a party, to softball game, etc. I have the beer faucet that connects directly to the liquid out quick disconnect and the co2 cartridge charger. It's great for portability.

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I am very disappointed a all of you that have posted so far. We all know the BEST thing you can do with a smaller corny keg is to build an R2 D2 Keggerator. If you could please motorize it and post the corresponding video I would appreciated it.

i made one but this weird infection took hold and polished off my double canadian stout berlinnerweiss hybrid

For the tailgater of course.

oh snap that thing is awesome. how many cartridges does it take to push a full 2.5?

cscade said:

When you transfer to the little one, how do you know when it's full? I'm assuming if you transfer under pressure you have to do it as a closed system right?

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Good question. The first time I did it, I transferred under pressure, but ended up depressurizing the receiving keg and popping the lid twice to check on the fill.

After that, I bought a SmartStrip from Northern Brewer and it pretty much turns pink in real time to show how much beer is going into the receiver. The strip is built for a much larger keg, so I cut it in half and affixed it to the seam in my 2.5G keg. Works like a charm.

Good idea. I have used those before but never while filling.

BrewThruYou said:

Good question. The first time I did it, I transferred under pressure, but ended up depressurizing the receiving keg and popping the lid twice to check on the fill.

After that, I bought a SmartStrip from Northern Brewer and it pretty much turns pink in real time to show how much beer is going into the receiver. The strip is built for a much larger keg, so I cut it in half and affixed it to the seam in my 2.5G keg. Works like a charm.

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My Kegerator will hold 2 5-gal cornies and 2 3-gal cornies so when i drink 2 gallons i transfer it into a smaller keg to open up room in the front, at full capacity, that's 16 gallons and 4 different beers on tap.

I've started using mine for big beers that I don't necessarily need 5 gallons of. I'll do a RIS or barleywine partigyle, use the first runnings for a 3 gal keg, and use the rest for a 5 gallon batch. I get two batches with one stone, then I can toss the small kegs on the compressor hump!

I just store StarSan, made with distilled water, in mine.

I have 2 of the 2.5's and 2 of the 5's and I use my small ones for small batches. Might be test batches sometimes but also, in the summer, I can brew smaller batches using less heat in the house as well as easier to keep a cooler fermentation.
I use a Mr. Beer little keg, filled up much higher than their beers are made and it's very close to 2.5 gallons. This can easily fit in my ice chest and kept about 61-63. Perfect for beers my wife likes but I don't as well as test beers.

Whutever said:

For the tailgater of course.

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More pics please! That is awesome and I need to build one.

Another option is using a keglove and ice blanket:

Questions:

- how many CO2 carts does it take to empty that keg?

- how is the pour with that faucet rig?

Thanks!

dinnerstick said:

oh snap that thing is awesome. how many cartridges does it take to push a full 2.5?

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As I recall it takes 2 to 3 to despense the keg.

thughes said:

More pics please! That is awesome and I need to build one.

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Here you go. Don't really have any others than this though. And if you're interested in building one here's the part list that I used:

Adapter: 1/4" x 3/8"

Long Nipple: 3/8" x 1 1/2" (or shorter)

Female Hose Barb: 3/8" x 5/16"

Then just drill the appropriate size hole to fit through. I believe it was 11/16".

I put this together for the 3gal corny I just got. I plan on using it for a few gatherings with some old highschool buddies. It was a blast to build, and yes, the paint job needs to be finished, but I'll get to it when I'm done drinking beer from it!

And a shot of the CO2 set up.

Awesome!