Kegging advice please!

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voleceq

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Alright. I'm sick of bottling so I've decided to move on to kegging (surprise!). I just have a few basic questions:

1) Where would you guys recommend purchasing the keg kit? kegconnection.com and midwestsupplies.com seem to offer the best prices that I could find. Any opinions?

2) Are there any other items I should purchase that don't come with the keg kit? i.e. keg lube etc.

3) Do I have to use Starsan? I have iodophor and oxyclean, but every tutorial I've seen has used Starsan for sanitizing.

4) Any mistakes that are commonly made by first time keggers? (This may be a bit too broad I guess, but I'll ask anyway :) )

Lastly, I'm in a bit of a situation. I think I may know the way to go about it, but I'll spare you my amateur ideas. I am going to a formal in 3 weeks and would like to bring along a keg of my trappist ale (AHS kit) I've had conditioning for a couple of months. I live in an apartment but my friend's house has a kegerator I can use. The main problem I am facing is the 4 hr. drive to to formal and a lack of kegerator once I get there. To keep the keg cold for dispensing, I'll probably use a trash can filled with ice (unless someone has a better suggestion). So it all boils down to...how the heck should I do this and have the beer at a decent carbonation level? All suggestions are welcome.

Random side note: I'm a college student in case you were curious how anyone could find themselves in a situation like this. :D

Thanks in advance!
 
voleceq said:
4) Any mistakes that are commonly made by first time keggers? (This may be a bit too broad I guess, but I'll ask anyway :) )

For one thing, THOROUGHLY check your system for leaks. Check every connection, including things that came already assembled. I lost three tanks of gas in my first month before finally tracking the leak to a pre-assembled y-splitter. There is nothing more disappointing than coming home to a dead kegerator, when you've been thinking about a cold one all afternoon.

You don't have to use Starsan, but it's a great sanitizer for reasons that have been discussed many times before. The foaming has an additional benefit for kegging, in that it works great for finding leaks.
 
Hi,
Here are a couple quick links on how to keg and a more detailed article.

Personally I would go with a basic kegging setup (just get a starter kit) with the dual gauge regulator. If you can afford it, a 10 lb CO2 tank is nice because it will handle a lot of batches between refilling.

You can use iodophor to sanitize once you have the kegs clean, but sometimes old kegs need a good cleaning for first use. Keg lube is OK if used in small quantities. The most important thing is to check for leaks when you set it up or you could empty the CO2 tank quickly.

Cheers!
Brad
 
Thanks for the help so far guys, I appreciate it.

I guess I'll rephrase my concern about the formal I am going to... Is the 4 or so hours that the keg will be at room temperature going to have any drastic effects on the carbonation level? (assuming I put it on ice eventually) Also, if 4 hours won't have a significant impact on carb level, how many hours can it be at room temperature before the carbonation level takes a significant hit? Again, this is assuming it is put back on ice before serving. Thanks again!
 
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