Fell in my lap...

I usually hate threads where people post up that, "I just ordered blah blah blaj" or "guess what the UPS man brought me", but anyway...

So I'm sitting there on tuesday evening, editing my dissertation (mostly watching TV) and a guy comes up to my window and asks if I am the guy that homebrews. He is the son of a guy who owns a place near mine, and says he used to homebrew but gave up b.c of kids and responsibility (quitter!). In any case, he says he has a couple boxes of stuff in his truck and would I like any of it....SURE.

Go out there...and I get
-A refrigerator temperature controller
-box full of tap handles, faucets, tubing, quick connects for pin-lock kegs, a CO2 regulator, and assorted other small parts (including a 3-4 ft long spoon...nice)
-janky old wort chiller I will probably toss

oh, and the best part, he says he used to keg his brews in corny kegs and he thinks he still has a bunch in his basement, I say, hey, if you don't want them just bring them by any time.

Come home yesterday from a run....5 pin lock cornys sitting on my porch!!!! SCORE

Now I just need a CO2 tank, mini fridge, and some new tubing and I am golden...

Will oxyclean work to clean out kegs that have been sitting closed for 5+ years? They are pretty gross.

Yep - oxyclean should do it. One tip (can't remember where I read it) is to fill the keg 2/3 full, let it sit for a few hours, then tip it over into a bucket and let enough come out to cover the top (now facing down) of the keg. That way, you know that the entire inside, as well as the posts, etc. are clean. Oh yeah, and remove the posts and dip tubes first! Good score!

Wow! thats awesome man! nice score...

not sure about they oxyclean question I know it's pretty powerful but maybe give PBW a run

Let me be the first to say: you suck!

Wow, I hope that guy gets a lifetime supply of homebrew.

I hate you!

Just kidding. Great Score! Now go out and buy new O rings for those kegs. Pick up some spare poppets while you are at it.

Awesome score man -- wow, you have some friendly neighbors! That's great, particularly when you are homebrewing on a student budget (it wasn't THAT long ago that I was editing my dissertation, too, and I remember how that all goes).

And yes, oxyclean should get the insides of those kegs looking new again. A good tip is to soak them for a while, then turn the kegs upside down to also soak inside the lid and posts. And if oxyclean doesn't do the trick, you can also try some TSP (that stuff will eat away anything, but it is nasty).

Cheers!

dishwashing machine soap -- Cascade - can work very well, too, with extremely hot/boiling water. You just need to rinse like hell later...

You might be able to use that old wort chiller as a prechiller.

Water comes in from faucet/hosebib into the old wort chiller. Old wort chiller sits in ice bath (I use an Ale Pail). Chilled water leaves old wort chiller, enters your wort chiller. Cools beer a bit quicker than a wort chiller alone.

Wow you people up in VT sure are friendly!

Nice score!! I have spent all day calling people off of craigslist looking for a good deal on a feezer for fermenting. Maybe if I just sat on my couch one might show up at MY door!

Yeup, nice score. You need to give him some beer!

Bike N Brew said:

Let me be the first to say: you suck!

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And I'll be the 2nd!

Congrats dude! That's a killer score! I wish something like that would happen to me!

I found a lady on Craigslist today selling a homebrew kit. It's basically a starter setup with a glass carboy, minus the bottling bucket. I tried to get her to sell me just the carboy. She said that she wanted to sell the whole kit for 60$. I have a buddy that wants to get started but he thinks its too expensive. I figure this might be affordable for him!

just as an update...

I was looking more closely and two of the five kegs are actually ball lock, the other three are pin lock.

Played around with the mini refrigerator I have in my basement that I got for free from work. Took the screws holding the C-shaped freezer/cooler line shelf out, bent it almost flat and didn't break the lines, then realized I could just bend the main line feeding it so the C sits along the back wall of the fridge. I can't seem to get 2 kegs in there at once, but at least it will work to get a CO2 tank and one keg with a cobra head picnic tap on it. I may only be able to drink one beer at a time for the time being, but I guess I will just have one house beer on tap at all times, and bottle my specialty beers, or at least store them in kegs until I empty another.


Where is the cheapest place to buy a CO2 tank and lines for gas/beer?

good work mate

Man, why won't the beer fairy come to my window and give me stuff? That dude did everything but crack a beer and pour it in your mouth! When it rains, it pours, what can I say?:fro:

LouT said:

dishwashing machine soap -- Cascade - can work very well, too, with extremely hot/boiling water. You just need to rinse like hell later...

Click to expand...

That's cuz dishwasher soap and Oxyclean are essentially the same thing.