Scored a fridge this afternoon...

My wifes boss has a 3 year old fridge that he took out of one of his rental properties, and gave it to me for a 12 pack of homebrew :rockin: Now I need to order my kegging kit from somewhere. Anyone know of a good vendor to get it from? Also, I am somewhat confused about one portion of kegging, maybe someone can help me out. Do you add priming sugar to your keg, then transfer beer ontop of it, then let it set at 70 for 3 weeks then keg or do you not add corn sugar and hook up to CO2 to force carb and let it condition in the fridge?

The best thing is that its YOUR CHOICE!

Deuce said:

Do you add priming sugar to your keg, then transfer beer ontop of it, then let it set at 70 for 3 weeks then keg or do you not add corn sugar and hook up to CO2 to force carb and let it condition in the fridge?

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You can do either. If space allows - it's easier to just hook up the gas & force carbonate. If you start getting a pipeline, it's also easy to let the kegs carbonate outside the fridge by using some priming sugar, and then move them into the kegerator and chill, drink, repeat.

Yeah sorry for asking the age old question, I was just reading some other threads after I posted this. I realized that since I have a pretty nice pipeline going on right now I will probably add 1/3 cup priming sugar, then hit with CO2, purge, hit with 30 psi of CO2, put it in the closet for three weeks, then put her in the fridge. That way my conditioning and carbing are being done at the same time. Sound good?

Sounds like a good plan to me. It really is up to personal preference. You may naturally carb and find that you don't like the little bit of sludge on the bottom. But I've also seen people post that say they prefer the taste when it is naturally carbed. Give them both a try!

I found that both work about the same, the little sludge that builds up will either be sucked up with the first beer or two or it will just stay there. The nice thing about force carbing is that well... its easy, lol. Just connect the keg, carb, age, drink and repeat. Honestly though, I think using priming sugar alters the taste of the beer a little, force carb is the way to go once you start using cornies. However if you get to a large enough scale you can make a 5.5 or 6 gal wort, pull .5-1 gal off the primary refrigerate it and when it comes to priming add the wort. This is what is done commercially (AB does it as well as almost all micros), I have done it a few times and it works really well but it can be a pain in the butt to store the gallon of liquid. NOTE: always boil and cool the wort before adding it to your green beer!!!

I bought my keg and stuff from keg connection. I would recommend them, shipped fast and great customer service.

jjgrappler said:

I bought my keg and stuff from keg connection. I would recommend them, shipped fast and great customer service.

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Yeah, me too. I bought my kegging system and three kegs from them, and then four kegs from Insco2.

I've only got room for three kegs in the kegerator, but I have extras because I like to condition beer before putting it on tap. I've also made root beer in one keg (with its own 30 foot beerline). I love kegging!

I remember thinking I would drink more if I started kegging. And I do. There aren't any empties lined up on the counter to convict me anymore.

Kegging is quick, easy, and just so cool. That's right- I have three different beers on tap. Better than my local pub.

YooperBrew said:

I remember thinking I would drink more if I started kegging. And I do. There aren't any empties lined up on the counter to convict me anymore.

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It's funny you mention that... I get that pretty much on a regular basis. It consists of SWMBO walking past the counter, glancing at the bottles and going "you've had 3 beers, its Tuesday you know!" All I'm thinking the entire time is "hell yeah its Tuesday!" :cross:

jjgrappler said:

I bought my keg and stuff from keg connection. I would recommend them, shipped fast and great customer service.

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Kegconnection has a great reputation here on HBT
Midwest is also pupular with their econemy BrewLogic regulators

You can't go wrong with either. Both have great customer service.

Kegkits should never get any HBT buisness.

Deuce said:

It's funny you mention that... I get that pretty much on a regular basis. It consists of SWMBO walking past the counter, glancing at the bottles and going "you've had 3 beers, its Tuesday you know!" All I'm thinking the entire time is "hell yeah its Tuesday!" :cross:

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Tuesdays were never as good before you got a kegerator!

I also have more kegs than my kegerator will hold. I got apfelwein aging in one, and will probably get a 4th (kegerator only holds 2) for aging beer.