Got my kegging set up TODAY!!!!

WooHoooooooo, got my 2 keg setup, one draft and 10 pound CO2 bottle yesterday from Brewers Discount. All NEW hardware except for the kegs themselves. Few minor dings, but other than that, seemed OK. These were Coke kegs and they put all new poppet valves on them. I'm glad I upgraded to the ten pound CO2 tank. Did you know that if you condition with CO2, you won't get that sediment at the bottom like you do when you bottle? I didn't know that. Boy, what things I have learned while "moving" in here. Part of me wishes I would have went with new kegs, but the cost. Aye Cramba!!! The outsides weren't buffed out or anything, but neither did they say they would. I'll probably take a steel wire brush on my drill and go to town. One question, those rubber ends, do they serve any other purpose but for transportation????
Fellow bottlers....I'm here to tell you that look deep into your crystal ball, there is a keg setup in your future. It's the only way to fly!!!!

The rubber ends are for ease of handling and stability. They are also just about impossible to remove. There are some good products from cleaning stainless, people who care about shine can tell you.

Buy a green scrubbie and a can of Barkeeper's Friend (it's a stainless polisher foudn near the scouring powders at the grocery). About 10 minutes of elbow grease per keg and you'll have a nice glint to em.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Right, no plain steel (wool or wirebrush) on stainless. Doesn't it get imbedded and causse rust spots? If you have a buffing machine or angle grinder, you could make quick work of the polishing.

I'm so jealous.. I want a keg system too...wah!!!

If I remember correctly, isn't Barkeepers Friend the same as Comet? I got plenty of that at the house. Or how about Soft Scrub? Trying to find something I already have at the house to use. I think SWMBO is starting to add up all the spending I've done to get my brewery going, and I haven't bought a keg cooler yet. Which, brings two things:
What size freezer or refrigerator could I use for two kegs? I'd prefer a small refrigerator only with a front door, but then I'd have to drill somewhere on the top of it for the lines to run to the dispenser.
Also, how often should I clean out the serving line?

Grog, why did you buy a kegging setup? No one kegs anymore, we use airatomic pushing through blastic valves. Kegging leads to bad beer

Grog--- Barkeeper's friend is specifically designed for stainless steel and costs all of a buck a can. It's possible that comet is the same or very similar but if you're buying scouring powder anyway why not buy what's useful for brewing and cleaning the sink?

Bar keepers friend has Oxalic Acid so it is different then Comet. I used it on all of my stainless pots and they went from just yard scrap to new shiney pots.

I just left my kegs the way they were on the outside because nobody sees them anyways....

Why kegging??? Uhhh, wellllll, why NOT???? ha ha. The ease of the whole set up just appeals to me, plus, it's more MANLY looking. Honestly, I hate having to wash and then sanitize all those dang bottles. Takes up a lot of room too, and, did I mention TIME? That's probably one of the top two reasons. Also, I just happen to have a few bucks saved up. If I don't spend it, SWMBO will.
Ten-Four Monster Mash. Read you loud and clear and Kob, ten-roger on that. I'll just tell my wife to put it on her shopping list and tell her I'll clean all of her SS pots!!!! She'll dig that.

I am so jealous. I really want to move to kegging but SWMBO is putting the breaks on my purchases for a while. Perhaps after the new year...

I just emailed my wife and told her to put Barkeepers Friend on the shopping list. She said we already have some. Got to love her!!!!
On the costs....I did a lot of research and asking around. I didn't want to fool around with cleaning and re-sealing kegs as I don't know at this point how it all works. I mean, I ain't stupid, just not confident enough, so I went with pre-assembled package and rebuilt kegs. But, it can all be had a lot cheaper. I think the main thing holding most folks back is the cooler. I mean, I don't even have one yet, however, I'm going to try a new approach......
First, we primary, secondary and bottle at the same temperature....pretty much room temps. Lowering the temperature allows the brew to absorb the CO2 faster. It still absorbs at higher temperatures, just takes longer, BUT IT WILL HAPPEN. In my research, one conditioning recommendation was to force carb at 40 psi at room temperature for a couple of days. You also could prime it for CO2, but would have to wait two weeks. I'm proposing on trying to force carb it at room temperatures. Once conditioned, and I still need to find some charts on this as they have all done up to only 60 F, lower the tank pressure, pour the brew in a sealed jug of some sort, seal the keg and charge it back up with CO2. Take the poured brew and chill just that drinking portion. In this way, I can still use the kegs with no cooler. Don't know if it's been done before, but I'm going to try it. This will allow me to keg and then take my time getting my custom cooler set up. I know what I want to do, just don't know about how to get there.
I've been wanting some input on my theory. You guys think it will work?? Remember, in theory EVERYTHING FREAKIN' WORKS!!!!

Grog, you definately want to disassemble those kegs. There are 2 primary reasons.

1) Before you add beer to a keg you need to sanitize it. ALL of it, even the poppets and the dip tube seals. This is the main reason for disassembly of a keg before use.

2) You need to verify that the kegs you bought were actually rebuilt correctly. Sometimes places skimp or just forget and fail to replace the dip tube seals or the like. Sometimes they fail to assemble it properly. And if you've disassembled, sanitized and reassembled it, you'll be in a better position if you need to trobuleshoot a leak. It's FAR easier to learn to disassemble an empty keg than it is to try and learn on a full one.


As for your 'service size' concept. That will be easiest to do if you get a counter pressure bottle filler or a Beer Gun. If you need to go cheap even a party tapper will work (the beer will just flatten faster). You might find it hard to balance your keg system to dispense beer at room temp without the CO2 degassing/generating lots of excess head.

That's one thing I haven't considered. Thanks.

I posted this in another area of the forums then saw this topic and decided it would go great here as well!!!!

(My wife actually said this last night "You know, since you spent the money on getting your keg system going we have really had to spend less on beer. That was a good idea honey. You seem to really enjoy brewing")

This is something to pass onto your SWMBO jadedog and see if you can get yourself into one of these puppies. I will never go back to bottling more than a 6er of bottles ever again, unless I make some beer that i deem good enough to give out as gifts............wait, if it is that good wont i want to keep it and put it into one of the glorious kegs?

Grog, I think the cooler is the easiest part, seriously. Get on craigslist and check the newspapers. I scored an upright freezer for $20 and then add $25ish for a controller. I've seen them for free (of course when I wasn't looking for one) and then there is always watching the curbs (you have heavy trash pickup in your area?). People throw out completely working refrigerators in favor of stainless steel and side by sides.

They are pretty cheap around here too. The only problem I have is room. Full size won't work in my application. Half size would be good, but with no freezer section. Heard that there are some at Lowe's and Home Depot. I'm going to take my keg in the store and try them out to see if they'll fit the way I want them to. I got a narrow space that will work for me, just got to find the right unit. If not, I'll have to look into making one.

Lowes does have a nice small upright freezer that would probably hold two cornies.

Bobby

Bobby_M said:

Lowes does have a nice small upright freezer that would probably hold two cornies.

Bobby

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Word of advise - get one that can handle more than two. You're not going to be happy with two.

DON'T START THAT!!!! Your going to make me order MORE kegs!!!! Lowes may not have them, but I've seen them before. Ideally, it would be to find a 4 to 5 cu.ft. chest freezer. But with that combination, I'd be limited to placing it outside my upstairs bar. I'd love to be able to stick one inside the bar, that would be nirvana. It will happen, just this time, I have to take my time and not jump into it like I did with kegging.....NOT that it's a BAD THING!!!!

I went to Lowes a couple of weeks ago to look at freezers and they had one for $158. It was a Holiday 5.0cf chest freezer. It looked like you could fit 3 cornies in it.

Also Walmart has freezers for $154 but I think you could only fit two cornies in those.

You also have the option of a small fridge.

I just picked up a Sanyo 4912 fridge on ebay for $132 delivered (scratch and dent). It will hold two cornies.

You can get one for $189 at Best Buy or you can get the exact same one a Sears, but it's called the Kenmore Elite ($179)

If you get a freezer you will need to get a temp controler. They usualy run about $50.

Thanks bro! That's about what I've been looking at. I'd prefer the refrigerator setup, but if I can't find one, I knew that a chest freezer would work also. You got me to a starting point on finding one. Thanks.

Good luck on your kegging setup. I have currently keg most of my beer, unless I plan on giving it out as gifts or if it has an absurdly long conditioning time, then I bottle. Kegging is a lot easier, one container instead of 50+ (and only one cap I might add). Good luck and have fun.