About to move to kegging-Looking for wisdom

I'm going to try kegging very soon and I'm wondering what you wish you knew when you started? Is there certain equipment to avoid or definitely go with.

I really want to avoid buying equipment and then having to upgrade and replace it soon after. I'd rather slowly buy the equipment to do it right.

I have an old refrigerator that I think I can fit 3 cornelius kegs in.

Any recommendations on getting started kegging??

The first thing I would do is actually see how many cornies you can fit in the fridge, and decide if your co2 tank is going in, or out of the fridge. If the co2 tank is outside, you'll have more room inside of course.

I only have room for two kegs in my "apartment" sized fridge. It's ok, but I'm on the look out for a bigger fridge.

Decide how many kegs you will dispense, and then make sure you have shut off valves and check valves for each line. The check valves will ensure that no beer backs up into your gas lines and into your regulator, if you have more pressure in one tank. Some use a simple T to add more kegs, but I think a WYE along with those check valves (or a manifold with check valves) is crucial.

I like having a double regulator, so that I can serve at one pressure and carb up or serve the second keg at a different pressure. This isn't that important- I went almost a year with a single regulator- unless you want to quickly force carb one keg while serving from the others, or if you want to have a Belgian at one psi, and an English beer at a different setting.

I bought my kegging set up from kegconnection. com. I bought the two kegs set up (to dispense two kegs at the same time) and an extra keg. Make sure you get enough beer line to balance the lines. I got 6 feet with this kit- which is ok, but I am gradually making them all 10 feet.

Just learning that Forward Sealing Tap Faucets are a real plus. Mine stick and are hard to operate after they sit for a period of time (regular faucets). Spend the money on quality taps upfront.

Proper line length for tpa system is also something to consider. Have enough line available for the type and pressure you will need.

Salute!

My biggest problem was finding a leak that I had. It drove me insane and I went through three tanks of CO2 before I found it.

Double check and re-tighten all of your connections eight times!

I went with two taps because I thought i'd only need one. It works OK, but now i wish i had four. So i guess the lesson here is, leave room to grow. Oh, and get more kegs than you have taps.

+1 for forward sealing faucets.

I have 2 5lb CO2 tanks now, but I wish I had a bigger tank. I use CO2 for pushing PBW from 1 keg to another to clean the dip tube. I use CO2 to purge kegs before filling. I use CO2 to force carbonate. etc etc. You end up going through a lot of CO2. I think I read somewhere here that 1 5 lb bottle should last 5 or 6 kegs. If you use that same bottle to purge and move cleaners, you may be buying more gas more often than you want.

Linc

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Link to these forward sealing faucets. Are they Perlick?

Beer Faucet, Perlick, Forward Seal, All Stainless Steel

Cheapest place for Perlicks by far- $28.16 each right now before shipping and tax (I paid just under $33 each after it was all said and done). That price includes the %10 off promotion that is currently taking place:

Perlick Stainless Steel Beer Faucet - Superior Products

cyberbackpacker said:

Cheapest place for Perlicks by far- $28.16 each right now before shipping and tax (I paid just under $33 each after it was all said and done). That price includes the %10 off promotion that is currently taking place:

Perlick Stainless Steel Beer Faucet - Superior Products

Click to expand...

Does this include everything needed for install? Like the elbows shown here?
Keg Beer Elbow Shank Assembly

The faucet attaches to the shank which you have linked to.

Ok so you need to buy both?

Yes, you need both. If you are not using a tower though, you can use a straight shank which is much cheaper.

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With these shanks you also need a tailpiece, washer and a beer nut.

So, now, I have a question. People say they keg to save time and space on bottling. After all the gear, setup, and maintenance, is a kegging system actually a time and space saver?

climateboy said:

So, now, I have a question. People say they keg to save time and space on bottling. After all the gear, setup, and maintenance, is a kegging system actually a time and space saver?

Click to expand...

I would think so. I don't know about space but def. time.

cyberbackpacker said:

Yes, you need both. If you are not using a tower though, you can use a straight shank which is much cheaper.

Search Results

With these shanks you also need a tailpiece, washer and a beer nut.

Click to expand...

^ I want to do this -> https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-1-3-tap-conversion-90978/index2.html

What all do I need?

To the OP sorry for the thread jack Its going to save me closet space in favor of "public" living room space.

Kegs are definately a time saver and defainately worth it. Get the 20 lb CO2 tank, it cost almost the same to fill a 20 lb tank as it does a 5 lb. Get the Perlick faucets don't mess with a "normal" facet unless you want to clean it every time you use it as it will stick the second day.

Kegging is the best change I ever made in brewing. I always love to brew a batch but never really "loved" filling the bottles. In fact sometimes I hated it. Filling a keg is a 20 minute task. At first it saves space but when you get up to 12 kegs

Sk84BeeR said:

I went with two taps because I thought i'd only need one. It works OK, but now i wish i had four. So i guess the lesson here is, leave room to grow. Oh, and get more kegs than you have taps.

Click to expand...

+1 on both.

I have 4 taps. Adding a dedicated stout faucet. Also looks like I can squeeze another 2 kegs into my freezer. Extra kegs are nice because I can throw a batch into a keg to free up a fermenter.

I'm rebuilding my kegerator like this:
Wort-O-Matic: The Mother of All Fermentation Chillers
So that it can double as a lager fridge as well.

Don't bother with a Y-connector for CO2 lines. I started with one & tossed it the first month. Get a manifold that you can extend. A shutoff valve in each gas line is nice, check vales are necessary.

just subscribing to the thread...

Make sure you connect the tap line to the "out" post, and the gas line to the "in" post. Nothing worse than trying to remove either when they're on the wrong post. Your favorite color coding scheme is recommended. If you think it says "in", make sure it says "in".

Also, rig a cheap and easy counter pressure filler. I never went back to bottle conditioning once i got setup for kegs. Easiest thing in the world.