So it begins. Made the jump to kegs.

After a year of bottling I finally made the jump to kegging. SWMBO picked me up a dual keg system as a thank you after I got us into a new house in a nicer neighborhood (renting). It ended up that the second fridge that was in the basement of my new place didn't work, so i went out and bought a chest freezer.



So i'm slowly going to start working on a keezer build, i was planning on putting it in the basement here, but it won't fit so it's now sitting next to our fridge. I'm going to end up building a collar, planning on making it tall enough and i should be able to fit a third keg!



I'm carbing up my scottish ale at the moment, i just ordered a temp. controller today. So i figured by the time i get that the brew will be carbed up and aged a bit more (it's been in primary a bit over a month, i've been holding off so it could be my first kegged batch). I've been running it at 20 psi since it's at 60 degrees. I took a sample, just to test and see if it was working. I feel like it's my first batch all over again, i can't wait to drink it.



Next up i need to get another batch ready to drop in that second keg, i'm planning a cream ale, so i can get another up and running fairly quickly. Then onto building the collar and eventually getting some taps and handles, i'm perfectly fine with just running the picnic taps for now. This all should be interesting as i am far from a skilled craftsman, hell, i can't even call myself a craftsman.


Ugh, sorry about the ginormous pictures.

Now you can enjoy those late night Snorts when a full bottle would be too much. God I love those.

Welcome to the awesome world of kegging!

B

I'm loving it already. the kegging and clean up process is so much nicer than the whole process of bottling. I'm looking forward to my first cold, carbed beer out of my keg.

What size freezer is that?

5.0 cu .... With a 7 or 8 inch collar I'll be able to fit a 3rd on the shelf with the co2 inside. I might be able to fit four if I put the co2 on the outside.

I would say kegging was the single biggest improvement in my enjoyment of brewing. So much less cleaning to do... You'll love it.

When I started brewing I skipped the whole bottling thing and went right to kegging, now I find myself bottling a few from the tap on every batch to stash for competitions.

So my advice is not to toss those old bottles, you may need em again.

I got a 2 keg system for Christmas and haven't looked back. Its pretty easy to bottle out of the keg too. Now, I just have to figure out where to put the additional kegs that I need...too much beer and not enough keg! lol

azscoob said:

When I started brewing I skipped the whole bottling thing and went right to kegging, now I find myself bottling a few from the tap on every batch to stash for competitions.

So my advice is not to toss those old bottles, you may need em again.

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I did toss a good portion of my bottle collection, but i kept like 2-3 cases and all my 22s. So i have enough to bottle some for friends and stuff like that. I just didn't feel like moving 10 cases of bottles to my new place.

Congrats! I just made the jump after 4 batches, did my 1st keg last night of an IPA, SO much easier! Did you get a beer gun also? I haven't used mine yet (blickman, I think), but it seems very simple.

Barnzy02 said:

5.0 cu .... With a 7 or 8 inch collar I'll be able to fit a 3rd on the shelf with the co2 inside. I might be able to fit four if I put the co2 on the outside.

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I just bought the same freezer, and you can fit 4 kegs in it with an 8" collar

Hokie_Brewer said:

I just bought the same freezer, and you can fit 4 kegs in it with an 8" collar

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Sweet...cause that is the freezer I am using on my build.

Getting my temp controller on Thursday. Have my Scottish ale Kegged and carbing. Should be enjoying fresh Kegged beer by this time next week at the latest!

Just brewed a cream ale on sunday so I'll have two beers running by early April. I get giddy everytime I realize I don't have to bottle entire batches anymore.

dm2bfree said:

Congrats! I just made the jump after 4 batches, did my 1st keg last night of an IPA, SO much easier! Did you get a beer gun also? I haven't used mine yet (blickman, I think), but it seems very simple.

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Don't get the Blichman beer gun, go with BierMunchers Counter Pressure Bottle Filler (I think thats what its called on here). Basically a racking cane shoved into a picnic tap, with a rubber stopper that allows you to fill bottles under pressure.

Heres a link:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

First time brewer here. I decided to skip bottling entirely because it seems like an unreal mess. I just put my first batch in a corny keg sat night. pressurized it to 30 and then backed it down to 9 psi 2 days ago. so, now I play the waiting game until sunday. I can't wait. I did have some newb-like experiences in the first two days of watching it carb. I checked it a bunch to make sure I did not have a leak. I was a little concerned because the amount of co2 seemed to drop but after reading about putting your tank in the fridge, it does that. I also had a problem with a leak. I didn't have any problems till 1 day in and after checking it in the afternoon, I checked it later that night. I noticed a hissing noise and the fridge was freezing cold. so, I shut down the tank and diagnosed the leak coming from where the gas line runs into the disconnect on the carboy. I tightened it down and fired the tank back it up. no problems and she has been holding steady. I think it had something to do with the fact that I am using my wife's dorm fridge which has little to no room because I can't bend the freezer down. problem solved by getting a chest freezer off of craig's list this weekend. I ordered my temp controller yesterday and I can't wait. I still have 2.5 weeks till my other batch is done so I am already looking to split the gas line and get another carboy. I love this forum.

Hooked up the temperature controller yesterday, i got the pre-wired Johnson A419, just to save myself the headache. Everything is up and running now. Have my Scottish Ale back on the gas at around 11 psi. Took a pull before i went to bed last night, pours nice, carb isn't there yet but it is a damn good beer.