kegerator

Ok, it looks like I will be making a kegerator in the very near future. Found a really cheap fridge on craigslist I'll probably pick up this week. Roomates are going to throw some money at it as well since it's a full size fridge and will have room for commercial beer for parties. I've been looking at conversion kits and everything... was wondering if this is the way to go... Seems like $120 + co2 tank will do it. Or would it be cheaper to get the stuff separately. Also... The Ball vs Sankey kegs. Which is which and since I want to be able to take the lines off my kegs and put it on a commercial 15.5gal one every now and then which should I go with?

Put MLF connectors on the end of your gas & beer lines, then you can easily swap the proper fittings between ball lock & sanke without having to cut hose or screw with redoing clamps. Call Austin Home Brew and tell them what you want to do and they will set you up with the proper stuff.

so which fittings do commercial beer kegs have? Ball or sanke.. I figured I could just get the 5 gal homebrew kegs with the same fittings.

z987k said:

so which fittings do commercial beer kegs have? Ball or sanke.. I figured I could just get the 5 gal homebrew kegs with the same fittings.

Click to expand...

I am upgrading my kegerator as we speak from a single 15.5gal commercial keg to a commercial keg and two 5gal ball lock kegs. To answer you question, most kegs you would pick up from a liqour store would have a sanke fitting (some micro's or imports use other taps). You will want to get some kind of CO2 distribution setup, in either the form of a simple splitter/manifold or a setup with multiple secondary regulators so each keg (if you are running more than one) will have its own pressure control. I also second the idea of putting 1/4 threaded flare fittings on all your gas and beer lines so they can be swapped easily without cutting lines.

I will be posting a short guide when I am finished with all the kegerator work, and schoolwork as well, which I can link to in this thread.

Comercial kegs have sanke fittings, homebrew or corney kegs have either ball lock or pin lock. you could go with 1/6 barrel kegs they are a comercial 5 gallon keg with a sanke fitting, but IMO they would be a bit more of a PITA to clean and sanitize. Or I have seen some LHBS that sell a corney that has been welded up with a sankey fitting on the top. but they run about $90 from what I have seen. Check out brewersdiscount.com they have pretty good prices on kegs.

[ame="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how+to+build+a+kegerator"]Here is a good resource too.[/ame]

Cheers