Kegging setup

Hi, I have done a few batches now, all turned out great, and like others...I'm very tired of bottling. Kegging is the wave of the future so I have to join. Ive searched the forums for days to find tips and whatnot. I have a few questions though. This is my intended setup, and questions:

-Magic Chef 7.2
-2 Keg Kit from KegConnection.com w/ upgrade to dual body taprite regulator.
-Ranco or Johnson Temperature Control

I live in an apartment, so this seems the best freezer for the job. I do not want a collar and it fits 4 corny's without it. I read complaints about the regulators at Midwest supply which was $40 less. I'd prefer to do it right the first time and decrease my chances of faulty equipment. I've priced out buying the parts individually at several sites and I cannot find anything cheaper than the kit. Plus shipping just puts it way over.

So here are my questions. I have yet to find a general consensus on which Temp Control is best. Good reviews on both...Are they both about equal? The Ranco seems to be a bit cheaper and I've read no complaints.

As far as everything goes, all this will have me set up to have kegged beer with cobra taps, correct? Is it worth the cost to go with a three body regulator over the two considering my goal is just 4 kegs? I'm guessing I should upgrade the manifold to a 3 way if I do not get a three body regulator (kit comes with 2 way). This would allow 3 beers at one pressure and 1 at another, possibly for carbing.

Money is really not an issue, but I'd like to keep it reasonable...if there really are no benefits of upgrading something I don't see the point. I will eventually build a faucet setup, but for now I just want to get up and comfortable with kegging. Thanks for any help!

*subscribed* I too am wanting to get into kegging and pour a nice frosty glass of (fill in your fav homebrew). I have read the posts too and am pretty much on the same thinking as you TheMan, but I want my keezer to have a dual tower tap. Right now I only need two on tap, but who knows what the future holds.

I think the dual body regulator is the way to go, and I think is only $44 more????

I have heard great things about the Johnson controllers - but haven't decided between analog and digital.

I have the magic Chef 7.2 and love it. 4 kegs with picnic taps, no collar
Midwest Dual Regulator (I have the brewlogic)
Johnson Controls Temprature controler

Love it all. Nothing wring with upgrading to the taprites.
I keep a bunch of pint glasses and my CO2 tank on the hump.

I plan on getting a 3way manifold for my first regulator. That will allow me to have 3 kegs at one pressure, and 1 at another (Weither forcecarbing or serving) 10-12psi seems to be a great pressure for most everything, so I do not plan on adding additional regulators at this time. Regulators are cheap, I thought about getting a 3rd primary regulator, and adding a Y splitter with shutoffs to it, since that is not a whole lot more expensive than a 3port manifold.

macabra brought up a good point. I was planning on digital, but analog would save a few bucks. Is temperature pretty accurate with the analog? I wanted digital because I felt it would be more precise.

And thank you Arkador...your post is exactly the type of information I needed. One question for you though, you say regulators are cheap, did you mis-type? 3 port manifold is 30 bucks at keg connection, while a single regulator is 55 bucks.

I purchased the two keg setup from KegConnection about three weeks ago and couldn't be happier. I also went with the upgrade to the taprite dual body three gauge regulator but opted to drop the two way manifold altogether to save some money. My keezer is only 5 cu.ft. and fits two cornys with a five pound CO2 tank inside so upgrading to more kegs isn't really an option. It is clutch to be able to force carb one keg and keep the other at serving pressure. But keep in mind you can always add a manifold down the road as your keg collection expands, it's very simple to do. I use the johnson temp controller and love it. It's idiot proof and holds the keezer temp within 3 degrees of what you set on the controller. My only complaints so far are the cobra taps. Kind of messy but manageable. One last thing, the two keg setup comes with only 5 ft of liquid tube per keg. I upgraded my order to ten feet per keg as to help with balancing out the system and getting perfect pours from the get go. Do some research and you'll see a lot of complaints about foamy pours using five feet or less of liquid tubing. Also keep in mind maybe going with just two cornys in the freezer and use the extra space for fermenting some lager brews down the road. The temps to lager and serve kegged beer are close enough to do both with one freezer. Good luck

Xcuzme, did you upgrade to the Taprite dual body regulator or the Chudnow? I have read that the Taprite are pretty stellar, and do not know much about the economy Chudnows.

Also, what is the purpose of the 2-way manifold anyways? If you have a dual body reg, why would you need that? How much did that save you by dropping it?

Is your Johnson controller analog or digital?

TheMan said:

And thank you Arkador...your post is exactly the type of information I needed. One question for you though, you say regulators are cheap, did you mis-type? 3 port manifold is 30 bucks at keg connection, while a single regulator is 55 bucks.

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Single regulator is $40, Only a little more than the 3port manifold,
Brew Logic Double Regulator Adapter :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

For that $10, I'll take an additional pressure setting! My current setup has 2 of these. I will likley move them from the tank to the collar and connect them with a high pressure line. I know it says double, but there is no reason you cannot chain 3 or 4 of these together, connected to your high pressure in.
I would likley aslo add on http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=4192 to get me my 4th gas output. I have concidered getting 2 of these, and having 2 kegs at each pressure.

macabra11 said:

Is your Johnson controller analog or digital?

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Mine is analog. I have a thermometer inside the keezer to verify tempratures.

I went with the Taprite dual body mainly because I had read more positives than the Chudnow. Not that there are a lot of bad reviews on the Chudnow but simply aren't many reviews period. The two way manifold is part of the basic two keg setup because the basic two keg set up comes with the single body dual gauge regulator. Upgrading to the dual body three gauge regulator completely eliminates the need for the two way manifold since you now have two gauges, one for each individual line and one gauge for CO2 bottle pressure. So you are correct in saying there is no need for the manifold after upgrading regulators. Looking at my receipts, the difference between upgrading to the taprite and dropping the manifold adds $26.05 to the price of the basic two keg setup. A small increase in price which is more than worth it for the quality of the taprite and having a dual body regulator. My Johnson controller is analog and like I posted earlier it's perfect and idiot proof. I unpacked it, dropped the sensor to the bottom of the keezer, plugged it in, dialed down to 36 degrees, checked with a thermometer in a glass of water a couple of hours later, and saw 38 degrees and holding. Below is a breakdown of my receipts from the basic two keg setup through Keg Connection.

2 keg basic keg kit: 208.95
Taprite Single body dual gauge regulator: -50.95
Air Distributor/Manifold: -21.95
Taprite Dual body 3 gauge regulator: 98.95

Ok, so that takes care of most of my questions. Arkador I see where you are coming from now. I'm pretty set on the Tap-Rite reg. I cannot find any extension like that for this brand. I can't even find where a three body tap-rite regualtor exists. Can anyone confirm this? So it looks like I'll upgrade to a three way manifold and dual body Tap-Rite reg unless someone can disuade me based on the next question...
As Arkador states (and he's not the only one I've heard), most beers will be great on just 10-12 PSI. What types of beer would fall out of this category?

Lastly, can anyone recommend the Ranco over the Johnson? So far the only people to post here have said they have Johnson.

Thanks Again! This board has been the most helpful tool for all my brewing questions

TheMan said:

As Arkador states (and he's not the only one I've heard), most beers will be great on just 10-12 PSI. What types of beer would fall out of this category?

Lastly, can anyone recommend the Ranco over the Johnson? So far the only people to post here have said they have Johnson.

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Force Carbonation & Carb Table
Use this chart to determine the proper level of carbobnation for each style. Then with the temp of your keezer, look up what temp/pressure will give you that level of carbonation.

I usually have one reg on 12PSI for an ale or and the other on 18PSI for a Hefe. My keezer is 38degrees.

I bought the johnson controls, because I was in a hurry and could get it near home, as well as it seems to be the more previlant controler arround.

Great link. It looks like all will overlap except the German Wheat, Fruit Lambic, and British Ales. I can safely say that none of those are common types for me. The extra regulator can be used for the off chance I create one of those 3 types and a manifold on the other regulator should do me just fine.

Did your Johnson Control require wiring? I finally realized I didn't search the ENTIRE Homebrewtalk forum for the Temp control dilemna... just the Kegging section. It appears the Ranco requires wiring, which I can do just fine. However, If the Johnson does not require this it might sway me as it is just one more thing I don't have to worry about screwing up!

the Johnson Control is EASY!

1: Plug controler into the electrical outlet
2: Put it's temp probe in your keezer (do not kink the wire)
3: set the temp dial, and mount it
4: Set the Keezer or Fridge to the coldest temp setting
5: plug the keezer in to the temp controler


2 minutes, no rewiring.

Perfect! I can't wait to find my freezer and get SWMBO drunk enough to allow me to blow all this cash on "stuff you can't see", as she would say it. "Yes honey, it's not a knick-knack... now have another beer"

macabra11 said:

Perfect! I can't wait to find my freezer and get SWMBO drunk enough to allow me to blow..."

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Wans't quite sure where this one was gonna go but looks like you ended it with the censored version!!!

Enjoy the keg setup...it truly is one of the greater perks of home brewing!!!!

too funny. too funny.

Looks like we both got a lot of answers today macabra. Although, I say I would rather not deal with wiring...half of me wants to do it that way just to say I did it, kind of a more homemade feel. I'll figure that out though.

Anywho, i have no wife to ask permission for such purchases! So I'll be off to get started.

Arkador said:

I have the magic Chef 7.2 and love it. 4 kegs with picnic taps, no collar
Midwest Dual Regulator (I have the brewlogic)
Johnson Controls Temprature controler

Love it all. Nothing wring with upgrading to the taprites.
I keep a bunch of pint glasses and my CO2 tank on the hump.

Click to expand...

You say you can fit your CO2 tank on the hump WITHOUT a collar? What size is your tank? I have a 10# tank and was hoping it would fit on the hump of the magic chef 7.2 freezer.

macabra11 said:

You say you can fit your CO2 tank on the hump WITHOUT a collar? What size is your tank? I have a 10# tank and was hoping it would fit on the hump of the magic chef 7.2 freezer.

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mine is the 5lb tank. From what I am reading, the 10lb tank is 2.75 inches taller than the 5lb. I will measure the spare space when i get home. I am sure you could also mount the 10lb tank at an angle to get 3 inches shorter if needed, without an antisiphon tube.

I also have about 12 pint glasses on the hump so there is always a cold pint glass ready to be filled.

This has been a great thread. I'm looking into kegging as well. I will still bottle for higher abv beers, but I would like to keg my regulars.