2.5 Gal Corney Worh It?

Hey Folks-

Father's Day is coming up....and I have a chance at getting some new brew gear. I'm thinking about getting the 2.5/3.0 gal corney with the 12 gram co2 adapter and faucet with ball lock qd attachment. Is it worth it? Do you like yours? I don't have a chance to use it now, but we're moving in 3 months into a much more social environment. I can see myself transferring over a few gallons of beer and heading to a get together with this setup. Then again, we might just as easily have people over. Couldn't I just use my 5 gal cornies on the road?

I like the 2 ½ gallon corny’s. Easy to handle and two fit in this small refrigerator. Easy to bottle half a batch for bringing places and kegging the rest for home. Or taking a small corny’s to a party is more manageable. The biggest drawback is they cost more then the 5 gallon size.

(All that said. It didn’t take long before converting the basement refrigerator to handle full size corny’s.)

I've just recently obtained a 3-gallon keg and used it for the first time at a Memorial Day picnic...it was a hit. Also, if you get a cube cooler (48 qt I think), it will fit in there nicely and you can pack ice around it. I like this just to have another alternative.

I have a bunch of 3 gallong cornies I bought off of CL and was wondering the same thing. Hey AnOldUR, how did you run you're beer line so that it doesn't freeze in the freezer portion of you're mini fridge? I was thinking of picking up a Sanyo, the one with the freezer on the top but have always read NOT to get the one with the freezer.

lightweight said:

Hey AnOldUR, how did you run you're beer line so that it doesn't freeze in the freezer portion of you're mini fridge? I was thinking of picking up a Sanyo, the one with the freezer on the top but have always read NOT to get the one with the freezer.

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There hasn't been a problem with freezing. I keep the temperature at around 40 degrees and the fan (from McMaster-Carr) moves the cool air around well. I tied the fan into the compressor power so it only runs when the unit is cooling. Before the fan, there was icing around the freezer element.

Although this kegerator works well, if I had it to do over I would wait and buy the Sanyo without a freezer for the option of using full size corny’s. Actually, if I had a choice I'd get a top opening freezers (but SWMBO would never have that in the kitchen / dining area.)

I REALLY want a couple 3 gallon kegs to put together a travel cooler for camping, parties, BBQ's, etc. but have not been able to justify the price. I have tried to get a couple on E-bay, but they always get to be a bit more than I am willing to spend at the time.

So if anyone has any just 'lying around' and is willing to part for a decent price I am here and willing

deathweed said:

I REALLY want a couple 3 gallon kegs to put together a travel cooler for camping, parties, BBQ's, etc. but have not been able to justify the price. I have tried to get a couple on E-bay, but they always get to be a bit more than I am willing to spend at the time.

So if anyone has any just 'lying around' and is willing to part for a decent price I am here and willing

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Same here. The size is right for doing a partial bottle on a batch, and having keg that size is good for keeping in the kegerator, or for taking on the road. However, the price seems high for a smaller keg. I'd love to score a pair on CL or Ebay.

ScubaSteve said:

Hey Folks-

Father's Day is coming up....and I have a chance at getting some new brew gear. I'm thinking about getting the 2.5/3.0 gal corney with the 12 gram co2 adapter and faucet with ball lock qd attachment. Is it worth it? Do you like yours? I don't have a chance to use it now, but we're moving in 3 months into a much more social environment. I can see myself transferring over a few gallons of beer and heading to a get together with this setup. Then again, we might just as easily have people over. Couldn't I just use my 5 gal cornies on the road?

Click to expand...

You could just use the 5-gallon kegs and have done with bottling forever. It's a bit more to lug about, but in the grand scheme of things not that much. If the keg doesn't kick at the away-from-home social event, it's less weight to lug back home. Still, the compactness of the 3-gallon kegs might outweigh the price difference.

Your choice of gas system to push the beer is going to drive you nuts, though. You'll burn through those little whippets faster than anything just dispensing your beer, and you can't force-carbonate with them. If you don't want to go whole-hog on a 5-lb or larger CO2 tank setup, try this option. Cheaper to fill, easier to carry around, and you use it just like a larger setup. I'm in the process of assembling this system myself. You can get the bottles locally, too; my local Dick's Sporting Goods has 'em, and I was pleasantly surprised to find them at my local Lowe's and Home Depot.

The same site has a killer idea for a take-along keg cooler, too.

If I was you, I'd stick with 5-gallon cornies. But then again I'm one of the 4 people who actually like the 5L mini-kegs! They've fallen out of favor with homebrewers for some reason, but I still use them and like them.

Another alternative is the Tap-a-Draft system, which can be found at most homebrew suppliers. If you want to take it to a picnic or something, you can presumably just sit it on a bag of ice to cool it.

Cheers,

Bob

While the 3g is slightly more portable, is it really $50 more portable? Not really. I look at the 5 gallon corny as a 5 gal, 4gal, 3gal...etc. It's not THAT bulky and hey, you don't have to bend down as far to grab the handle. You can buy three 5ers for the price of a 3. The fact that the smaller ones can tuck in to an icecube cooler neatly is just asthetic. I do have the cartridge charger and I like it on the 5g when I know the consumption rate is only going to use a couple 12 gram carts in the day. If I expect the entire 5 gallons to go or want to dispense two kegs at the same time, I'll drag the 15lb tank out.

I've got a 2.5 and love it. I've only kegged 1 portion of a test batch in it, but I use it all the time when I'm cleaning my beer lines. Fill it with cleaner, put it under pressure and run it through all my lines. I then fill with sanitizer and run through the lines again.

Did I need it? No, I have 5 5gal. But it's fun.

I guess my whole point was that you can do just about everything with a 5 gallon that you can do with a 2.5 or 3 (plus 2 gallons). The only downside is that it won't fit in a backpack. I fill a 5 with a gallon of sanitizer to clean my taps too. Now if I could get my hands on some of those 1 gallon pinlocks. That is substantially more portable (almost like a heineken keg).