Mini keg system

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bhfd64

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My friends and I are having a house crawl in a couple of weeks. Being a home brewer and general alcohol enthusiast I am known in our circle to always have something cool that is alcohol related at our festivities.

This year I've decided to construct a portable draft beer system. I bought a Cannonball 1.5 gal keg. I'm powering it with a 12oz co2 bottle intended for paintball. Found a little regulator on Amazon for it. Also bought a decent size Igloo backpack cooler to house it all. I am pretty excited about it. Haven't really been able to find any reviews for the Cannonball so I thought I'd post something here and give a little review after I've used it. Should have all of the parts in the middle of next week.

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Pretty darn expensive!! $150 from Midwest. I don't think the Cannonball is on my list. Williams Brewing has 1.75, 2.25, and 2.5 gallon kegs for about $90. The baby of the bunch is 11" tall, 8.5" diameter, add an inch for the fittings....... That 12" makes it about the same height as the 1L swing top EzCap bottles I frequently use.

I've gone with the Tap-a-Draft system which works extremely well for me now that I have a paintball tank and regulator. I use a big tank to force carbonate at 20 psi. At $10 per bottle, it's cheap, and the dimensions allow me to set 2 on the second shelf of my side by side fridge, as they lay down. The paintball tank lays next to them on a little bit of a slope.

I want a stainless steel keg system that is designed to lay down in this space.............

However for parties and "tailgating", the little uprights would work perfectly as they will stand in a cooler........ A pair would fit in my cooler just right.


H.W.
 
I bought it less a regulator and party tap, which brought it down to $99. Still $10 higher than the small Williams Brewing one, but is a quarter gallon smaller which will help it fit in my backpack. I have about another $80 in a co2 tank and regulator, so still coming in under $200.

I looked at the Tap-a-Draft also, pretty slick units. I don't mind having spent a little more on this as I wanted a stainless one that uses all of the same maintenance parts as my corny kegs. It appears to be pretty high quality and should last me a lifetime with proper care. Most of it came today, still waiting on a co2 tank.

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I wonder if schlepping it around in a backpack will cause any foaming. I'd definitely jump the beer from another keg to avoid sediment getting stirred up. I think I would have gone with several of these for a portable party, but to each his own. Have fun with it!
:mug:

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I'm hoping not but I am a little concerned about that as well. I will be using a growler filler to move beer from another keg so there won't be any sediment. I figure I run the risk of shaking it up a bit with any kind of large container. I'm hoping I can be gentle with it and keep it under control.
 
Instead of the growler filler why not just jump it from liquid to liquid side?

I think I'll jump liquid/liquid with no pressure in the full keg and then just bump up the co2 until it slowly pushes over, hopefully not knocking any out of suspension. Sound like it would work?
 
Hold differential pressure on each side..... Only a few pounds difference........just enough to make it flow...

Oh like a counter pressure bottle filler. That'd be easy to do having 2 co2 tanks/regulators.
 
I think I'll jump liquid/liquid with no pressure in the full keg and then just bump up the co2 until it slowly pushes over, hopefully not knocking any out of suspension. Sound like it would work?

you need to vent the receiving keg periodically
 
you need to vent the receiving keg periodically

Is there a particular benefit to counter pressure as opposed to just leaving the lid off the receiving keg and pushing it over at 2psi or so? I'd kind of like to be able to keep an eye on it. I'd have to shut the whole operation down to check progress and see how close the keg is to full etc.
 
I like being able to purge the receiving keg and avoid oxygen exposure when I do this, though that may not be an issue for you if the keg is going to be consumed all at once. I'm not sure if it also helps with foaming, I've never tried transferring already carbed beer to a non-sealed keg. When I transfer from my conical with CO2 I put a grey disconnect on the gas side then fill until it just starts coming out - so no counter pressure. Results in a very full keg - up to the gas diptube - but as long as you're careful not to hook up an overpressuized keg to an unpressurized gas line it's not an issue.
 
I like being able to purge the receiving keg and avoid oxygen exposure when I do this, though that may not be an issue for you if the keg is going to be consumed all at once. I'm not sure if it also helps with foaming, I've never tried transferring already carbed beer to a non-sealed keg. When I transfer from my conical with CO2 I put a grey disconnect on the gas side then fill until it just starts coming out - so no counter pressure. Results in a very full keg - up to the gas diptube - but as long as you're careful not to hook up an overpressuized keg to an unpressurized gas line it's not an issue.

Good info. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet. Growler filler at 2psi is zero hassle. I might try that this time around and if I have problems I can use some of these other options next time around. As you said, I'll be drinking it within a few hours so it doesn't have to be a perfect transfer.
 
Good info. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet. Growler filler at 2psi is zero hassle. I might try that this time around and if I have problems I can use some of these other options next time around. As you said, I'll be drinking it within a few hours so it doesn't have to be a perfect transfer.

I think you're right since you have the growler filler ready to go. I was thinking how quick and easy it would be but I keep jumper set ups with spare parts already lying around. Since you don't really need to worry about it keeping it's no big deal.
:mug:
 
Oh like a counter pressure bottle filler. That'd be easy to do having 2 co2 tanks/regulators.

You don't need two tanks if you can pressure the receiving tank and use a spunding valve. You would be transferring from liquid line to liquid line, with say 10 pounds on the source keg, and 8 on the receiving keg.......as the receiving keg pressure increases above the 8 pounds, the spunding valve vents surplus CO2 to maintain the differential pressure. Those are just example numbers....... It could be 25 and 22 pounds. time isn't really an issue if your kegs are the same size.....Just set things up and walk away.........


H.W.
 
Now that I've gone to 2.5 gallon batches, I'm looking at these smaller kegs. It appears the chinese stackable kegs are more cheaply made than the AMCYL and AEB kegs. The max pressure rating is only 60psig (vs. 130psig for the others). That's a little worrisome. If you get some fermentation in the keg or the you have a high carbed beer that gets warmed up, 60psi is not out of the question. It's much harder to get a keg to 130 psi.
 
So what's the timeline on force carbing these small batches? The description on Northern Brewer for the Cannonball Keg states: "Artillery for the small batch brewer. Carbonate homebrew in minutes, not weeks. Real-time carbonation control. A quick pressure adjustment and you’re instantly pouring perfect pints. " I ordered this keg because bottling my test batches with priming sugar or "Fizz Tabs" weren't getting me the results I wanted. It should be delivered today and I'm an impatient bastard. I've been sitting on this one gallon batch of Grapefruit Session IPA for a month now. I gotta get it in my belly!!!
 
IME they act just like any other keg. The risk of overcarbonation is still present with burst carbing, and I don't see how you are going to carb in minutes without shaking the keg (and shaking up sediment). I am personally a set and forget person for 95% of my kegs, on a rare occasion I will do 30 psi at no more than about 24 hrs. I've got a bunch of the 2.5 gal stackable kegs but the 60psi warning doesn't bother me. At my carb levels they are only about 30-35 psi at room temp, though I don't have any plans to stick them out in the hot sun in summer.
 
...The max pressure rating is only 60psig (vs. 130psig for the others). That's a little worrisome. If you get some fermentation in the keg or the you have a high carbed beer that gets warmed up, 60psi is not out of the question. It's much harder to get a keg to 130 psi.

The pressure relief valve on the lid of the keg will actuate and let off excess pressure well before 60 psi is reached. To the best of my memory, they will actuate right around 50 psi. Even with active fermentation in a keg, I really doubt you would ever get to 50 psi before the pressure kills the yeast anyhow.
 
10-4. I talked to customer support at Northern Brewer and he said he doesn't know what that means. Says it'll perform the way any other ball lock keg does. Appreciate the help.
 
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