A couple of kegerator questions

[Rick_R]

Over the weekend I ordered the Kegco K209B-3 with the stainless tower and Perlick 630SS faucet upgrade, and also added the "Draftec Deluxe Hand Pump Pressurized Keg Beer Kegerator Cleaning Kit w/ 32 oz. Cleaner.” Then (from another company) I ordered 36’ of "Ultra Barrier Silver™ Antimicrobial and PVC Free Beer Tubing.” My plan over the long term is to get back into homebrewing — I got rid of all my equipment a few years ago (regretting that now). I do not plan to bottle again, so decided to get the kegerator first, and tap commercial brews to start with. For that reason I ordered two KT85-D keg taps, which I understand is what’s necessary for most US kegs.

Two questions:
- Am I missing anything (other than the keg of beer) to set this thing up?

-My assumption is that commercial kegs will already be carbonated, so I just need to cool down the keg(s), connect, and set pressure for about 10-12 psi. Is that correct?

For the kegerator over the next few months I expect to install a blower to blow cold air into the tower at some point as well as upgrading the regulator (looking at the Governor double body). Anything else I should be looking for?

I also will purchase brewing equipment again over the next few months, along with necessary kegs and connectors for homebrew kegging, but wanted to get the kegerator functional within reasonable time upon arrival and not wait to start homebrewing first.

Thanks for any and all replies.

Rick

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Yes the commercial will be carbed already, and prolly' chilled too.

You can try to find out the "volumes" of carbonation from the commercial brewer, to help ya' in setting your CO2 pressure, from many of the available charts online.

Be advised, 3ft. of hose might not be enough.........Best to start out with more, ( 10 ft. is not out of line), and trim back the length, especially with a commercial brew.

Everything else sounds inline, just be sure when you get a commercial brew, that the "Sanke" type coupler you have, is the same type for the keg you select.
That way when you get home, you won't be disappointed when it won't lock into place, or dispense beer!

"Where", in the "Southeastern U S" are ya' located?

 

[Rick_R]

Thanks for the reply and the info. I did order 36' of hose, so plan to put 12' per tap and trim as/if needed. Kegerator is supposed to arrive next week, will probably be the weekend before I can set it up, so plan to buy a couple of kegs the following week to install. I've called a couple of local stores, sorting out how to get the kegs ordered.

Location is north Mississippi, in the small town of Pontotoc.

 

[hifidelity]

Looks good. I did the same thing with my Kegco 309-2 and put 12' beer lines on each tap. You'll need clamps for the tap end of the lines...it will come with clamps for the coupler ends that you can use because they aren't attached from the factory, but the 5 foot factory lines will be attached to the taps already with clamps that aren't reusable. I'm assuming you ordered it from beveragefactory.com? That's where I got mine and I was extremely pleased with the order and the product.

If you're only going with 2 commercial kegs for the time being I believe you CAN fit a slim 1/4 barrel keg and a 1/6 barrel keg inside assuming the inner dimensions of the 209 are the same as the 309 (I think the only difference between the two models is the 309 has the digital thermostat). That will open up your options when ordering commercial kegs. Right now I've got a 1/4 barrel keg of Yuengling and a corney keg in my 309. I've also heard that a 1/4 barrel keg and TWO 1/6 barrel kegs will fit, but I don't have first hand experience with that and don't have another keg to try.

Hope that helps!

 

[Rick_R]

You'll need clamps for the tap end of the lines...it will come with clamps for the coupler ends that you can use because they aren't attached from the factory, but the 5 foot factory lines will be attached to the taps already with clamps that aren't reusable.

Hmm. What sort of clamps? Standard worm drive hose clamps? And how do you get into the tap tower to attach 'em?

I'm assuming you ordered it from beveragefactory.com?

Yes.

If you're only going with 2 commercial kegs. . . .

I'm hoping to add a corny keg of homebrew at some point in the future, and over time move to just homebrew.

Thanks for the reply and info, I'm looking forward to getting it in and set up.

Rick

 

[hifidelity]

Hmm. What sort of clamps? Standard worm drive hose clamps? And how do you get into the tap tower to attach 'em?

Yes.

I'm hoping to add a corny keg of homebrew at some point in the future, and over time move to just homebrew.

Thanks for the reply and info, I'm looking forward to getting it in and set up.

Rick

The shanks will have to be removed from the tower to be able to access the barb onto which the beer line attaches. The top of the tower is an easily removable cap, and the shanks are held on with large nuts inside the tower. Lots of places sell a specialized wrench with a slot for the hose (usually around $40) but I was able to remove them with needle nose pliers (larger pliers take up too much room. Worm drive hose clamps work just fine, but you'll probably have to play around with the position of the drive mechanism of each clamp so that it's not getting in the way of the other clamps/lines once everything is installed- needless to say there's not a lot of room to play with inside a 3" tower. All this will make much more sense once you have the tower in your hands.

Hope that helps! By the way- after owning my 2 tap Kegco kegerator for a little over a year now and deciding I want to be able to brew more frequently I placed an order for an identical (except 3-taps this time) model just yesterday. That's how pleased I am with this product. Of course I upgraded the tower and faucets to Perlicks and I ordered 36' of 3/16" beer line so that I can make that upgrade while the unit is still dry. I made that upgrade on my first one after a few months of ownership and it was just a little messy.

 

[pvpeacock]

Understand that commercial sanke kegs and corny kegs have different connectors. To switch between them can be a pain unless you get the right adapters and connectors. Do some research to find out what you will need. For example, you can get ball lock adapters for a sanke coupling to easily switch between commercial kegs and corny kegs. Good luck.

 

[Rick_R]

hifidelity: thanks for the info on removing the clamps. I've got a couple of sizes of needle nose pliers so hopefully can get the clamps that way. Also glad to hear the positive report on the kegerator.

pvpeacock: I ordered the unit with two D-System keg taps, which the info said works with American sankey kegs. I didn't order a third connector with the intent of making it either a pin or ball lock connector, waiting to read some more on the pros/cons of the pin lock vs ball lock. Figured I'd swap out the sankey's for ball lock (which I decided to use down the road) as I move over to homebrew, but would have the sankeys around if needed. I didn't know about the sankey-to-ball couplers. Good to know.

Thanks for the replies and additional great info.

Rick

 

[hifidelity]

So how did setup go?

I got mine today (the shipping company couldn't make it down my driveway so I had to drive 65 miles one way to pick it up at their hub) and got halfway through setting mine up. The 3 tap tower is a PAIN to work in to replace the lines, that's for sure. MUCH more so than the 2 tap that I had previously done. Got all the beer lines attached...now I just gotta coil the excess neatly so that it rests on top of the cornies and route the CO2.

It's a LOT more fun once it's setup and the beer is flowing, that's for sure.

 

[Rick_R]

So how did setup go?

I got mine today (the shipping company couldn't make it down my driveway so I had to drive 65 miles one way to pick it up at their hub) and got halfway through setting mine up. The 3 tap tower is a PAIN to work in to replace the lines, that's for sure. MUCH more so than the 2 tap that I had previously done. Got all the beer lines attached...now I just gotta coil the excess neatly so that it rests on top of the cornies and route the CO2.

It's a LOT more fun once it's setup and the beer is flowing, that's for sure.

Mine came in and I took one look inside the top of the tower and decided to try it with the attached lines, because it looked like it would be "a PAIN to work in to replace the lines." :cross: I decided I'd try then as they were, figuring I could always change them out later.

Got it set up sans beer last night, picked up and tapped two Lucky Town (Mississippi Brewery) kegs tonight. The stout pours perfect but the English Mild (Lucky Town's Pub Ale) has a bit too much foam. The kegs were cold when I picked them up and I kept them in the front but it was an hour's drive so the keg may not be as cold as it should. I may try adjusting the PSI setting (currently 10 PSI) if it's the same tomorrow, but i knew there would be some compromises with a single temperature setting and a single pressure setting. One of the items on my upgrade list is either a Taprite or a Governor double or triple body regulator set-up. Can't do much about separate temperatures.


It was very nice to pull a beer, though, and I'm looking forward to many more. Glad I took the plunge.