Beverage Factory / Kegco Brite Tank

[jimmayhugh]

Any thoughts?

 

[day_trippr]

I don't know the going rate for a pristine half-barrel keg these days but if you could lay your hands on one of these

and score a keg for cheap you might be able to beat their price by a bunch...

Cheers!

[edit] In fact that adapter is pretty darned cheap, considering a pair of corny posts might cost one over $15.
And then there's the tri-clamp, so $50 plus your keg...

 

[jimmayhugh]

I don't know the going rate for a pristine half-barrel keg these days but if you could lay your hands on one of these

and score a keg for cheap you might be able to beat their price by a bunch...

Cheers!

[edit] In fact that adapter is pretty darned cheap, considering a pair of corny posts might cost one over $15.
And then there's the tri-clamp, so $50 plus your keg...

The catch would be getting a 4" tri-clamp ferrule sanitary-welded onto the keg in place of the normal 2" opening. Jaybird has several options that fit onto the standard 2" opening, but I like the 4" opening for cleaning, dry-hopping, and inspection purposes.

 

[RTL]

I had the same thought, went through the parts list to build one myself, then ended up ordering one. I was going to try to weld a keg myself since I could just grind down any crap and polish it with my dremel for a 4" TC but I haven't had much luck finding used kegs lately, and what I could find people want way too much money for. I'll try to remember to post an update with how it works out. I got an email that said their cap is backordered, so don't hold your breath for a review.

 

[schard84]

I have the kegmenter 50L keg, which is very similar only smaller, and it works great as a bright tank for 10-13 gallon batches. real easy to pressure transfer to 5g cornies or bottle out of. This looks to me like it will function just the same.

 

[jimmayhugh]

I had the same thought, went through the parts list to build one myself, then ended up ordering one. I was going to try to weld a keg myself since I could just grind down any crap and polish it with my dremel for a 4" TC but I haven't had much luck finding used kegs lately, and what I could find people want way too much money for. I'll try to remember to post an update with how it works out. I got an email that said their cap is backordered, so don't hold your breath for a review.

Mine is scheduled for delivery tomorrow (6/8/17), so I'll let you know...

 

[RTL]

Oh so it's your fault my cap was backordered! JK let me know what you think. Are you using your's for a brite tank or to ferment?

 

[Yesfan]

Williams has it for $200. To be honest, I've thought about getting one and selling my 15G corny I recently purchased. The Kegmenter is smaller in height than my 15G corny, so I wouldn't have to modify my keezer lid to make it fit and the smaller height would probably make it easier to clean.

 

[RTL]

That one is 13.2gal, that's probably where some the price difference comes from. Otherwise it looks to be the exact same thing

 

[Yesfan]

That one is 13.2gal, that's probably where some the price difference comes from. Otherwise it looks to be the exact same thing

I'm wondering if William's is being a bit more conservative with their listed volume. The dimensions aren't too far off from each other (25"H x 15.5"W for Kegco, 23"H x 17"W For Williams). One thing that makes me think that is the Kegco's fittings are below the top of the keg, while William's fittings are exposed.


I have no experience with triclamps. When screwing/unscrewing the posts from the triclamp, is there enough pressure on the triclamp when locked down to keep it from spinning when installing/removing the posts?

 

[RTL]

Absolutely they can clamp very tightly. The only way to know the actual volume is test it. They handle heights could be different too. I would think that extra radius would more than make up for the 2" height difference, so you may be on to something there. I think the only real solution is for you to buy one and tell me if its 15gal so I can save $30 if I buy a second one

 

[augiedoggy]

I don't know the going rate for a pristine half-barrel keg these days but if you could lay your hands on one of these

and score a keg for cheap you might be able to beat their price by a bunch...

Cheers!

[edit] In fact that adapter is pretty darned cheap, considering a pair of corny posts might cost one over $15.
And then there's the tri-clamp, so $50 plus your keg...

$105 shipped for a new 15.5 gallon keg....

 

[RTL]

So to add to that,
$105 for new keg
$35 for 4" TC set that includes gasket ferrule and cap
$35 for 4" TC cap with two 1/4" NPT welded posts (we'll ignore the PRV, customization, and dip tubes for now).
$30 for 2 ea ball lock adapter sets with 1/4" NPT adapters
= $205
No labor for welding, no dip tube, no PRV, shut up and take my money. Counterarguments welcome as I will likely end up getting a second one and I am a chintzy bastard.

 

[RTL]

I made a short video of my initial inspection. One thing I forgot to include is that the dip tube is bent so that it ends up in the center-ish portion of the keg. After filling to about 10ish gallons (about 38L) I pushed the star san out into two corny kegs and what was left over was about 1.5 liters, so that dip tube is very close to the bottom. I also pressure tested it (do not try this at home) and it holds a bit more than the rating stated by Kegco (as expected). The failure point was the TC itself, it started to leak at about 25psig. Hope this is useful to someone.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gHtjJa6zYLM

 

[Yesfan]

I made a short video of my initial inspection. One thing I forgot to include is that the dip tube is bent so that it ends up in the center-ish portion of the keg. After filling to about 10ish gallons (about 38L) I pushed the star san out into two corny kegs and what was left over was about 1.5 liters, so that dip tube is very close to the bottom. I also pressure tested it (do not try this at home) and it holds a bit more than the rating stated by Kegco (as expected). The failure point was the TC itself, it started to leak at about 25psig. Hope this is useful to someone.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gHtjJa6zYLM

This is the 15G one from Beverage Factory and not the 12G one from William's, correct?

Nice video, thanks for posting!

 

[RTL]

Yes, it is the half barrel from Beverage Factory.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Now ya'll got me wanting to go buy a TIG welder! I've got a few kegs in the garage collecting dust. 30 bucks for keg fitting, 9 bucks for the 4" triclover fitting. Two 15 gallon homebrew kegs for 100 bucks. Damn it! Oh yeah, I forgot the 600 bucks for the welder. Nevermind!

 

[Yesfan]

Absolutely they can clamp very tightly. The only way to know the actual volume is test it. They handle heights could be different too. I would think that extra radius would more than make up for the 2" height difference, so you may be on to something there. I think the only real solution is for you to buy one and tell me if its 15gal so I can save $30 if I buy a second one

I was on William's site earlier getting ready to splurge on their kegementor. After shipping ($35), total cost was going to be $235. I double checked with Kegco version on Beverage Factory and, with today's Father's Day deal, their price is $228. So that and the fact the Kegco is taller and slimmer sealed the deal for me.

EDIT: Got an email from Beverage Factory.......back ordered. :cross:

 

[jimmayhugh]

I've got 10 gallons of Dead Ringer happily fermenting under pressure as we speak...

I also had Jaybird at Norcal weld a thermowell on the cap, so I can accurately monitor the fermentation temp.

Updated 08/12/2017:

The beer turned out GREAT!!! It came out of the fermenter already carbonated and ready to drink. I transferred it to two purged serving kegs, with nary a problem.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Now into my 3rd 10-gallon batch, and couldn't be happier!! I liked it so much I ordered another one.

 

[Brown Beard]

Now into my 3rd 10-gallon batch, and couldn't be happier!! I liked it so much I ordered another one.

Hi Jimmy,

Just a quick question about Fermentating in the KegCo. It looks like the dip tube doesn't extend to the bottom, how much of the yeast trub are you pulling out of the vessel when you transfer after fermentation? How much, if any, good beer are you losing?

I have a WilliamsWarn BrewKeg 50, which is basicly the same product but it has a built in pressure guage and adjustable VPRV and a sediment bottle you can bleed out the yeast trub through the bottom of the keg. I'd much rather save the coin and stock up on a few of these but I was curious how much beverage you were losing.

Thanks!

 

[jimmayhugh]

Just a quick question about Fermentating in the KegCo. It looks like the dip tube doesn't extend to the bottom, how much of the yeast trub are you pulling out of the vessel when you transfer after fermentation? How much, if any, good beer are you losing?

I use a clear draft system with a screen which draws the beer from the top, so I get very little trub. It also goes all the way to the bottom of the tank, so my beer loss is minimal.

 

[Brown Beard]

I use a clear draft system with a screen which draws the beer from the top, so I get very little trub. It also goes all the way to the bottom of the tank, so my beer loss is minimal.

Beautiful. I'm sold on a few of these. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I'm pretty sold too, about perfect for at least my 12 gallon conditioning stage. I have 2 kegs already; but don't have the 4" ferrule built in, they're still standard. Anyone have any kind of estimate of a reasonable cost for modding the keg to have the 4" ferrule? And if it was posted, sorry, I missed it - but the lid with two posts, dip tube, PRV, possibly thermowell - is there something like that available, so all you have to do is tri-clamp it to the (existing, after modding) ferrule?

 

[jimmayhugh]

I'm pretty sold too, about perfect for at least my 12 gallon conditioning stage. I have 2 kegs already; but don't have the 4" ferrule built in, they're still standard. Anyone have any kind of estimate of a reasonable cost for modding the keg to have the 4" ferrule? And if it was posted, sorry, I missed it - but the lid with two posts, dip tube, PRV, possibly thermowell - is there something like that available, so all you have to do is tri-clamp it to the (existing, after modding) ferrule?

Before I got the brite tanks, I used this from Norcal, you can get the diptube with a liquid out option.

 

[Boydric]

Question how is everyone controlling fermentation temp with these. I would love to get one but my chest freezer is too short for the kegco unit and not wide enough for the kegmenter. Looking at getting the glycol cool from spike to control temps or the glycol wrap that is on the market.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Before I got the brite tanks, I used this from Norcal, you can get the diptube with a liquid out option.

Whoops, somehow I missed this, jimmay. I have the Norcal unit on my "cart" but so far, very pleased with the Kegco as is - first brew in 15+ years, I think, and it's really making me happy. It's holding a porter now, but I plan on using it for racking in the dry hop process. Part of it is that I wasn't too keen on the NPT connection, and the other part is that...I feel like an idiot, as I can't quite figure out how it works.

 

[WesBrew]

Has anyone that has the beverage factory one modified the dip tube or used a floating dip tube for clear beer pressure transfers after fermentation? is cleaning difficult?
# also- the Williams version looks exactly the same, how is it 2 gallons less when built out of a 1/2bbl keg?

 

[jimmayhugh]

Has anyone that has the beverage factory one modified the dip tube or used a floating dip tube for clear beer pressure transfers after fermentation?

I use the clear beer draught system during both fermentation and serving. I also ferment under pressure with a spunding valve, and use the residual pressure in the fermentor to start transfers to the keg.

Is cleaning difficult?

Obviously, the brite tank is heavier than a plastic carboy, but I still manage to get it into my outdoor sink. The 4" tri-clamp opening lets me get most of my arm inside, and I also have a home-built keg cleaner that I use. YMMV

Also- the Williams version looks exactly the same, how is it 2 gallons less when built out of a 1/2bbl keg?

I believe that it's a 50 liter European keg, not a U.S. 1/2 keg.[/QUOTE]