nobeerinheaven
Active Member
I've been brewing 11 gallon batches for a couple of years now, and up to now I've just bottled, holding out for an eventual kegging system. This past month I got a sufficiently decent job to justify the expense of a kegging system, and my wife and I have plenty of space to fit a keezer, but the job is only a one-year long position and it's possible that we'll have to downsize into a smallish apartment elsewhere in the country after this year.
So I've got a question for those who have ran the numbers/prices for various different kegging setups: Is there much of a total cost savings to "go small" in kegging, i.e. to setup a 2-keg system in a mini-fridge with tower, compared to waiting it out to "go big" with a 4-6 keg keezer system after a year? I've been trying to price things out, and it seems like the total cost of a 2-keg kegerator will be in the $500 dollar range (with 4 cornies, so that I can have two different beers on tap, and a 5lb C02 tank). I've not priced it out, but it seems like a keezer that could have 4 beers on tap might run around $800 total. If that's right, it would be better to wait on the keg system, since the keezer will run something like $200 per tap beer (with the advantage of greater selection) whereas the kegerator will run something like $250 per tap.
Also, is there any cheap kegging alternative I've probably not thought of (e.g. picnic taps with cornies kept in the basement/at cellar temps rather than in a kegerator, party pig, etc)? Are these options worth the investment if in a year I might be getting a keezer?
So I've got a question for those who have ran the numbers/prices for various different kegging setups: Is there much of a total cost savings to "go small" in kegging, i.e. to setup a 2-keg system in a mini-fridge with tower, compared to waiting it out to "go big" with a 4-6 keg keezer system after a year? I've been trying to price things out, and it seems like the total cost of a 2-keg kegerator will be in the $500 dollar range (with 4 cornies, so that I can have two different beers on tap, and a 5lb C02 tank). I've not priced it out, but it seems like a keezer that could have 4 beers on tap might run around $800 total. If that's right, it would be better to wait on the keg system, since the keezer will run something like $200 per tap beer (with the advantage of greater selection) whereas the kegerator will run something like $250 per tap.
Also, is there any cheap kegging alternative I've probably not thought of (e.g. picnic taps with cornies kept in the basement/at cellar temps rather than in a kegerator, party pig, etc)? Are these options worth the investment if in a year I might be getting a keezer?
