Since I started homebrewing, I've always put my money where my mouth is when it comes to my kegging equipment. After all, this is where my beer will spend the majority of its life, where it will age and mature, where it will be served from, and the hardware it will pass through just before it gets to my glass. To that end, I went right out of gate with a dual primary and a 4-way manifold.
Fast forward 6 months, and I decided I'd finally had enough of this single-pressure business. Being able to force carb while serving four kegs sure was nifty, but 12 psi across the board left a bit to be desired. I hatched plans to simultaneously expand from a 4-tapper to a 10-tapper, and to transition to multiple pressures. After all, I drink lots of iced tea, so why not put it on a tap for easy access? Why not a few wines? Maybe a soda or ice coffee or punch or...?
I looked around the 'net and was fairly disappointed. 4-ways a-plenty, but only a few companies cared enough to stock MFLs on their secondaries (shout out to Keg Connection!). 5-ways are rare in the wild, with none sporting MFLs. 6-way and higher were unheard of. Trying to avoid two 5-ways and five 2-way manifolds, I decided that I'd build myself a 10-way secondary.
I really enjoy my Taprite dual primary, so I decided I'd go with their equipment. I found their parts catalog, chock full of bodies, gauges, nipples, mounting brackets and much more. A quick search revealed that nobody sold their individual parts. After an email to Taprite corporate HQ, it became apparent that they weren't interested in selling to me directly.
I reached out to (fittingly) 10 sellers of Taprite secondaries. I asked if they'd sell me 10-way and if they offered military discounts.
This is what I sent out:
Their responses were:
Beverage Factory: (No response)
Midwest: "We do offer military discounts, but we do not custom build items. Most of what you need can be found in the Kegging Hardware and Kegging Gas Supplies sections on our website. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions."
Northern: "Hi *****, Unfortunately we do not build custom equipment. We do have most of the parts available on our web set but not the Taprite brand. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. And we do offer a 10% military discount. Cheers!"
Southern: "*****, I’m sorry, but neither we nor our vendors carry a system of that size. Unfortunately, we do not stock the parts which you are looking for either. Good luck, Southern Brewing and Winemaking"
Chi Company: Emailed, no response. Called a few days later, told it was definitely doable, please send an email for a quote. Emailed again, no response. Gave up.
Keg Connection: "*****, We sure can do a 10 way secondary. I am cop[y]ing our sale man[a]ger on this email. He can help you with any pricing and our military discounts." A couple weeks later, received an email that they added 5- thru 10-way secondaries to their website. Damn fine service again, Todd. Your crew is awesome. :rockin:
MoreBeer: "You are able to connect secondary regulators using tubing however it sounds like you want a solid regulator, not loosely connected with tubing. We do not offer a military discount. Please email me if you have any questions." Pfft.
Keg Outlet: (no response)
Keg Works: (no response)
Adventures in Homebrewing: "We can build that. Do you want it with a CGA320 valve on it or a barb from another regulator on the tank? A secondary is usually mounted remotely from the tank and would use a barb- I just want to confirm. We do not have a military discount but offer our rewards program that builds as you shop with us. Cheers! Jason"
I estimated the cost would be around $50-60 per secondary ($500-600), as that pricing holds true up thru 4-way. The lower end is for barbed units, the higher end is for MFL units.
I went back and forth with Jason for a few emails. I was impressed and reasoned to buy from him. At exactly that time, the Air Force went insane and officially said they'd be yanking re-enlistment bonuses from all but a very small handful of members. I re-enlisted 9 months ahead of schedule (at a lower rank than I had planned) and knew I had a (small) bonus coming, so I hit Jason back up once it arrived.
We had passed a total of 14 emails before all was said and done. For an astoundingly low $453 (free shipping, no tax), he built my 10-way with MFLs all around and check valves. I can't imagine he made a dime on the sale, though he has pulled in over $600 in repeat orders so far.
It arrived today...
I walked in the front door from work and was greeted by a giant box next to the Christmas tree. "What the hell is in this box?" (28# Beagle for size comparison)
Hrm. Another box inside.
Some sort of a packing cushion...
Oh snap!
5 mounting brackets, check valves and relief valves all around.
Custom 30# gauges (I gladly accepted after Jason offered to sub them in). The 1/4" MFLs I requested!
This thing is farkin huge! On top of my 15 cu ft (48" wide) keezer for size perspective.
Ordered my faucets, shanks, and a ton of other stuff from Jason on Black Friday. They arrived well-packaged and working, with the exception of one broken item that's going back today.
Just waiting on my 200' of BevSeal from Birdman Brewing and mountain of John Guest fittings from FreshWasterSystems, then it's off to the 10-tap, 11-pressure races!
Fast forward 6 months, and I decided I'd finally had enough of this single-pressure business. Being able to force carb while serving four kegs sure was nifty, but 12 psi across the board left a bit to be desired. I hatched plans to simultaneously expand from a 4-tapper to a 10-tapper, and to transition to multiple pressures. After all, I drink lots of iced tea, so why not put it on a tap for easy access? Why not a few wines? Maybe a soda or ice coffee or punch or...?
I looked around the 'net and was fairly disappointed. 4-ways a-plenty, but only a few companies cared enough to stock MFLs on their secondaries (shout out to Keg Connection!). 5-ways are rare in the wild, with none sporting MFLs. 6-way and higher were unheard of. Trying to avoid two 5-ways and five 2-way manifolds, I decided that I'd build myself a 10-way secondary.
I really enjoy my Taprite dual primary, so I decided I'd go with their equipment. I found their parts catalog, chock full of bodies, gauges, nipples, mounting brackets and much more. A quick search revealed that nobody sold their individual parts. After an email to Taprite corporate HQ, it became apparent that they weren't interested in selling to me directly.
I reached out to (fittingly) 10 sellers of Taprite secondaries. I asked if they'd sell me 10-way and if they offered military discounts.
This is what I sent out:
Their responses were:
Beverage Factory: (No response)
Midwest: "We do offer military discounts, but we do not custom build items. Most of what you need can be found in the Kegging Hardware and Kegging Gas Supplies sections on our website. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions."
Northern: "Hi *****, Unfortunately we do not build custom equipment. We do have most of the parts available on our web set but not the Taprite brand. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. And we do offer a 10% military discount. Cheers!"
Southern: "*****, I’m sorry, but neither we nor our vendors carry a system of that size. Unfortunately, we do not stock the parts which you are looking for either. Good luck, Southern Brewing and Winemaking"
Chi Company: Emailed, no response. Called a few days later, told it was definitely doable, please send an email for a quote. Emailed again, no response. Gave up.
Keg Connection: "*****, We sure can do a 10 way secondary. I am cop[y]ing our sale
MoreBeer: "You are able to connect secondary regulators using tubing however it sounds like you want a solid regulator, not loosely connected with tubing. We do not offer a military discount. Please email me if you have any questions." Pfft.
Keg Outlet: (no response)
Keg Works: (no response)
Adventures in Homebrewing: "We can build that. Do you want it with a CGA320 valve on it or a barb from another regulator on the tank? A secondary is usually mounted remotely from the tank and would use a barb- I just want to confirm. We do not have a military discount but offer our rewards program that builds as you shop with us. Cheers! Jason"
I estimated the cost would be around $50-60 per secondary ($500-600), as that pricing holds true up thru 4-way. The lower end is for barbed units, the higher end is for MFL units.
I went back and forth with Jason for a few emails. I was impressed and reasoned to buy from him. At exactly that time, the Air Force went insane and officially said they'd be yanking re-enlistment bonuses from all but a very small handful of members. I re-enlisted 9 months ahead of schedule (at a lower rank than I had planned) and knew I had a (small) bonus coming, so I hit Jason back up once it arrived.
We had passed a total of 14 emails before all was said and done. For an astoundingly low $453 (free shipping, no tax), he built my 10-way with MFLs all around and check valves. I can't imagine he made a dime on the sale, though he has pulled in over $600 in repeat orders so far.
It arrived today...
I walked in the front door from work and was greeted by a giant box next to the Christmas tree. "What the hell is in this box?" (28# Beagle for size comparison)
Hrm. Another box inside.
Some sort of a packing cushion...
Oh snap!
5 mounting brackets, check valves and relief valves all around.
Custom 30# gauges (I gladly accepted after Jason offered to sub them in). The 1/4" MFLs I requested!
This thing is farkin huge! On top of my 15 cu ft (48" wide) keezer for size perspective.
Ordered my faucets, shanks, and a ton of other stuff from Jason on Black Friday. They arrived well-packaged and working, with the exception of one broken item that's going back today.
Just waiting on my 200' of BevSeal from Birdman Brewing and mountain of John Guest fittings from FreshWasterSystems, then it's off to the 10-tap, 11-pressure races!
