So, I just bought this...

[carlisle_bob]

search ebay for corny kegs or soda kegs. Some guy has millions of ball-lock kegs that he's selling for $28 plus shipping. Shipping up to 4 kegs was $40, so you get them under $40. It's about the best I have found but I am in Chicago and estate sales with corny kegs for free don't seem to pop up. Curious. Maybe in 20 years when our kind starts to kick the bucket (oops sorry...morbid!).

Hi

I have kegs from the same guy. The shipping stays close to $40 up to 7 kegs, so it's *much* better to buy a bunch of them at one time than to do a few at a time. The listing shows them as "syrup tanks" or something like that, so they are a bit hard to find.

Bob

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

You are going to need some sort of thermometer on the keg. Without knowing what temperature it's at you will go nuts trying to get the carbonation right. Yes indeed been there done that ...

Bob

 

[flushdrew42]

Thanks for the tip! I wondered about needing a thermometer. I will put one in there today.
Any ideas on timeline etc for it to carb up once I get the temp set at 36?

With the sanke coupler I can't roll it around to quick force carb it, without having to clamp the beer line...

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

Figure a couple days to do the force carb. A lot depends on surface area vs volume. Put another way - big surface / small volume in the keg = fast carb. Very full keg means small area in contact and lots of volume = slow carb.

Bob

 

[flushdrew42]

so, i left my keg alone for 3 days, at 30 psi, and last night burped it, and brought the pressure down to serving, and tried to pull a pint...

foam. boatloads. 90% foam in two full cups.
i have 3/16 inch line, and was dispensing at around 10, 11 psi.
thoughts?

 

[krazydave]

Yeah, its over-carbed. Shut the gas off, shake it some and burp it more, do that repeatedly until you're pouring normally.
That's about the only way I've found to fix that.

 

[flushdrew42]

k cool. i thought i would RDWHAHB (so i did...)

 

[carlisle_bob]

so, i left my keg alone for 3 days, at 30 psi, and last night burped it, and brought the pressure down to serving, and tried to pull a pint...

foam. boatloads. 90% foam in two full cups.
i have 3/16 inch line, and was dispensing at around 10, 11 psi.
thoughts?

Hi

How long is the line? Should be ten feet or more.
How long did you wait to serve? At least a couple of hours / over night seems to be a good idea.
How warm / cold is the beer? Temperature makes an enormous difference in required serving pressure.
I have a couple kegs of commercial beer that I ran up to the mid 20's for a week or so. I'm serving at 18 psi through 3/16 lines 20 foot long. No major foam. Yes I like bubbles in my beer.

Bob

 

[Argo1087]

Steal. Absolutely worth it......As for the tank, you could probably just do an exchange with it. I would buy that for $50 any day of the week.
MIKE

 

[flushdrew42]

Argo - thanks! i love it.

Carlisle Bob - i didn't wait very long. my line is 4ft, and i have since read to lower my pressure even further. so i did that last night. will pull a pint tonight to see how it goes.

thanks for all the help.

i am going to paint this at some point, but i guess that will wait.

 

[Tomtanner]

http://grandisland.craigslist.org/app/3025320902.html

it's an older gibson fridge w/ a CO2 bottle, beer and gas lines, tap, and budweiser taphandle...
for $50 bucks. plus the bottle is 1/2 full!

the seller says the fridge works, which is a bonus to me b/c the bottle, lines, tap, and keg connector are worth way more than that.

so. what am i, the never before kegged guy, going to need/buy/do now?

i now know i will need to upgrade my equipment a bit. (i presently brew 1.5gallon batches on my stovetop)

i just this weekend built a brewspace in my garage, i have a fermentation fridge (with temp controller) already built and running.

so, help me find my pitfalls and landmines before i even get started.
like, i know everyone likes cornies, is that the way to go?

Thanks!

Drew

Nice find!

 

[flushdrew42]

thanks tomtanner!

i've got boatloads of q's but i'll ask them all as they go, i presume.
painting this is up "next" sortof. i'm still planning how i will leave my mark on it.

 

[stratslinger]

Another tip: Check you yellow pages (yes, those things do exist!) and look for any local beverage supply shops.

I found one in a neighboring town - literally a 5 minute drive from work. This place supplies bulk soda and such to restaurants and whoever else wants it - I was able to get a tank rental from them ($50 deposit for a 15lb CO2 cylinder that I never have to worry about recertifying, and I just pay $14 to swap out for another one whenever I empty one).

And when, one day, I innocently asked if they were willing to sell any old cornies, I learned that they had been switching from cornies over to bag-in-a-box for a while, and looking to off load the old cornies. I got half a dozen ball locks for $10 a piece - granted they were filthy and needed new o-rings and such, but for that cost I wasn't about to complain!

 

[carlisle_bob]

Argo - thanks! i love it.

Carlisle Bob - i didn't wait very long. my line is 4ft, and i have since read to lower my pressure even further. so i did that last night. will pull a pint tonight to see how it goes.

Hi

There's really no down side to a long line (slow pour, but that's no big deal). The upside is you don't have short line foam issues no matter what the pressure. You can have foam issues from other sources though. Twenty feet of line is less than $10 so it's a cheap fix.

Bob