Woohoo! Kegging is awesome! So is my wife!

[QuercusMax]

I think I had bottling stockholm syndrome or something, I had convinced myself that I enjoyed the bottling process and liked having lots of bottles of various varieties in my cellar.

We just paid off both our vehicles, so after much research and comparison shopping I bought a 4-picnic-tap kegging system and a 14.8cf chest freezer from Craigslist. It's already been pretty great - I filled the 4 kegs with a Schwarzbier, Best Bitter, Dortmunder, and Black IPA. I already have bought another keg on craiglist and filled it with a Cherry Cyser (Zombie Killer clone), and it was a HUGE hit this Christmas season when my brothers and their wives were in town. (Brothers and Dad loved the black IPA, wives loved the cherry cyser.)

Only problem is those picnic taps... already I have a broken tap that was dripping into the freezer, and I discovered the rubber inside was cracked and causing the leak. Also they just drip and make a mess, and I can't figure out how to arrange them so they don't make a big coiled up mess.

So I was looking into installing a tower or two, and my wife just gave me the go-ahead to buy 2 3-tap Perlick towers from Birdman Brewing! Won't be ready in time for New Year's Eve, but in a week or two I'll be up and running with 5 of the 6 taps hooked up! Life is good!

 

[mikescooling]

Yes kegging is great! If you feel like taking a six pack somewhere you can draw it off the tap.

 

[BirdmanBrewingCo]

I think I had bottling stockholm syndrome or something, I had convinced myself that I enjoyed the bottling process and liked having lots of bottles of various varieties in my cellar.

We just paid off both our vehicles, so after much research and comparison shopping I bought a 4-picnic-tap kegging system and a 14.8cf chest freezer from Craigslist. It's already been pretty great - I filled the 4 kegs with a Schwarzbier, Best Bitter, Dortmunder, and Black IPA. I already have bought another keg on craiglist and filled it with a Cherry Cyser (Zombie Killer clone), and it was a HUGE hit this Christmas season when my brothers and their wives were in town. (Brothers and Dad loved the black IPA, wives loved the cherry cyser.)

Only problem is those picnic taps... already I have a broken tap that was dripping into the freezer, and I discovered the rubber inside was cracked and causing the leak. Also they just drip and make a mess, and I can't figure out how to arrange them so they don't make a big coiled up mess.

So I was looking into installing a tower or two, and my wife just gave me the go-ahead to buy 2 3-tap Perlick towers from Birdman Brewing! Won't be ready in time for New Year's Eve, but in a week or two I'll be up and running with 5 of the 6 taps hooked up! Life is good!

Congrats! We shipped it out right away to you. Happy New year!

 

[QuercusMax]

I installed the first tower last night, and the middle tap is wiggly (but works). Is there any way to tighten it without disassembling the whole tap assembly? It looks like I need to tighten the hex nut down inside the tower, but the 2 outer tap assemblies are in the way.

 

[mikescooling]

Do your have a faucet wrench? give that a shot

 

[LovesIPA]

It would be a good idea to completely disassemble all the taps, soak them in PBW and then star-san. It's generally a good idea to clean everything thoroughly before you serve food or drink with it.

 

[QuercusMax]

It's not the faucet that's loose, I can tighten that up just fine. It's the shank(?) that the faucet connects to that's not screwed in tightly to the tower. Mine is a 3-tap tower, so it looks like this inside, except with another faucet in the middle underneath the top 2, so it's blocked:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l303/RickDel73/DSC04484.jpg

 

[hokieguy95]

Need to see pictures of your complete kegging set up. Sounds great.

 

[LovesIPA]

It's not the faucet that's loose, I can tighten that up just fine. It's the shank(?) that the faucet connects to that's not screwed in tightly to the tower. Mine is a 3-tap tower, so it looks like this inside, except with another faucet in the middle underneath the top 2, so it's blocked:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l303/RickDel73/DSC04484.jpg

That large nut that the blue-handled wrench is on needs to be tightened. Again, I would recommend disassembling the entire thing, including the taps all the way, to clean and sanitize.

 

[QuercusMax]

I have taken apart the faucets, but that wasn't the problem - it was the loose shank. I was able to tighten it, but that required loosening the two outer shanks as well and pulling them thru, then tightening the lower shank. Pain in the rear, but at least I know what I'm doing... since the other one has the same problem!

Here's the fully assembled beast:

At some point in the near future I'm going to paint it, but haven't decided on the color.

 

[LovesIPA]

Nice!

Mine is still white with the natural pine 2x4 collar. Pours great beer though.