POSSIBLE NEW PRODUCT FOR CORNY KEGS

Hi fellow home brewers I am in the stages of making a product that could detect the liquid level of your home brew in your five gallon corny kegs it will work for both styles of kegs ball lock and pin lock kegs as it affixes itself to the lid of the keg which had a separate gas post and that lid will be interchangeable. It will not interfere with any of the original posts or compromise the integrity of the actual keg itself.

I am wanting to get ideas and any feed back if this is something that anyone on here would be interested in or has had trouble with in the past.

please feel free to comment or message me directly to have any questions answered.

 

i personally just like to keep at least 4 back-up kegs full, and a fermenter ready to fill two when they're empty....i have 6

but if people have hydrometers on wifi...you'd have a market!

 

Just get a handheld digital luggage scale.

Weigh an empty keg and tare the scale then weigh the keg you want to measure. 1 liter weighs about 1kg while a pint weighs about 1lb making it easy to tell how much is in the keg.

You can get the scales on Amazon.com and they range from $10 to $40.

 

I would be interested if it's cost effective. It's cheaper to brew an extra batch of beer or two than spend $50/keg to outfit them with sensors.

Does it rely on ultrasound?

 

It doesn’t rely on ultra sound it’s going to gauge the level based upon how much actual beer you have left in your keg it’s going to have 5 led lights on the actual unit itself and we are developing an app that’s going to be free to use with it as well so you can view it using WiFi.

 

Right, but I'm curious what technology is uses to gauge the level of beer? It has to use some kind of sensing device, like weight, ultrasound, radar, a total flow meter.

Also if it only shows me the level of beer in 20% increments, that's not terribly useful. It would be much better if it read out in gallons, pints, liters, %.. anything but vague lights.

 

https://www.ballandkeg.com/ - $20

 

We could do it in gallon increments so it would be full at 5 gallons and then go down to 1 gallon once you see one gallon left in the keg time to brew or replace the keg soon.

 

My two cents...

I love gadgets and buy all kinds of stuff I don't need ... but even I have not yet been tempted by any keg sensing product. If the beer runs out... there is more beer someone else. And it is really easy to know if I am low, just by moving the keg. And honestly, so far knowing if I am low is good enough.

Still, I always like to see new stuff.

For me... Any such product would need to be switchable between kegs without opening the keg. That is one reason I never bought the magnetic level indicator... if I condition a keg for 6 months, that ties up one of the floats too.

Seeing 5 LEDs on the keg is cool but of marginal value compared to me reaching in and rocking the keg to estimate level. I would not be interested in any product unless it could tell me much more precisely how much beer was left. The app you mentioned would be OK for that... bonus points if I can hook up some kind of electronic keg display.

And with that all said, it comes down to price.

Ya know what product I REALLY want and would happily pay for? A CO2 tank monitor that squeals if there is a gas leak, because that costs me money.

 

How are the LED's powered? Is each of the 5 LEDs an indicator for a gallon of beer? IE, 5 LED's on equal 5 gallons in the keg? What are the benefits or your idea over some of the already existing option out there? I'm curious...

 

There is the soon to be Plaato Keg system that uses load cells to measure the weight of each keg. Supposed to be accurate in fluid measurements. They can even me used to measure the weight of the CO2 tank to monitor the weight, so one could see if there was a leak of some period of time. But at something like $100 per unit, it gets expensive fast for a multi-keg setup.

 

corny keg lids with built in ultrasonic sensor you can integrate with RPI signage software like raspberry pints would get my attention if not too much.

 

Plaato.io has a kickstarter right now that is a high tech postal scale with wifi. They plan on selling it for $120.....

 

It’s going to be able to integrate with raspberry pi and we are in the process of developing an app.

 

This model with be able to detach from the post itself and be able to attach to a new post and be used between kegs wthout worry about the co2 or contamination.

 

I also wonder if they are wider than kegs? If so I wouldn't be able to fit them in my fridge.

 

Needs to be accurate to the glass and also we need to know the technology so we can give our expert derision opinion on it. We already have magnets, flow metres, strain gauges, temperature...

 

Not sure if this is directed at me and you're assuming my intent for asking?

Genuinely curious since I've explored building something for myself.

 

Sounds like he or she was agreeing with you and expanding the sentiment.

I would probably buy this product, if it (as previously mentioned) is an affordable ultrasonic sensor that is integrated into a lid and provides continuous estimates of how many ounces are left. I find that shaking a corny stirs up sediment, and I sometimes need to know if there is enough left to bottle from the keg for a competition, and if not, I need to know to stop drinking from that keg until I bottle.

I wouldn’t pay more than $50 for this, however, as that floating “ball and keg” product achieves the same general goal in analog for $20.

 

The word derision was throwing me off - I couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or not... gotta love the internet and my apologies Pkrd!

 

Flow meters are too expensive. The magnet/ball doesn't work for me, nor does checking the weight of the kegs...both because my (6) kegs are totally crammed into my keezer--wouldn't be able to see the ball and can't parse out resistance from friction with other kegs and gravity until I get it all the way out, which is difficult and annoying in a crammed keezer.

So, I'd be interested in this product. However:

1- the cost would have to be much less than flow meters
2- it would have to do better than 20%/1 gallon increments

Also, I get your reluctance to explain how it works, but there's no way this thing is coming to market without revealing that, or that being revealed. Homebrewers want to know stuff like this much more than the general public does.

 

I have a 5 tap system, i love tech. If i could get something around $200 that is displayed on an app with how much was remaining i would be all in. 10% increments would be fine

 

It’s going to be completely wireless with a lcd screen displaying percentages down to 1% and it’s going to use ultra sonic sensors to feed the lcd screen and it will be interchangeable between kegs.

 

I replied

 

As others have stated, the ballandkeg product is less than $20 if you buy more than one so you would need to compete with that. I have five of those that stay permanently in kegs through cleaning, sanitizing etc. They are accurate right down to a glass and give a reliable measurement.

 

Agreed.. $20 per keg is your price point. And there are no electronics to fail.

 

Basically you need a laser distance measurer, mounted into a keg lid, and calibrated to translate distance to the beer surface into gallons/liters. I see how that could easily fit the bill (reliable, precise measurements and not too expensive).

Is ultrasound more accurate than a laser (or does the laser not work on liquid for some reason)? Actually, it's not clear whether your device uses ultrasound--you said "it does't rely on ultrasound", then later that "it's going to use ultrasonic sensors".

 

I switched designs so it’s going to use ultra sonic sensors to determine the level of the liquid I’m not sure about a laser the reason I chose the ultrasonic sensor is because it can be reflected off the surface of the beer. I’m worried the laser won’t do that.

 

Damn, now I want to know.

Anyone got one of those laser measuring things and can see if it registers distance from beer?!?!

 

What type of laser module are you suggesting? Do you have a picture of the type your talking about?

 

Just something like this, but in a different configuration:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bosch-B...P_DjUvgp6HjGn945UH4aAt3zEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I would have to try it out but I’m not sure if it would work or not.

 

I think, as others have said, the www.ballandkeg.com is your competition. The Plaato unit seems to be quite a bit higher tech and quite a bit more expensive. It's also unproven and only in the crowdfunding phase. My ballandkeg units have been in constant operation for 2 years and there is nothing that I can see that will go wrong with them.

 

My one is about the size of a matchbox. Works great on people, not sure how it performs on beer.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW030PL-Lightweight-Distance-Measurer/dp/B072NF73DS

DIY:
https://www.dfrobot.com/product-1706.html

 

Several have said ball and keg is the competition. I'm sure that fits the needs and wants of most but wouldn't the more direct competition be another product that can integrate with something like raspberry pints, ie allow you to have a screen that displays your keg levels? Like flow meters such as these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/swiss-flow...rg=20140602152332&rk=1&rkt=10&sd=121111223550

 

lol! That ebay seller is whom most of us RaspberryPints first-adopters (aka "test subjects" ) sourced for our SF800 meters.
But that sale lasted for only a few weeks - he had roughly 120 flow meters and as soon as the community found out about it we wiped him right the eff out. I bought 10 of them.

The SF800 retails for $60 plus shipping...

Cheers!

 

I would say I am an average brewer. I have a 3 keg system. I am on a budget. If the price point of a RaspberryPints system is able to be brought down to $60 each you are talking $180. + whatever you are seeing the levels on. Or by opening the door and taking a look - Ballandkeg - $60. I guess that there are enough Tech hounds out there that would get it, I am not one of them.

How do I tell the level in my kegs? - When nothing comes out but co2 - it is empty!!!

 

It's yet another homebrewing item on a long list that makes some say "WOW, COOL!" and others say "What's the point?".

 

I say ""WOW, COOL" - costs too much, besides I don't really need to know exactly how much is left." If I run out it is on me for not having another one in the wings.

 

haha. Yeah, there's another response...maybe the most common!