3 gallon Kegs, or more 5 gallon kegs.

[NorthMoonBrewing]

im going to be brewing a bunch of beers for a competition come July. Since I want to enter some things I don’t normally brew or drink, I’ve decided to do all contest beers in 3 gallon batches, to save money and to not has as much beer sitting around. But I need more kegs, do I buy a 4 pack of 3 gallon pinlock kegs, or do I buy more 5 gallon kegs and just use more co2 to fill the head space? Note: my kegerator is set up for ball lock kegs, so I’ll have to buy some connectors as well but it’s in the budget, I just don’t know if buying more 5 gallon kegs and wasting the co2 on head space per keg is better than buying the 3 gallons. Need some help, thanks in advance!

 

[BBBF]

If this is a one time thing, just use more co2. I have nine of the 3 gallon ones and I love them. If you can see yourself brewing smaller batches and experimenting beyond this, the investment in smaller kegs is more justified. Also, you can get new posts for $10. You might be happier swapping out the pinlocks instead of buying new connectors.

 

[NorthMoonBrewing]

If this is a one time thing, just use more co2. I have nine of the 3 gallon ones and I love them. If you can see yourself brewing smaller batches and experimenting beyond this, the investment in smaller kegs is more justified. Also, you can get new posts for $10. You might be happier swapping out the pinlocks instead of buying new connectors.

Yeah, thats where I am stuck. I normally brew 6 gallon batches so I could see myself making smaller batches in the future but at the same time, If I buy 5 gallons, I can just use more co2 and and just have more kegs for future 6 gallon batches. I just didn't know if anyone has ever used 5 gallon kegs for 3 gallon batches and have noticed a drastic drop in co2 supply from that

 

[phofmann]

If I were in your place I would probably get more five gallon kegs. There are times that I think about getting a couple 3 gallon kegs for when I want to split a batch and experiment with different aging timelines, or using a hopback inline from the keg to the tap.

 

[BBBF]

Yeah, thats where I am stuck. I normally brew 6 gallon batches so I could see myself making smaller batches in the future but at the same time, If I buy 5 gallons, I can just use more co2 and and just have more kegs for future 6 gallon batches. I just didn't know if anyone has ever used 5 gallon kegs for 3 gallon batches and have noticed a drastic drop in co2 supply from that

You can do it, but what you have to do is fill the keg with sanitizer, so that there is no air, and use co2 to push out all the sanitizer. Then you can transfer the 3 gallons into keg and the remaining space is all co2.

A 20lb tank can dispense around 80 corny kegs (not counting carbonation). So if you have a 20 lb tank and it costs $20 to fill it, you used $0.25 of co2. That is nothing compared to buying new kegs, posts, etc. And it is even beneficial to keeping uour beer from getting oxidized.

 

[jekeane]

2.5 gallon slimline torpedo kegs are great and stackable. I have the 3 gallon aih kegs And they are nice for the price but I prefer the size and stackability of the torpedo keg

 

[philly224]

I just ordered some 2.5 gallon kegs so I can split 5 gallons batches when me and my dad brew. Pretty pumped to get em. I think it's worth having some smaller ones around.

 

[JDL]

I just ordered a 4 pack of 3 gallon kegs on Ebay new free shipping for 299.99 and ebay has a coupon code for 20% off currently that worked PSPRING20 that made it 239.99 shipped.

 

[madscientist451]

I have both sizes, the smaller kegs are great because I can put them in a standard extra fridge at my G/F's house, the downside is they are more expensive than used 5 gallon kegs.