3 Gallon or 5 Gallon Keg?

[mcberry]

My dad and I typically brew together and now I am considering getting into kegging. Problem is we live separately and I don't have room or money for kegging at my house.

So for a typical batch we will end up bottling 2 gallons and then keg the remaining 3 gallons.

I am debating between using a standard 5 gallon keg and 3 gallon keg. I am leaning towards the 5 gallon because:
1)cheaper
2)can hold a full 5 gallon batch if need be
3)perhaps 3 gallons will carb quicker in a 5 gallon keg? <--just speculation

Is there any downside to kegging only 3 gallons in a 5 gallon keg? Obviously more CO2 will be used and I'd have to make sure to purge all the O2 prior to filling.

Is there anything else I should be considering here?

Thanks

 

[bad67z]

The 5 gallon, the Co2 cost is minimal. And 3 gallon kegs are much more pricey.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

The 5 gallon, the Co2 cost is minimal. And 3 gallon kegs are much more pricey.

I agree. You will proabaly use roughly the same cooling space unless you stak 3 gallon kegs on top of one another (unlikely). 5 gallon kegs are much cheaper, easier to find and will work better if/when you decide to make 10 gallon batches. I have 2 3 gallon kegs but they are only more convenient for traveling and nothing more.

 

[kpr121]

Agreed to all the above. If you have one 3 gallon, you'll be kicking yourself when you are kegging and are just too lazy or dont have enough time to bottle the rest. Plus cheaper and easier to find.

 

[bad67z]

I see your in Canton MI., you have a local place you can pick up some of the most economical keg's I've seen in the mid-west. And they are close.


http://www.homebrewing.org/

 

[mcberry]

Thanks for the tip on AIH for kegs. I always make the trip there for ingredients and equipment - great store.

Would something like this be a good setup: http://www.homebrewing.org/Homebrew-Kegging-System_p_69.html

The other setup I was looking at was:
http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=325

They seem comparable, but I'd rather get one locally.

Generally speaking - used kegs are fine to use and leak free provided I get new O-rings?

 

[bad67z]

Thanks for the tip on AIH for kegs. I always make the trip there for ingredients and equipment - great store.

Would something like this be a good setup: http://www.homebrewing.org/Homebrew-Kegging-System_p_69.html

The other setup I was looking at was:
http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=325

They seem comparable, but I'd rather get one locally.

Generally speaking - used kegs are fine to use and leak free provided I get new O-rings?

McB,

The kit from AIH looks great. All the kegs I have are used and none of them leak, I change the o-rings when I buy them. I don't want any off flavors from previous soda service.

If you start building an inventory of them just so a search and you can buy the o-ring in bulk from McMaster Carr. I would recommend if your gonna get serious about HB and kegging buy up what ever you can. I cover 5 state with my job and they have the best prices by far.

 

[lumpher]

i'm with every1 else. go for the 5, so you don't kick yourself later

 

[rexbanner]

You can bottle from your 5 gallon with a beer gun. It's so easy, I do it any time I want to bring beer over to someone's house.

 

[billtzk]

Three gallon kegs can be useful, but they are hard to find used so you usually have to buy them new. You can buy 2 or 3 refurbished five gallon kegs for the same price as one new three gallon keg.

I bought two of the three gallon kegs because they fit on the hump in my kegerator. I use them for carbonated water and for soda. But in general, the five gallon kegs are the way to go. Extra headspace doesn't hurt anything in a partially filled keg. Just purge the air and replace with CO2.

 

[BBBF]

I love my 3 gallon kegs, but I got them cheap on craigslist. There's no way I would recomend paying $60-100 for one. You're better off buying multiple 5 gallon kegs.

 

[billtzk]

$100 is nothing.

Do you know that gasoline today is as cheap as it was before the first Arab oil embargo? Yep, that's right. I passed a gas station on Friday that was selling gasoline for $2.699 FRN per gallon. Silver is $29.19 per troy ounce (closing spot price at end of the trading day on 12/17/2010). A 90% silver quarter (1964 and earlier, 6.25 grams of silver) is worth $5.279. A 95% copper penny (1982 and earlier) is worth .027 cents in copper and zinc. So for one 90% silver quarter plus 5 95% copper pennies (30 cents in real money), you could buy two gallons of gas ($5.398 in FRNs). So gas is really only 15 cents a gallon.

$100 is nothing.

 

[IffyG]

^^^ Umm... what exactly are you talking about?

 

[shelly_belly]

Is there anything else I should be considering here?

Thanks

3 gals will easily fit in your fridge. Will you have to buy another fridge, freezer, temp controller to handle 5 gal cornies?

 

[billtzk]

^^^ Umm... what exactly are you talking about?

Inflation. The poster before me said he wouldn't recommend spending $60 to $100 for a 3 gallon keg. But if 3 gallon keg fits your space better, it's really not such a huge amount of money. All I'm saying is that $100 FRN is not a lot of money anymore.

I bought two brand new 3 gallon kegs from CHI company for $89 FRN each just a few months ago. They fit on the hump in my keezer very nicely where a 5 gallon keg won't fit there. My cost including shipping was about $205. That's seven troy ounces of silver. That's the value of the silver content of 39 pre-1965 quarters with a face value of $9.75. Less than one roll of quarters bought me two brand new 3 gallon kegs. That's what I mean when I say $100 is nothing.

 

[IffyG]

I'm sorry I asked...

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Where is this thread going?