$350 to spend on kegging and...

[brettwasbtd]

Ok, so I have been saving my 1% cash back dividends on my credit card for over a year now (now at $200, and glad I used the credit card to pay for the fiance's masters classes, rather than pulling it right from the savings). I also just placed 2nd Best of Show in the Delaware State Fair's Battle of the brews competition so I received $150 cash prize, which is awesome in and of itself! I'm looking for help in deciding the best way to spend it!

Part or all of the money will be going towards kegging, question is, should I go with a 2 keg setup or 3 kegs. I definitely want a dual regulator so I can have different carb volumes on different beers. I have dreams of stainless perlicks and shanks, but I'd rather have the capacity so I am fine with picnic taps for now. I just got full size refrigerator 2 weekends ago for $20, so the kegs will have a home.

Other wants are:
- Sightglass for boil kettle(s?) I have a 15 gallon pot that I do my 5 gallon batches and 5 gallon that I do my half batches
- Weldless fitting for a ball valve and diptube on the 15 gallon pot: If I don't have a pump, how to ensure its sanitized prior to siphoning my wort out?
- Would love a pump, but wouldn't be able to get my 2 keg setup with the current funding
- stir plate and flask
- Lumber for brewstand build
- 2 keg setup but spend the extra on more kegs to keep pipeline full

I currently have fermentation temp control, barley crusher, mash tun, thermapen, immersion wort chiller. Basically looking for kegging and other ways to make brewday run smoother/quicker Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Well, unless you really want to have three beers on tap at the same time, I'd say a two tap kit will do you fine. Keg connection usually has good prices on keggerator kits. I would spend the extra money on more kegs. I have a two tap keggerator and I like it fine. I can have two different beers on at the same time, and I stagger them to make sure I drain one before the other so that I have time to carb the next keg before I run out of beer. I have my setup in the basement and store my full kegs next to the fridge until room opens up.

As for the ball valve/dip tube question, I wouldn't worry too much about sanitizing the valve. What I do is attach a standard siphon tube to the valve using a nylon adapter and fill the siphon tube with sanitizer with a stopper on the end (after cooling the wort of course). This sanitizes the outside of the valve and the tubing. The rest got sanitized durring the boil. What I would worry more about is what you plan to use for a filter in the BK. If you use pellet hops, I can assure you that you will have problems with filter clogging. There's nothing worse than installing a brand new ball valve and end up having to siphon wort from the BK. If you really want to drain through a ball valve, I recommend you either switch to whole hops or think about using a hop bag in the boil. I use whole hops exclusively now and use a chore boy stainless steel scrubbie for my filter. I have no problems draining.

Unless you need to pump from HLT to MT or from MT to BK I wouldn't worry about a pump. Sounds like you're doing 5 gallon batches mostly so why get a pump? If you have vertical space to work with, I would make your whole set-up gravity drain.

If you have some extra money to spend, I highly reccomend getting a stir plate. Makes a huge difference. I built mine myself (there are many DIY posts out there). One suggestion though, don't buy an expensive flask. Try to find a gallon glass cider jug. I get empties from a local orchard for a $1.00 a piece. I have to clean them and remove the label, but, they are the bomb. The extra volume can definitely come in handy. I make huge starters from a smack pack and spit the yeast up into small portions and freeze them (there are posts out there on this as well). It's surprisingly easy if you have a pressure cooker. When I'm ready to brew I simply throw an appropriately sized starter on the stir plate and I'm good to go. Why spend $8.00 on a smack pack every time you brew?

 

[FloatinAway]

Get the 3 tap! You'll love it and your friends will be that much more impressed. Ok, screw what the friends say, I'm saying I love the three tap. I can put up two beers for me and one for the wife. I still end up with another keg in the keezer with a picnic tap on it. 5 gallons goes quickly. My $.02 says get the three tap.

Btw... My friend with a two tap wishes he had 3 (or more). Another friend with a three tap is looking to convert a chest freezer into a six tap.

"thou shall not bring it weak" - Justin from Brewing Network

 

[brettwasbtd]

Well, unless you really want to have three beers on tap at the same time, I'd say a two tap kit will do you fine. Keg connection usually has good prices on keggerator kits. I would spend the extra money on more kegs. I have a two tap keggerator and I like it fine. I can have two different beers on at the same time, and I stagger them to make sure I drain one before the other so that I have time to carb the next keg before I run out of beer. I have my setup in the basement and store my full kegs next to the fridge until room opens up.

I really like variety, and that is my main incentive for a three tap. I really don't drink beer that quickly so I would need to stick with the 2.5 gallon batches or have my friends over more often to have quicker turnover. Realistically, 2 keg setup is probably fine for me right now as I can always bottle still.

As for the ball valve/dip tube question, I wouldn't worry too much about sanitizing the valve. What I do is attach a standard siphon tube to the valve using a nylon adapter and fill the siphon tube with sanitizer with a stopper on the end (after cooling the wort of course). This sanitizes the outside of the valve and the tubing. The rest got sanitized durring the boil. What I would worry more about is what you plan to use for a filter in the BK. If you use pellet hops, I can assure you that you will have problems with filter clogging. There's nothing worse than installing a brand new ball valve and end up having to siphon wort from the BK. If you really want to drain through a ball valve, I recommend you either switch to whole hops or think about using a hop bag in the boil. I use whole hops exclusively now and use a chore boy stainless steel scrubbie for my filter. I have no problems draining.

Ok, I see how the sanitizing works, so that isn't as big a deal as I was thinking. Didn't think about filtering. I currently try and get the 6 gallons post-boil, whirlpool with my spoon and let the wort sit for 20 mins or so after it is cooled, I then siphon 5.5 gallons off into the fermentor. I don't seem to have too much trouble with pellets with this method. I wasn't using this method when I made my last hoppy beer though, so maybe that would cause the problem. I do have a really large grain bag that I used to use for hops and I can pull that out again. Do you find whole hops absorb a lot more wort - or did you notice your post boil volume was lower than usual after the switch?

Unless you need to pump from HLT to MT or from MT to BK I wouldn't worry about a pump. Sounds like you're doing 5 gallon batches mostly so why get a pump? If you have vertical space to work with, I would make your whole set-up gravity drain.

I definitely do NOT need a pump, the main use would be for an automatic whirlpool so I don't have to stand over my pot and stir myself during the chilling process. I guess the cost of this just isn't justifiable at this time

If you have some extra money to spend, I highly reccomend getting a stir plate. Makes a huge difference. I built mine myself (there are many DIY posts out there). One suggestion though, don't buy an expensive flask. Try to find a gallon glass cider jug. I get empties from a local orchard for a $1.00 a piece. I have to clean them and remove the label, but, they are the bomb. The extra volume can definitely come in handy. I make huge starters from a smack pack and spit the yeast up into small portions and freeze them (there are posts out there on this as well). It's surprisingly easy if you have a pressure cooker. When I'm ready to brew I simply throw an appropriately sized starter on the stir plate and I'm good to go. Why spend $8.00 on a smack pack every time you brew?

True, I am interested in doing some lagers now that I have kegs, and building up those yeast will be of importance!

Get the 3 tap! You'll love it and your friends will be that much more impressed. Ok, screw what the friends say, I'm saying I love the three tap. I can put up two beers for me and one for the wife. I still end up with another keg in the keezer with a picnic tap on it. 5 gallons goes quickly. My $.02 says get the three tap.

Btw... My friend with a two tap wishes he had 3 (or more). Another friend with a three tap is looking to convert a chest freezer into a six tap.

"thou shall not bring it weak" - Justin from Brewing Network

Ya the fiance doesn't drink beer so I don't have to worry about her really . Although If I could make some sweet cider like longbow she would be interested. Most of the time I can rationalize any beer purchase to her as passion is in horses and costs a lot more than mine

OK, so if I go with the 2 keg basic setup with dual regulator upgrade, 2 pin locks, and a 5lb cylinder from kegconnection (was looking from purchasing there anyway) That is about $240 with shipping. Looks like I could get/make a stir plate and probably have enough to do a ball valve and/or sight glass which I think will help the brew day more. Can get more kegs for Christmas hopefully. I will keep number crunching here, but I appreciate the advice, def helps me prioritize.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Do you find whole hops absorb a lot more wort - or did you notice your post boil volume was lower than usual after the switch?

Yes, the whole hops do absorb some wort. I've noticed that in my system, the hops absorb about .08 gal per oz of hops. That's a little over half a pint per oz. This ultimately lowers your overall efficiency a little bit, but, I prefer whole hops over using pellets in a hop bag.

Also, I would go with ball lock kegs if I were you. Pin locks are less common and do not have a pressure relief valve on the lid. The pressure relief valve is not only a nice safety feature in case the keg gets over pressurized, but it also comes in very handy for purging the air out of the keg once you fill it.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Yes, the whole hops do absorb some wort. I've noticed that in my system, the hops absorb about .08 gal per oz of hops. That's a little over half a pint per oz. This ultimately lowers your overall efficiency a little bit, but, I prefer whole hops over using pellets in a hop bag.

That is some pretty good calculations! Obviously everyones system is different but that is a good starting point. I will investigate getting whole leaf hops should I go with the ball valve.

Also, I would go with ball lock kegs if I were you. Pin locks are less common and do not have a pressure relief valve on the lid. The pressure relief valve is not only a nice safety feature in case the keg gets over pressurized, but it also comes in very handy for purging the air out of the keg once you fill it.

Looking at the prices of kegs, its seems like there is a decent supply of pin locks compared to ball. And thus the price of pins are significantly cheaper at most retailers. I could get 4 pins shipped from cornykeg.com for about $33/keg. Ball locks seem to be going closer to $50/keg From everything I have read you just need to depress the gas side of the pin lock corny to relieve pressure, there is a static relief valve for safety. If pins become obsolete then all of kegconnections kits come with MFL threaded connections I can change some lines to accomodate the ball locks. I guess it is a gamble, pay less now and hope I won't have to pay more to convert later.

 

[JonK331]

You can always add manifolds later if you want to increase capacity.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Went with a 2 keg pin-lock system from Kegconnection. Got 3 kegs so I have an extra to have "in-line." Dual regulator so I can have two different serving temps, CO2 tank, which I can fill locally for $15. And standard picnic faucets upgraded to 10 feet. Total was $281 with shipping. Figured I will use the remainder of the money for stocking up on some cleaning supplies (out of PBW) and ingredients for a batch to fill the first keg!

Thanks for all the input!