Best Kegging Equipment

[jcannon46609]

I am about to buy a kegging system and I am having trouble deciding which is best.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/kegging/draft-systems/5-gallon-keg-system-new-new-keg.html

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/review/product/list/id/4104/

These are the two that I am torn between thus far, anybody have an opinion on either or any other suggestions?

 

[Golddiggie]

Go for the one with a real keg. I have a set of the party star items (four kegs, tap thing, the works) and I've only used it for one filling. Since abandoning the party star setup (many months ago) I was bottling batches before diving into real kegging. I'm using 2.5 and 3 gallon kegs for my batches (so far, bottling parts of each batch after kegging first). With my next batch (going to keg on Wednesday) I'll be kegging the entire thing. I expect to be doing that more often than not. IF I want to give some bottles away, I'll just get a beer gun, or one of the items you insert into the faucet and bottle from.

Even though the party star system is about half the price of the real keg setup (plus cost of a CO2 tank), I see it as the better buy. Basically, I feel that if you get the party start setup now, you'll just be getting the other setup later. So why not get the right one the first time?

If you're really looking to get the party star setup, PM me...

 

[Kaz]

I'm partial to the corny keg myself, never used the midwest system. But have you looked at used keg setups? They're a lot cheaper and the kegs work fine, something like this..

http://www.kegglebrewing.com/Single-Tap-Home-Brew-System_p_7.html

 

[Yooper]

Neither!!!!!!!!

In the first one, there is a nice shiny new keg, but no co2 tank (which you need!).

In the second one, you have mini kegs that require co2 chargers and a "mini bung" whatever that is.

I'd suggest going back and looking at their set ups (both companies are fine to deal with!) and getting something like this (with more kegs than one):

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/cornelius-keg-system-with-5-lb-co2-tank-comes-empty.html

or

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=463

A co2 tank really isn't optional- you need one to carbonate and dispense your beer. You can use "picnic" or "cobra" taps to dispense, though- just those plastic ones work just fine if you don't want to have a dedicated kegerator with faucets.

 

[Golddiggie]

Keg Connection has good choices for first setups...

Also, you don't need to get everything from a single source. If you can get the CO2 tank locally, at a good rate, do it. Find a place that will fill it up at a good rate too. You also don't have to get 5 gallon kegs from the start.

BTW, if they try to sell you just 5' of beer line (3/16" ID), with picnic/cobra taps, change it to 10'... Even serving with ~10psi, I get a lot of foam in the glass (about 1/3 the glass). I have beer line coming, along with faucets, that should resolve that.