Cheap and Efficient way to obtain CO2 keg/tap rig

[MischiefBrewing]

I am getting a little sick of sugary taste that bottle conditioning leaves in my brews, and have a little money to start working toward a keg and tap system. Any preferred vendors and cheap alternatives for doing this? Cheers

 

[jdauria]

I recommend going to homebrewfinds.com or follow them on Twitter, they list daily deals for various brewing stuff. Just the other day they listed used 5 gallon kegs from MoreBeer for $79. Kegs were cleaned and parts replaced. Actually check MoreBeer to see if they still have that deal.

I used Homebrewfinds myself to put my kegging system together. Got a keg and then a faucet from deals I saw there and then got C02 tank for birthday gift.

 

[prandlesc]

I've used ebay for my kegs. I've purchased 16 corny kegs from these guys - http://stores.ebay.com/mceverdistributors?_trksid=p2047675.l2563, and if you can but more than one at a time, the shipping charges are reasonable - http://www.ebay.com/itm/111235554415. I bought a cheap chest freezer from Home Depot and converted it to a keezer. You could start with a single tap and have room to expand. I also bought an upright freezer off craigs list and converted it. I think upright is the way to go. But I have both and use them a little dirfferently. I just added a stout tap and bought some stuff from Draft Warehouse, and it seemed they had some good pricing. CHI company provides a good value, too.

 

[brew_ny]

as far as kegs go if you have a local soda place that does cornys for restaurants

check with them I picked 19 pinlock kegs from a local place by me and paid all of less then 100 dollars for them all

one had a pin hole in it and was junk, but it had new poppets and orings

all the best

S_M

 

[Hello]

I checked around and in the end, Kegconnection.com came in under even one of the single party tap setups found on Homebrewfinds.com. There was an amazing deal on 2 ball locks, party taps, 5# CO2 and all the lines at amazon.com for $250 but that did not last long at all. Keg connection set me up originally with their 2 tap setup and one keg, the other keg I had from a black friday sale.

So my first keg purchase was also the time I purchased brew clean and keg lube. I paid $44.
The in February I bought the 2 faucet (party tap) basic homebrew kit which I had upgraded to the dual gauge taprite regulator, 10' of line each (opposed to the 5') and the 5# new CO2 cylinder. I added 1 set of o-rings and then a converted ball lock keg (it is a pin lock converted) because they were out of the regular ball locks and getting lines without kegs is sad. The tap system was $175.90, the keg itself $79.95, and the o-rings were $2.95. You can never have too many I hear. Total order, $266.75 with their awesome flat rate shipping.

If you're smart, you can do 2 taps for well under $300. Finding the right kegs, not being married to the idea of ball locks is useful (a guy here in NC has a pin lock for $40 or $45 and he's listed it here on HBT as well), and just being somewhat patient.

I paid $45 for another ball lock, $40 for one more that may be hosed, and I just dropped $135 on two more from adventures in homebrewing because again, Keg connection was out.

Yesterday I dropped much more on 5 faucets, 3 additional lines, whatever it takes to get things to work, and an add-a-body regulator. At this point, given the attention Kegconnection.com has given me, they'll get my money as long as they remain reasonable. I don't have dollars coming out of my butt but this is the last keg-related splurge I will have to make.

The chest freezer was $289, I actually procrastinated and it went down to $240 yesterday, then suddenly it was $230, I found a coupon and paid $213 with tax. It is a kenmore and should hold 6 kegs with a collar or 5 without. Again, you can do this really expensive with new kegs and all that, you can do it cheaper with patience and not being set on ball locks. That is what increases the price for me but I wanted the most kegs I could get in 7 cu. ft.

tl;dr, you can get a 2 tap system for under $300, easy.

 

[patthebrewer]

Ask your local beer distributer if they have any "soda" kegs the'd be willing sell. Sometimes beer distributers get soda kegs in, they can't use. I've gotten a few this way.