First Time home kegger, Sweet Painted Lady!

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TheWeeb

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Not a fancy kegearator like I lust for on these pages; that will come soon enough. For now, I can fit three in my basement 'fridge (two for now) and still have enough room for other stuff.

These pin-lock kegs were a STEAL from Midwest Supplies - four for $99. They were untested and uncleaned, new seals ($6 per kit) and much scrubbing have them shiny and new-ish.

Last night, after only a day on the gas, I poured my first brew, could not wait. Yes, a bit flat, but geebus, so convenient!
:mug:

kegs.jpg
 
Wow those kegs look like they are in great shape. I wish I bought some but didn't since I need the rest of the kegging setup as well
 
Wow those kegs look like they are in great shape. I wish I bought some but didn't since I need the rest of the kegging setup as well

Yes, with the lines, fittings, 10Lb CO, three way valve, regulator... shipping.. $415. I am not sure how that compares to other's experiences, or what I could have purchased at one of many LHBS, but I just decided to take the plunge. We are doing 15 gallon all-grain batches with the club and usually I take home five gallons, this just makes it a bit easier.
 
Oh... The day when I first keg. Oh... the day when I first brew. I'm a complete newbie and I have yet to brew my first batch but I too "lust" for a kegerator. As is I'd love to have your set-up. I've been told that I ought to bottle a time or two for the fun of it. But a keg of cold frosty brew on tap sounds plenty fun to me.

I'm also eager to jump right into all grain and have a tun of fun! All things in time I suppose. I'll probably give a go at a couple extract batches first.
 
Oh... The day when I first keg. Oh... the day when I first brew. I'm a complete newbie and I have yet to brew my first batch but I too "lust" for a kegerator. As is I'd love to have your set-up. I've been told that I ought to bottle a time or two for the fun of it. But a keg of cold frosty brew on tap sounds plenty fun to me.

I'm also eager to jump right into all grain and have a tun of fun! All things in time I suppose. I'll probably give a go at a couple extract batches first.

I jumped right into kegging. I have had a kegerator for quite a few years and just did the conversion to ball lock kegs from the original sanke. It's not that I don't think bottling isn't worthwhile, I have helped friends do it, I just didn't like the hassle of all of it.

Portability is another good reason to bottle, but most of my out of home drinking comes at tailgate parties and bottles are usually outlawed there. Recently I just invested in 2 - 2.5 gallon kegs that I will use to take beer to parties and stash in the trunk at tailgates.
 
Congratulations! The novelty of having good beer on tap in my house never wears off for me.

I wish I had gotten in on that deal for the kegs, I could use some more but it looks like they don't have that deal going on anymore.
 
Carbonates fast, and I know I have the pressure too high, poured this last night after work, 1/2 head, very creamy tho, and delicious.

beercreamy.jpg
 
Good job I used the same set up on my kegs at first, just now I drilled a whole in the refrigerator side and mounted a tap. Its nice not to have to open the door all the time. Was told I was lucky I did not hit any wires in the side. Next time I will mount it through the front door.
Got me 4 of them kegs also, going to second stage with them.
 
You dont have a link for that keg deal, do you?

It was from Midwest Supplies, email newsletter that had the deal, I just hit the site and cannot find them now, so I assume they sold out (was "while supplies last). I just went back to my account and the SKU "Pin Lock 4 Pack
U8007" is not active.
 
I jumped right into kegging. I have had a kegerator for quite a few years and just did the conversion to ball lock kegs from the original sanke. It's not that I don't think bottling isn't worthwhile, I have helped friends do it, I just didn't like the hassle of all of it.

Portability is another good reason to bottle, but most of my out of home drinking comes at tailgate parties and bottles are usually outlawed there. Recently I just invested in 2 - 2.5 gallon kegs that I will use to take beer to parties and stash in the trunk at tailgates.

I think that I'd like to go right into kegging it's just a cash flow and space issue for now. I'll just try to pick up one piece at a time. How much were the mini kegs?
 
I bought from keg connection and paid a little under 500$ for:
2 ball lock used cornies
Taprite dual body regulator
5gal CO2 tank
2 Perlick stainless faucets n shanks

They also assembled the gas/liquid fittings for me. Nice touch.

It can be done cheaper, but it's perfect for what I wanted..... basically a 2 keg fridge kit with quality parts and the ability to run different pressures. Now if I could just keep from overcarbing one of my kegs....
 
Yeah, I hopped all over that 72 hour sale, yes it has concluded for those who were asking. I love the manifold, I have a 4 way and almost got a 5 way. Ditto, on the picnic taps and take it or leave it this is what I did (although I didn't put the glass shelf back above the kegs though) Industrial strength velcro! I put a strip on the back of the fridge for the manifold and it holds it up when the kegs are in the fridge. I also velcro'ed the side wall for the picnic taps. Just an idea since I don't have blowbacks(offs?) on the manifold.
 
Wow that's a great deal for 4 kegs. I feel like signing up to newsletters for all the major players is the best way to build up your homebrewing equipment supply.
 
Congrats on the setup, I'm running something similar right now, I picked up a chest freezer on the cheap, adjusted the "rough adjust" screw (no external temp controller) and have three picnic taps set up.

I can carb/serve 3 at a time, and I have 5 kegs so my pipeline should never go dry as I can play quick disconnect shuffle in order to keep me in beer; I've also got a Sanke tap that I can hook into my CO2 tank and picnic taps.

Next year will be the collar build, faucet installs, maybe temperature controller (it's holding 42-44 deg though) doing it in phases myself, I've got a budget and if I don't stick to it SWMBO will destroy me.

I can't believe I bottled for as long as I did, kegs are waaay easier.
 
Hey, your setup looks great. Going straight for 2, I like it.

I have a couple kegging questions that maybe someone here could answer for me. I just started kegging as well. I picked up a pin lock keg at my LHBS. My first question is, how do you purge a pin lock keg? The guy at the store told me to stick a screw driver in the overflow valve at the top but that did not work.

Second, my regulator is set to 10psi and has only been in the fridge for 2 days but the second gauge says that I should order more gas. I checked all of the lines with starsan and I didn't see any bubbles. I also checked the top of the keg and the hook ups. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dr. Keiser
 
I'm go glad I got into kegging and now have a kegerator at my house. It's nice for when I want home brew or commercial offerings on tap at home. Before getting one I wanted a kegerator for a good year and a half till i just jumped in and built one. Easily one of the best things to have. Beer on tap in the comfort of your own home is glorious.

I'll be kegging my amber ale this evening when I'm home from work. Can't wait to get it carbing.
 
Hey, your setup looks great. Going straight for 2, I like it.

I have a couple kegging questions that maybe someone here could answer for me. I just started kegging as well. I picked up a pin lock keg at my LHBS. My first question is, how do you purge a pin lock keg? The guy at the store told me to stick a screw driver in the overflow valve at the top but that did not work.

Second, my regulator is set to 10psi and has only been in the fridge for 2 days but the second gauge says that I should order more gas. I checked all of the lines with starsan and I didn't see any bubbles. I also checked the top of the keg and the hook ups. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dr. Keiser

Can't you convert the one time pressure release oh **** valve on the lid to a pull/poppet style? Seems like a worthy mod.

When a CO2 tank is cooled the little. molecules inside jump around and bump into eachother less frequently. This means your tank gauge will read less pressure or incorrect for that temp. Happens to everyone who leaves the tank in the fridge. There is of course the very real possibility that you've got a leak and are out of gas but it's more remote then the chilled tank explanation.
 
Thanks for the input Butterpants. I will look into the MOD today. That seems like a great investment that should be very cheap. The chilled tank explanation makes sense too.

Thanks again,
DrKeiser
 
Hey, your setup looks great. Going straight for 2, I like it.

I have a couple kegging questions that maybe someone here could answer for me. I just started kegging as well. I picked up a pin lock keg at my LHBS. My first question is, how do you purge a pin lock keg? The guy at the store told me to stick a screw driver in the overflow valve at the top but that did not work.

Thanks,
Dr. Keiser

The guy at the store is an idiot, DO NOT push anything into the pressure relief valve on a pin lock keg lid. That is a preset pressure relief valve, you don't want to do anything that might damage it. You could end up wasting all your gas, or worse yet, beer. Tell your LHBS to carry these cheap poppet release valves, most online vendors give you one for free if you buy a keg. I may have an extra one, drop me a PM.

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=484
 
Carbonates fast, and I know I have the pressure too high, poured this last night after work, 1/2 head, very creamy tho, and delicious.

The pressure may be too high, maybe, but your tubes going to the taps are too short. They should be about 10 feet long.
 
Awesome having beer on tap, huh?

I picked up the four kegs as well. I have a ball lock setup with 6 kegs already, so instead of getting pin lock connectors for the gas and liquid lines I picked up some conversion kits from cornykeg.com. It added an extra $10 to the cost of each keg, but with keg prices on the rise, they were still a steal.
 
Hey if it helps anyone on this site if you use the coupon code zymurgy at checkout on midwest supplies it will take ten percent off your order. saved me a ton of money when i got my kegging setup from there.
 
I actually gave up kegging a few years ago. I started doing it during college because, well it's college and everyone was always over and wanted beer. Now I don't have the time to have as many gatherings, plus with having moved 3 times in 4 years the gatherings are no longer like back in college.

I still have all of the equipment (including a plate filter), but now bottling is nice because I can bring a 6-pack wherever I go. I do plan on returning to kegging, I hope to brew up a Kolsch (maybe even 2 or 3 kegs worth) for my father's 60th birthday next May (he grew up in Cologne).
 
I'm picking up two corny kegs today! I found them on craigs list 2 for 50$. I couldnt pass that deal up. I'm looking forward to kegging! Also the guys wife homebrews and is trading homebrews with me. Lucked out on this find!:rockin:
 
I recently did that exact same as the OP. I ordered the pin lock kegs from Midwest Supplies and got a steal on a 7.0 cubic foot chest freezer from the Home Depot. Here is how it turned out.

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A few more pics. I filtered a pale ale, but it got clogged in the holding tank. I didn't want to waste the beer so I poured the rest into the serving tank. There was a little sediment on the first few pours but then it went away.

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