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justinakajuice

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Well fellas, I just went to a game this weekend and ran into another home brewer that brought a couple kegs. Went over and BS'ed with him a bit and what little part of me was still on the fence about kegging jumped off. I just ordered up 2 4 packs from ebay for those 'one eared' kegs from Beverage Elements.

Now, I have to price out keezer builds...
 
I have 2 of the 'one eared' kegs and like them. Not a bad choice.... However.... the full collar ones stack and can be turned upside down when cleaning or rinsing the insides easier. But... I would take 8 kegs of any kind over 425 12oz bottles, 320 16oz bottles, 230 22oz.. any day of the week.
Now for the keezer build.. I prefer a bottom freezer refrigerator. This gets the tap handles to a better height.
 
I like the 4 tap, 5+ keg chest freezer (7-9 ft) builds with a collar. That's what I will be going with. CO2 tank inside on the hump. Still unsure on what kind of regulators I would be going with, be it a single with a quad manifold or the four regulators. Very exciting.
 
Just ordered from kegconnections. Got their 4 faucet setup for the keezer build. Next up, I have to go check out some chest freezers.
 
Picked up the 7.0 cu ft GE for $176.40 w/tax from the hardware store. Checked on pieces for the collar.
 
It gets expensive at first but pulling a pint and not having to deal with a million dirty bottles is well worth it for me.
 
Picked up the 7.0 cu ft GE for $176.40 w/tax from the hardware store. Checked on pieces for the collar.

The collar build can be kind of a tough one in that it really requires you to make a decision you can't easily change and isn't something you can just buy and put in place.

Best advice I can give is to take your time with it and really think about all aspects of mounting hardware, dimensions and construction.

It gets expensive at first but pulling a pint and not having to deal with a million dirty bottles is well worth it for me.

For me it's become the difference between being a homebrewer and not being a homebrewer. Bottling was the reason I walked away from the hobby three times in ten years. Now I've got 4 carboys sitting and fermenting.
 
Kegging is by far the best thing I've done. even being in a small apt, I found a mini-fridge that holds two kegs and the 5#co2 on the inside. If you have the space, go big though, now that you won't be bottling you'll be more interested in brewing...
 
Kegging is by far the best thing I've done. even being in a small apt, I found a mini-fridge that holds two kegs and the 5#co2 on the inside. If you have the space, go big though, now that you won't be bottling you'll be more interested in brewing...


I agree. Plus you will use the keezer not only for serving kegs but for kegs that are lagering as well.
 
I like the 4 tap, 5+ keg chest freezer (7-9 ft) builds with a collar. That's what I will be going with. CO2 tank inside on the hump. Still unsure on what kind of regulators I would be going with, be it a single with a quad manifold or the four regulators. Very exciting.

Great decision as long as you have the room to hold the chest freezer. That is what I went with and although it does have an upfront cost it is much better than finding room to store and clean all the bottles that each keg will replace.
 
For me it's become the difference between being a homebrewer and not being a homebrewer. Bottling was the reason I walked away from the hobby three times in ten years. Now I've got 4 carboys sitting and fermenting.

Bingo.
______

Update: 8 one-eared kegs are sitting in my living room. I pulled one out of the box and while it is holding the pressure that it was shipped with, it smells of a light caramel soda scent. So, I will have to order some O-ring kits and keg lube to get rid of it before I lose a batch to off-flavors. I was fully expecting that though.
 
It gets expensive at first but pulling a pint and not having to deal with a million dirty bottles is well worth it for me.

Truth. I'd recommend going in stages so you don't hurt your wallet too much. I'm finally wrapping up my 3 tap keezer after about a year and 650 bucks invested in the project. The biggest hit was the 1st keg, regulator, CO2 tank, temp controller and temp controller.
 
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