How many kegs are enough??

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benzy4010

benzy4010

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See on you tube and on the forums where people own like 15 corney kegs ect. I'm about to start to build a mini fridge kegerator. I'm not sure how many of them will fit but isn't two or three plenty? Do people just like having a lot or will I really want like 5 kegs?
 
Haha. This is a can of worms. I have over 100 kegs, and am using over 80 currently. I brew 10 gallon batches, and brew fairly often. I also make meads and ciders every year, and need kegs to age those for the long term.

I am always looking for more kegs. Get as many as you can afford right now!
 
You probably will never need 15 kegs,(though I own 14), but it's nice to have extra. It's better to have too many than to have to wait for one to be empty. I've really only used 7 or 8 of them...but you never know.
 
well, I have 11 kegs. I can tap 6 at a time and I don't have many people to drink my beer so I have lots of time between filling and switching out. I would suggest having at least one more keg than you have taps that way you can be carbonating a keg to replace a kicked one.

That is a minimum suggestion. two extra would be great.
 
Think of this, too. They aren't really making any more of them, and it sure seems like they are becoming more and more scarce these days. Occasionally you see someone getting a big stash from somewhere, but that's a lot less common than three of four years ago. If you can put your hands on ten or fifteen of them at a decent price today, if you end up not using them all for aging or whathaveyou, you should be able to turn them around and sell them for a higher price down the road (maybe to fund a future brewery expansion).
 
Figure out how often you brew and how long it takes you to drink a full (5 gallon) keg. That will give you a good idea of how many kegs you'll probably need.

That being said, I simply make sure I have enough empty kegs for the batch that will be going into them next. Since I use 3 gallon kegs, that means that I need to have two ready as the kegging day approaches. Sometimes I'm able to drain another keg in time, but not always.

For the record, my brew fridge can hold four 3 gallon kegs. Right now it has four kegs in it (on is carbonating). I also have three filled kegs outside of it. I have one 2.5 and one 3 gallon keg empty. I'll probably be getting another (or maybe two) 3 gallon keg this week for a batch that's almost ready.

Of course you can always get more kegs, just be sure that you have enough empty for when you go to put some homebrew into them. Nothing sucks more (well almost nothing) than to have a dry hopped IPA that you can't keg since you don't have any empty. Sucks more if the LHBS is out of stock and you need to get it delivered.
 
the_bird said:
Think of this, too. They aren't really making any more of them, and it sure seems like they are becoming more and more scarce these days. Occasionally you see someone getting a big stash from somewhere, but that's a lot less common than three of four years ago. If you can put your hands on ten or fifteen of them at a decent price today, if you end up not using them all for aging or whathaveyou, you should be able to turn them around and sell them for a higher price down the road (maybe to fund a future brewery expansion).
Click to expand...

And you will need more than you think! Here's why- say you brewed 5 gallons three weeks ago. You keg that and place it "in line" for the kegerator. So, you may have two kegs with beer in them already. If you want to age a beer like a nice big barleywine, it might tie up a keg for a year or two. Or maybe you have a beer that you drink slow- like me and a Belgian I made this summer!

I've been using kegs as storage/clearing vessels for my beer, and find that I can transfer them under co2 to avoid aeration. I have 7 5 gallon kegs and 3 3 gallon kegs, and it's barely enough even though I only have 3 taps in one kegerator and 1 in the other!
 
Wow thanks for all the great info !! Sooooo where do I get these kegs in bulk at a good price?
 
My other hobby is bicycling. In that world, the same question comes up. There is a complicated formula that I believe would work in the keg world.

N+1 is the exact and correct answer.

When N = the number you have on hand, you need one more.

Now tell me folks, does this formula work in the case?
 
Honestly, I believe the bare minimum is your number of taps plus 1. This way if you plan properly you never have a dry tap.
 
How about enough to keg what you have fermenting if you don't know enough kegs will kick before that/those batches are ready. I hope to reach a 'safe' level of kegs soon, where I won't need to buy more to keg what's currently in process. Maybe if I knew more people who really enjoyed great beer I'd be kicking them more often.
 
I'll chime in with one more than the number of taps you'll have. that's minimum to not have a dry tap. That's currently what I have, and as you would guess, i'd like to have one more. When THAT happens, I'll have enough. That's what I tell SWBMO anyway.
 
So where do I get them all? I never see my area on forums and my homebrew store didn't have them, plus they are over priced
 
I have 13, and I wish I had at least 20.

Look on craigslist, etc....but they are really hard to find these days. Man up and buy a pack online is the real answer if you're impatient.
 
I have 17, Don't use them all yet. Most ever full was 7. About to move up to 10 gallon batches, and that will start putting most of them to use. I think I have enough, and will only purchase more if I find a deal I cannot pass up on.
 
benzy4010 said:
How much would a used corny keg go for? Ballpark estimate?
Click to expand...

From online homebrew shops the going rate is right in the $50 ballpark. If you want to score a really good deal on them you'll probably have to wait for a local homebrewer to join AA and sell off his gear on craigslist at bargain prices...

(Yep, seen it happen twice already in the 3 months I've been doing daily craigslist searches for brewing gear....)
 
Smashing said:
I have 10. Got 8 of them for $60. I'll take every one I can get for under $20.
Click to expand...

Definitely.

Hell, I'll take any keg of any type or size for $25 or less.

Have an ad to that affect continuously posted in the "Items Wanted" section of craigslist. Sadly, after a month I've only scored one 1/2 bbl sanke for $25. No cornies.
 
I say you need 4x the number of Taps you have. For example if you have 2 taps you want to have 8. 2 serving, 2 carbing, 2 you should have cleaned last week, and the 2 you need to brew this weekend
 
At least Double the taps plus a couple extra. and here's why you guys are assuming you only kick one keg at a time. Wrong... All Kegs could kick at once and you "SHOULD" have a proper pipeline to refill any kicked keg.

-=Jason=-
Sent from my HTC Incredible using Home Brew Talk
 
I have 30 and can keep 15 of them chilled and on gas at one time. Once the walk in in the brewshed is completed, all 30 can be chilled & carbed, just waiting to be placed in line for a tap.

The key is to keep the pipeline full.
 
benzy4010 said:
How long will beer stay drinkable if untapped
Click to expand...

I have had a 14 month old IPA that tasted great. It was the lost keg for a while buried in the back of my 21 cu. ft.chest freezer.

I had friends taste it and even one knew what beer it was (Wounded Knee IPA). Beer will last a long time if kept chilled and on gas.
 
EdWort said:
I have had a 14 month old IPA that tasted great. It was the lost keg for a while buried in the back of my 21 cu. ft.chest freezer.

I had friends taste it and even one knew what beer it was (Wounded Knee IPA). Beer will last a long time if kept chilled and on gas.
Click to expand...

Yep, I've even seen recipes where one year was suggested as a MINUMUM aging time. And there's a thread on here somewhere where a guy is planning to do a barleywine and age it for 16 or so years to serve on his kid's 21st birthday.

It all depends on the beer. Some are best young, some benefit from aging, and most it doesn't make a whole lot of difference either way.
 
I have nine. My kegerator can only hold 5. I had 7 and figured I needed one more. I bought 2 and haven't used either one of them yet.

Two of the kegs are pinlocks and they're reserved for sours.
 
subliminalurge said:
I disagree.

I would propose N+3, as there should always be a few beers in the back of your head requiring extended aging that you'd love to brew if only you had the storage capacity.
Click to expand...

+1 to n+3. I've got 4 kegs and a 4 tap kegerator. It's tough to coordinate having all four taps flowing and still keep things moving in the pipeline. I need one more keg just for line cleaning, and two more for "bulk" conditioning. N+3 is the way to go for me. Now I just need to convince SWMBO...
 

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