How many kegs...

[CanadianQuaffer]

...should I set up my kegerator for?

I just bought Whirlpool compact fridge which will (barely) fit two 5 gal corny kegs and my 5lb co2 tank. I just don't know whether to go with 1 or 2 kegs. 1 will certainly be easier but 2 is obviously more desirable. Question is, can I drink enough beer to justify 2 kegs? lol. I have, on average, about 1 pint a day. Throw in a few nights when friends/family come over and I can expect two kegs to last 60 days or so.

Is that too long for beer to sit in a keg?

I am new to kegging so I really know very little here.

Thanks!

Nick

 

[day_trippr]

Choice is a wonderful thing.

Beer served using CO2 will keep a long time - certainly at least a couple of months. Go with two faucets. You won't regret it...

Cheers!

 

[Fid]

I built my kegerator set up with 2 kegs over thanksgiving weekend and by March I had gone out and bought a 3rd keg. I still don't have a tap for it but its nice to have that extra keg in there that is full and ready to be tapped when one of the others kick.

Plus having the extra keg helps keep the pipeline flowing... If you've just got 1 keg you have to wait until you finish it all before you can clean it out and keg a new beer which means you're also hogging a carboy to house the beer that's ready to go on tap next which means you can't brew in the meantime!! And that new beer is going to have to sit in the keg for a couple of weeks to condition nicely before you can start drinking it.

My vote is for setting it up for 2 kegs... even if you only put one keg on tap at a time.

 

[wilserbrewer]

IME the beer is best after conditioning for a few weeks in the keezer. With only one keg, you wont have a continuos supply of well conditioned beer.

 

[Golddiggie]

I can fit four kegs inside my brew fridge:

I only have three faucets/taps through the door, right now, though.

Considering adding a fourth faucet in the door within another month (or so). Until then I can either carbonate the fourth keg, or fit it with a picnic tap.

I installed the second bulkhead last night, along with a two port manifold, so that I can feed two different pressure sets (fed off of a dual body regulator now) to the kegs. I can do up to three kegs on one pressure so I can better match the brew to the PSI/CO2 level.

So, I would advise fitting as many kegs into the fridge as you can. If you get a dual body regulator, you can carbonate one keg while drinking from the other. Or if the same CO2 volume level works for both, just use a manifold with a single body regulator. You might even be able to fit another keg inside the fridge if you move the CO2 bottle to the outside (if you didn't already).

 

[gdc123]

I started off wanting a 2 keg system, but realized I wanted more before starting the build. I am now going to be set up for 4 kegs, one seltzer and 3 for beer might throw a cider in the mix also. I also plan to have a few extra kegs conditioning in the cold storage.

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

It's a compact fridge, 4.4 cubic feet, so 2 kegs is the max and I can still squeeze the 5 lb tank in there too. The regulator I have is this one:
http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/product_p/dual reg.htm
Will that allow me to do anything special if I have a 2 valve manifold?

If I go for 2 kegs I will most certainly go for a dual tap tower (or taps through the door, I'm not sure yet). I'm just wondering if I can drink 80 pints of beer fast enough, lol!

Thanks for the advice so far.

What are your guys' thoughts on (for a mini fridge) a tap tower vs taps in the door?

Thanks!

Nick

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

i bought a chest freezer that holds 8 kegs.........

i find myself out of beer from time to time......

the more the better.

 

[neut2004]

Buy more than you need and buy them soon. You'll want to have a keg full of beer ready to go when a keg kicks. Extra kegs are great for bulk aging, then you can bottle from the keg if you wish. The reason to get them soon is that used corny kegs are becoming scarce since pepsi and coke use plastic containers for their syrups these days and homebrewers are buying up old soda kegs like crazy. They used to be easy to find for $25 just a couple years ago, a quick look online tells me that they are at least $35 each now. New ones will put you back $100 or more.

 

[Golddiggie]

Single body regulator will only feed one pressure to the manifold. So, unless you modify the manifold to reduce the pressure coming out of it, you're stuck with just one pressure coming out of the manifold.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Single body regulator will only feed one pressure to the manifold. So, unless you modify the manifold to reduce the pressure coming out of it, you're stuck with just one pressure coming out of the manifold.

Which is fine, unless you want an English Mild on tap 1 and a Belgian Tripel on tap 2. If you mostly brew similar styles, then one pressure level will be ok.

 

[lumpher]

Single body regulator will only feed one pressure to the manifold. So, unless you modify the manifold to reduce the pressure coming out of it, you're stuck with just one pressure coming out of the manifold.

yep, sometimes sucks, but works for me. i like my beer carbed anyway... o yeah, kegs. i'd go with the 2 kegs. that way, you can have 1 gassed up ready to go when the first kicks, and when you decide, you can tap the other 1 too, and have 2 at a time. i have 3 on tap at any time, and it's great. 1 session, 1 strong and hoppy, and 1 dark usually

 

[mikeysab]

I just bought a 2 tap tower and already wish I went bigger......and I didnt even build my kegerator yet. My brewing and drinking has been a solo mission, so I didnt even consider the rest of the family when i geared up. Im wishing I put in a third or even fourth tap for soda and seltzer for the wife and kids.

 

[stp]

Given your setup I would certainly go with 2 kegs. If you can afford it, I don't think you will regret spending the extra money. But I know that myself, if I had room, I would very quickly regret not filling up that space with that second keg. I built a keezer and put in two taps as it was only a 5.0cf. For some reason I find myself shopping online for more kegs even though I have no room to put them. I also regret not getting a dual body regulator, longer beer lines and a sanke coupler but those are separate issues, lol.
Good luck!

 

[beaksnbeer]

It's a compact fridge, 4.4 cubic feet, so 2 kegs is the max and I can still squeeze the 5 lb tank in there too. The regulator I have is this one:
http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/product_p/dual reg.htm
Will that allow me to do anything special if I have a 2 valve manifold?

If I go for 2 kegs I will most certainly go for a dual tap tower (or taps through the door, I'm not sure yet). I'm just wondering if I can drink 80 pints of beer fast enough, lol!

Thanks for the advice so far.

What are your guys' thoughts on (for a mini fridge) a tap tower vs taps in the door?
Go with a tower, you don't want bend over all the time to fill. If you want to run different pressures go with a secondary reg.

 

[Fid]

What are your guys' thoughts on (for a mini fridge) a tap tower vs taps in the door?

Thanks!

Nick

On a mini fridge I think I'd do a 2 tap tower to keep the taps at a reasonable serving height. Also, you've already determined that you have no room for expansion past 2 kegs in this fridge so you know that you won't have a need to add more taps down the road (it'd be quite expensive to replace an entire tower just to add one extra tap).

The only downfall to towers is that they can end up being a little bit more work if you find a need to keep your lines cooled as they run through the tower but it shouldn't add anything major to the project... just a fan and/or some insulation.

Another thing about towers... They look pretty bad ass!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

I started with a 4 keg/3 tap system and just ordered another tap and started the process of altering my keezer for the 4th tap. The more the better IMO. I have a dual body regulator with a 3 way manifold coming off of one of the bodies. I love this set up, because I can have 3 kegs at one pressure off of one body and another at a completely different psi for force carbing a keg in waiting or a higher carbonation level for wheats, etc. If you want more variety in your carbonation practices, send back the single body regulator and get a dual body, they are not ridiculously expensive. You should get 3 kegs....2 for in the kegerator and one for conditioning a keg in waiting.

 

[CnnmnSchnpps]

I can fit four kegs inside my brew fridge:

I only have three faucets/taps through the door, right now, though.

Considering adding a fourth faucet in the door within another month (or so). Until then I can either carbonate the fourth keg, or fit it with a picnic tap.

I installed the second bulkhead last night, along with a two port manifold, so that I can feed two different pressure sets (fed off of a dual body regulator now) to the kegs. I can do up to three kegs on one pressure so I can better match the brew to the PSI/CO2 level.

So, I would advise fitting as many kegs into the fridge as you can. If you get a dual body regulator, you can carbonate one keg while drinking from the other. Or if the same CO2 volume level works for both, just use a manifold with a single body regulator. You might even be able to fit another keg inside the fridge if you move the CO2 bottle to the outside (if you didn't already).

What model of fridge is that? I have a tiny apartment and was thinking of doing exactly this - 4x 3gal kegs.. Sweet!