I want to Keg!...but

[Wheat King]

Hey there

sorry if this is a repost

I'm interested in going down the path of kegging...
however, i'll probably be living in an apartment for a few more years, and dont have room to refridgerate full-size kegs. so my questions are: How small do kegs come? Is there any drawback to or complications that arise in kegging partial batches, and bottling the rest? is it impractical to keg a batch in several small kegs? am i being ridiculous?

 

[clayof2day]

You can build a relatively small kegerator that will house 2 5 gallon kegs and the footprint is the size of a large dorm fridge. Thats what many of us, including myself have converted to a kegerator. There are tons of websites and quite a few posts on this board about the conversion. Its really easy. Just do a search for "Sanyo 4912" and you should be in the right neighborhood

 

[Flyin' Lion]

Kegs also come in 2.5 or 3 gallon sizes, but are hard to find and very expensive compared to the 5 gallons size. Other options to full size kegs are mini-kegs or tap-a-draft systems, each have their pros and cons. It would take some research to see what system would best serve your needs, but I agree with clay that the best way would be the sanyo as it accomodates the larger kegs (you'll want them later), yet still takes up little room.

Good luck.

 

[Orpheus]

You can build a relatively small kegerator that will house 2 5 gallon kegs and the footprint is the size of a large dorm fridge. Thats what many of us, including myself have converted to a kegerator. There are tons of websites and quite a few posts on this board about the conversion. Its really easy. Just do a search for "Sanyo 4912" and you should be in the right neighborhood

What clay said. That is the exact fridge I have and it works great and is hardly bigger than a typical dorm fridge!

 

[Ol' Grog]

Orph....you got a Sanyo 4912 and converted it? How many cornies will it hold? CO2 bottle included????

 

[clayof2day]

Mine holds 2 and a 10 lb. CO2 tank...

 

[Ol' Grog]

Sanyo 4912? Are you dispensing from them as well? What your saying is EXACTLY what I'm looking for.

 

[Wheat King]

need to check the dimensions on that Sanyo, but i'm thinking i won't have room for even that. i guess i was hoping to use my kitchen fridge (yes, with food and rarely used condiments inside) but have small enough kegs that would fit 1 at a time if i were to cut or modify a shelf or 2. well, i need to do more research on my end, cant have you guys do all my work for me...time to hit the web! and the search button again!

 

[debtman7]

need to check the dimensions on that Sanyo, but i'm thinking i won't have room for even that. i guess i was hoping to use my kitchen fridge (yes, with food and rarely used condiments inside) but have small enough kegs that would fit 1 at a time if i were to cut or modify a shelf or 2. well, i need to do more research on my end, cant have you guys do all my work for me...time to hit the web! and the search button again!

If you want to use your standard fridge without using it all for beer, you're options are one of these:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/mini-kegs.html

THere's also this:

http://www.partypig.com/

It seems that people either love or hate these things, but I think they'll all get the job done if it's all you have room for.

 

[Ize]

Wow,

This even makes me want to keg. :rockin:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonycastignetti/album?.dir=3de8&.src=ph

Ize

 

[Bernie Brewer]

You can build a relatively small kegerator that will house 2 5 gallon kegs and the footprint is the size of a large dorm fridge. Thats what many of us, including myself have converted to a kegerator. There are tons of websites and quite a few posts on this board about the conversion. Its really easy. Just do a search for "Sanyo 4912" and you should be in the right neighborhood

Yup mine is that size too, but it's a Danby not a Sanyo. Probably the same thing with a different hood ornament. Pics in my gallery.

 

[Orpheus]

Sanyo 4912? Are you dispensing from them as well? What your saying is EXACTLY what I'm looking for.

Grog,

Yup the Sanyo 4912 will hold 2 corny kegs, and a 5 or 10 lb. CO2 tank (has to be a specific type of 10 lb. tank though - there are two varieties and I can't remember which version fits - the small fat one or the tall thin one.)

You can completely convert it very easily with a two tap tower (which is going to be my Christmas wish for this year! ) Right now I have the picnic cobra tap coiled up in the door and it works perfectly fine.

 

[clayof2day]

has to be a specific type of 10 lb. tank though - there are two varieties and I can't remember which version fits - the small fat one or the tall thin one

Its the shorter fatter one and you have to put a little "stand" together for it. Mine is really ghetto, but it works.

The only complaint I have, and it is minor, is that the first poor foams up a lot because the lines get warm. I can still get a good poor, I just have to remember to be carefull. Second and third pours are OK as beer in lines is all cooled. Possible Hijack: Anyone have any good, easy, cheap ways for me to keep the lines cool . I'm handy enough as long as I have good instruction.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I can't come up with an excuse not to keg. If you even have the inkling that you want to try it (and about $200), you should give it a shot. A used dorm fridge won't kill anyone's budget, and a new one shouldn't be too far from attainable even on a college kid's salary (have a BYOB movie night in your room for a weekend or two - drinks will be on your friends, so you can save up that party $$$). eBay's a great place to look for regulators - just make sure they are CO2 regulators and haven't been used for weird industrial chemicals. Ball lock fittings and a cheap tap are really easy to get.

As for keeping the lines cold - I have that problem as well. I think I'm going to rig a CPU fan that blows from the fridge up into a tube (like a paper towel roll) inside the tower. With a little space around the tube, the air should circulate that way.

 

[debtman7]

I can't come up with an excuse not to keg. If you even have the inkling that you want to try it (and about $200), you should give it a shot. A used dorm fridge won't kill anyone's budget, and a new one shouldn't be too far from attainable even on a college kid's salary (have a BYOB movie night in your room for a weekend or two - drinks will be on your friends, so you can save up that party $$$).

most used dorm fridges also won't hold corny kegs. There are only a few that will in fact, since most of them have a freezer compartment and a bump in the back of the fridge for the compressor. The afore mentioned sanyo, and the danby models are about the only ones I've found that would actually hold 1-2 kegs plus co2. Since you only have a few models to choose from, the odds of finding a used on cheap are not that great, so you'll need about $180 to buy a new one. Adding the cost of kegging equipment to that, you quickly get out of the poor college kids budget.

If you're going the mini fridge route, sticking with cobra taps, you're looking at spending at least $300 for a basic kegging setup. As a poor college student back in the day, that would have been out of the question...

 

[Yuri_Rage]

most used dorm fridges also won't hold corny kegs. There are only a few that will in fact, since most of them have a freezer compartment and a bump in the back of the fridge for the compressor. The afore mentioned sanyo, and the danby models are about the only ones I've found that would actually hold 1-2 kegs plus co2. Since you only have a few models to choose from, the odds of finding a used on cheap are not that great, so you'll need about $180 to buy a new one. Adding the cost of kegging equipment to that, you quickly get out of the poor college kids budget.

If you're going the mini fridge route, sticking with cobra taps, you're looking at spending at least $300 for a basic kegging setup. As a poor college student back in the day, that would have been out of the question...

Is that rain? On my parade?
EDIT: (some sarcasm/ridicule deleted) Here's a way to look at it, though. Even if it's gonna cost you $300, that's just over 2 months worth of pizza/beer money. $15 each per Friday and Saturday night = $300 after 10 weekends. Eat Top Ramen for half a semester, feign illness when your friends want you to go out, and be the hit of the dorm when you own a kegerator as a college kid!!!

Oh, and I found my kegerator (a real Haier one, no conversion needed - holds at least 4 cornies) BRAND NEW for $120 as a customer returned display model at Best Buy. The deals are out there, ya just gotta look!

 

[Ol' Grog]

So, on the Sanyo model, the tall skinny 10 LBS cylinder CAN'T be used inside? Does anyone know why? I'm just trying to picture that if the fat short model will fit, surely the tall one will too, less diameter, but not as tall as a corny.

 

[debtman7]

Is that rain? On my parade?
EDIT: (some sarcasm/ridicule deleted) Here's a way to look at it, though. Even if it's gonna cost you $300, that's just over 2 months worth of pizza/beer money. $15 each per Friday and Saturday night = $300 after 10 weekends. Eat Top Ramen for half a semester, feign illness when your friends want you to go out, and be the hit of the dorm when you own a kegerator as a college kid!!!

Oh, and I found my kegerator (a real Haier one, no conversion needed - holds at least 4 cornies) BRAND NEW for $120 as a customer returned display model at Best Buy. The deals are out there, ya just gotta look!

You can get lucky and find deals, sure. I would have a hard time believing you could keg for less than $200 if you need chilling. It's cheaper if you can just get a full size fridge, since you can find used old fridges cheap or free. Mini fridges though, the odds aren't as good. I've actually seen several full size fridge kegerators on craigslist for $150 which is a steal (had everything but the kegs).

But on the flip side, not everyone has room for a 2nd fridge, or even a mini fridge. Not everyone has money to do it either. There's a lot of peer pressure for kegging I think If you're considering it, everyone will tell you it's the only way to go and the systems like tap-a-draft and mini kegs suck and you should just use full size kegs. It leaves people feeling dejected and encourages them to make sacrifices that perhaps they shouldn't be making.

My point is, getting into kegging isn't necessarily a good idea in every case and people need to understand that and offer some realistic tips and advice.

 

[clayof2day]

So, on the Sanyo model, the tall skinny 10 LBS cylinder CAN'T be used inside? Does anyone know why?

The footprint of the floor of the fridge is only large enough for the 2 cornies. You have to make a small stand that works with the tiny compressor hump in the fridge elavating the CO2 and allowing it to sit all the way to the back of the fridge. The tall skinny ones are then too tall to fit...turst me.

And do Yuri: When you get that fan rigged up you want to let me know exactly how you did it? will it be wired to run all the time, or only when the compressor turns on? I'm interested, but not bright with the electronics. Maybe I'll PM you about details...