Keg system with no fridge - is there hope?

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grasshopper1917

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Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
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Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
I have a keg system but i dont have a fridge :(

IS there anyone out there that has any experience with this problem. I dont wannna go back to bottling. Is there anyway to get th keg cold on the days u wanna drink it without a fridge? Im open to any ideas :)
 
I set up my garage fridge last fall so I'm not the most experienced at kegging. Is there any reason not to ice it down in a plastic garbage can like we did commercial kegs in college? I've thought about buying the picnic tap and a cartridge charger and doing that for our local crawfish boil. One thing about not keeping the beer chilled is that it doesn't hold the carbonation very well when warm -- comes out practically all foam. It takes less time and pressure to force carb cold beer.
 
It's pretty cold in Halifax, isn't it? Use a big cooler filled with ice and water, keep it in your basement or garage, and you should have a month or so to save some money for an old fridge on Craig's list. I live in the mountains of Utah and I just fill my cooler up with snow and water every ten days or so. As long as the bottom of the keg is cold you will be fine as the beer is drawn from the bottom. It's a temporary solution but it works! I'll have snow at my house until May so I've got a few more months to save money fro a fridge!
 
I've considered it--I've got a basement in Rochester NY that's in the 50s all winter, and I do English ales, so it's not that far out. Still, it's in the 60s down there in the summer, so I just bit the bullet and bought a mini fridge. Check out the frigidaire mini-fridge conversion threads (there's a couple)--it's only 179 at Lowe's, and the fittings will cost but you'd need most of it anyhow even without a fridge.
 
Sorry ... didn't catch the Halifax bit ... I don't know if that fridge is available up there. Still, do you have a basement? I like the snow and cold water idea ...
 
It works great for me. Right now I have one keg in it and two carboys crash cooling. The other two kegs are sitting outside the cooler but they are still at 40* F. Works for me but I will need to start looking for a fridge in a month or so.
 
I used to just drink my beers at room temp before I finally got a keg fridge built and that was a couple of years worth of beer drinking. If you really need your beer cold then a jockey box is probably the easiest way to go without a fridge and it is almost as cheap to just buy a pre-made one without the hassle of rounding up parts as it is to build one.
 
I've been rocking the basement cooled keg system for 6-7 months now. It saved my brewing - I just couldn't take bottling anymore. Thank God this has worked! Beer stays at 50-60 depending on the season thus far. If I want it ice cold I fill growlers and bring them up to the fridge. I guess I will get a fridge, but now I can save for something nice to build that my wife would accept being in the kitchen or living room.
 
I put a keg inside a 10 gallon Rubermaid cooler and surround it with ice. Then I put a heavy blanket on top. It will keep it cold for a couple days in a warm garage. The basement might keep longer.
 
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