Kegerator Questions

[cheezemm]

I am planning on starting a build this fall, and will probably go the danby fridge route due to size/space and wife approval.

I have never kegged before and wanted to know if I'd get more value if I experimented with kegging first before going gun-ho and purchasing the refrigerator too!

Has anyone gone through this as a two step process (purchased fridge first, then kegs or vice versa, and why)

Itching to pull the trigger, but don't want to screw up the first couple of batches so bad that I get turned off to the idea!

I would like to have a porter and dortmunder on tap for fall football though

 

[Mrott]

I'm in the same boat now. I'm currently shopping around for a chest freezer, looking for something around 9 cf so I can easily have 4 kegs on the floor plus extra space. Either way, I'm also shopping around for kegs as well to begin kegging. I'm planning to just stick with all sanke kegs but that's a personal preference.

I don't know what I'll purchase first, but I feel like I at least need the chest freezer at home before I can start drinking the kegged beer, if not have the chest freezer already converted, otherwise I have no way of efficiently chilling the kegs to serve the beer, but I could certainly start kegging the beer before having the freezer such that it follows shortly behind. I have no problem dealing with a picnic tap until I can finish converting the chest freezer.

 

[scadieux]

I have never heard of someone starting kegging and give up to return to bottling... So I think you're pretty safe... The key to success is to balance your system and learn to use it. But it's not rocket science. I started with 2 kegs and I now have 10 kegs and I serve 4 concurrently. I think 4 beers on tap at all times is pretty much the standard across homebrewers. So in fact, you might save time and money going directly there...

 

[Atl300zx]

i would get the kegs first. Depending on the manufacturer of the kegs, they can slightly vary in size. Then bring the keg with you when your shopping and you can measure and ensure it fits. I bought an 8 CF one thinking it was big enuf for 4 and got home and only 2 would fit. I ended up buying a danby 1/2 barrel kegerator later b/c it was smaller and held 3 5-gal cornies. The chest freezer is now a fermentation chamber. That being said...kegging is amazing, never going back to bottling. Just get a few growlers for bringing beer places and you;re set.

 

[JoshuaWhite5522]

making my kegerator was the best thing i ever did for brewing. I can have a 10 gallon batch kegged before the wife even gets up in the morning. That being said, I did by my kegs first to make sure they would fit the kegerator. I have 5 kegs now and am always in the market for another.