Now I have to choose: pin or ball?

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
mendozer

mendozer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
766
Reaction score
19
Location
Seattle
I was set. I had 5 pin locks and I was good to go. I was satisfied for the next 20 years. Then I saw a killer deal on CL. 8 ball locks plus tubing, connects, and a dispensing machine. All ball locks look good but need a cleaning badly.

I have two options:

1. keep pin locks, sell ball locks and buy pin connectors

2. keep ball locks and connects and sell pin locks

Choice 2 is obvious because I have all the disconnects to go with it. However, people seem to have a cult-like following for pin locks. Maybe it's because they're shorter, maybe because they don't have a manual release (most times) and require a little ingenuity making a notched socket (which I did earlier today before buying the ball locks), whatever.

Seems to me my only concern would be the size of the kegs. Other than that, is there really a difference?
 
Do you have a kegerator? I chose ball lock because my chest freezer was tall enough for there height, which meant I could fit more.
 
I do have a chest freezer. It'll probably fit 4 with a tank, or five without. However, it's old so I plan on replacing it in a few years with a long chest freezer. In that case, capacity won't matter. I'll be able to fit 10 kegs in there with the tank and manifold. I don't mind having a tank or two empty. I'm not brewing as much as I'd like anyways due to school.
 
Keep both. Use MFL style quick-disconnects, then you can have a set or two for Pin Lock, and a set or two for Ball-lock, and still use the same beverage and gas line hookups.
 
Keep them both. Use one style for beer and use the other for soda. That way you can easily keep them straight.

Mpjay
 
so sell all bu 2 of each? I have 5 pins and 8 balls. Is there an advantage to having both besides variety?
 
mendozer said:
so sell all bu 2 of each? I have 5 pins and 8 balls. Is there an advantage to having both besides variety?
Click to expand...

Wait - if you're going to be getting a 10-keg keezer, why would you sell any of these kegs? My keezer only holds six kegs but to keep it well fed my pipeline uses all fourteen kegs I have.

And kegs aren't getting any cheaper...

Cheers!
 
I'd hold on to all of them.. Also, if you've got any interest in doing sour beers, use the pin locks for sours - that way you don't have to worry about contaminating a clean beer with sour bugs.
 
well that 10 kegger is FAR into the future, if ever. And as much as I'd like to keep extras, I was hoping to sell a few to pay off what I spent on it. I could sell 40-45 each and selling four would pay off all 13 of my original prices.
On a side note, do any of you keep a keg full of star-san for when you want to flush tap lines between kegs?
 
mendozer said:
.
On a side note, do any of you keep a keg full of star-san for when you want to flush tap lines between kegs?
Click to expand...
Yes. I use one of my 9 kegs for this purpose.

Actually, I sometimes use the Star San keg as my staging keg, sepcially if it is only 1/4 full or so. What I mean by this is that my next keg to use is the the Star San keg, after I empty it (partially by going through the beverage line under pressure and partially by dumping the remainder) into another clean (but not santized) keg. I do this because I know the Star San keg is nice and sanitized (because it has had Star San in for days/weeks).
 
Hey mendozer, if you do end up selling any of the ball locks send me a PM. I would love to buy 1-2 off of you!
 
bruin_ale said:
I'd hold on to all of them.. Also, if you've got any interest in doing sour beers, use the pin locks for sours - that way you don't have to worry about contaminating a clean beer with sour bugs.
Click to expand...

This ^^^, or I kept a couple for soda/pop. Different connections means that I can keep potential off flavors out of my beer.
 
copyright1997 said:
Actually, I sometimes use the Star San keg as my staging keg, sepcially if it is only 1/4 full or so. What I mean by this is that my next keg to use is the the Star San keg, after I empty it (partially by going through the beverage line under pressure and partially by dumping the remainder) into another clean (but not santized) keg. I do this because I know the Star San keg is nice and sanitized (because it has had Star San in for days/weeks).
Click to expand...

This is what I try to do, too, though I don't have enough kegs and all of mine are full with beer (first-world problems...)

I also second the notion to keep both and get the MFL disconnects with the screw connectors. However, it seems like your dilemma is not in wondering how to keep both kinds, but rather that you want to sell some of them and are wondering which ones. You'll be able to get more money right now by selling the ball locks. AFAIK those are running about $50 a piece at the regular online shops (kegconnection, cornykeg, etc.) compared to $35 for pin locks. If you have the floor space in your kegerator/keezer to spare, and height isn't an issue, etc. etc. there is absolutely nothing wrong with pin lock kegs. If it were me, I would probably sell off the ball locks because I could get more money for them.
 
Space isn't an issue. My keezer fits a ball lock with like 6 inches to spare. I could make beer and age it in a keg out of the keezer and uncarbed right?. Can i age like that?
 
mendozer said:
Space isn't an issue. My keezer fits a ball lock with like 6 inches to spare. I could make beer and age it in a keg out of the keezer and uncarbed right?. Can i age like that?
Click to expand...

The issue starts happening when you want to fit multiple kegs in the same keezer. Mine will just fit 4 ball locks on the floor, if I use pin locks (even 1 pin lock and 2 ball lock) I can only fit 3 on the floor.

And yeah, you can age beer uncarbed out of the freezer but you should purge with CO2 and leave it pressurized to keep oxidation and contamination risks low.
 
Yeah i can fit four now of either type. Is guess id have a few outside aging. Are the valves on top safe fir aging or would j have to protect them somehow
 
day_trippr said:
Nah - that'd be a waste of a keg. I built one of these. Way easier to use and much better suited to the task...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

that looks sweet. is that just for flushing lines or do you hook it up to the in valve and fill the keg that way. That seems slow
 
A buddy pointed out i can ferment in kegs. That sounds great if i don't have to buy anything else. But if that's the case there goes my plan to sell em. Since i have disconnects i could sell the pins and have 8 ball locks. That's quite a bit for me. But you're all making me nervous about how they're hard to find. The hoarder in me wants em all!!
 
Cornies aren't hard to find. Mountain homebrew carries ball locks and Larry's carries both but I think they are intending to stop carrying pin locks.
 
H-ost said:
Cornies aren't hard to find. Mountain homebrew carries ball locks and Larry's carries both but I think they are intending to stop carrying pin locks.
Click to expand...

Agreed, they aren't hard to find - but I don't think they're going to get any cheaper. So if you sell them now, be prepared to pay a bit more when you want/need to buy more.
 
mendozer said:
A buddy pointed out i can ferment in kegs. That sounds great if i don't have to buy anything else. But if that's the case there goes my plan to sell em. Since i have disconnects i could sell the pins and have 8 ball locks. That's quite a bit for me. But you're all making me nervous about how they're hard to find. The hoarder in me wants em all!!
Click to expand...

Might need one of these to ferment in the keg.


http://www.homebrewing.org/Cornelious-Keg-Lid-for-Secondary-Fermenter_p_999.html
 
i think I'm going to keep the 8 ball locks and sell the 5 pin locks simply because I have 5 sets of connectors, so I only need a few more, plus if I need to downsize, the ball locks will be worth more in the future. Selling them will help me pay for future brewing endeavors. Unless of course my dispensing machine sells for a ton, then I'll keep it all, yay!
 

Similar threads

tracer bullet
Extra tall ball lock posts or connectors?
2
Replies
51
Views
2K
mac_1103
mac_1103
jddevinn
North Carolina 3x 5# CO2 tanks, 2x pin lock converted to Ball lock kegs Concord, NC $50
Replies
0
Views
186
jddevinn
jddevinn
Clint Yeastwood
Cornelius Ball Lock and Pin Lock Posts: Same Thread?
Replies
11
Views
2K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Immocles
How do I operate this PRV?
Replies
6
Views
716
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
Home on the Brew
Ball Lock vs. Pin Lock
Replies
3
Views
812
grampamark
grampamark
SSBrew 300

Latest posts

Back
Top