Shopping list for kegging

[Thunder1]

I am new to the kegging side of things, actually to homebrewing altogether, but this question is specific to kegging.

OK, I have ball lock kegs and I think our welding supplier is going to hook me up with a dual body regulator and a 5lb tank of co2. My question is what else do I need. I am going to pick up a small refrigerator to eventually do a converstion with a two tap tower, but for now I will probably just use picnic taps until I can get a little more money in my hobby fund. I can keep the kegs cold in the refrigerator, but I am clueless on the connections, such as swival nuts, barbed, quick disconnects, length of hoses, etc...

If someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Links would also be great so I can see what you are talking about. I am trying to spend my money once, so I thought I would ask the experienced people.

 

[PantherCity]

Call the folks at keg connection and they will be able to walk you through it. They have a very helpful phone sales staff.

http://stores.kegconnection.com

 

[user 21663]

+1 on Keg Connection. I would suggest to plan ahead. If you have 2 kegs, but think you will need more in the future, plan for that. I'm thinking mostly about the air distributor. I bought a 2 keg setup but now wish I got the 6 port distrib. Not that I can't use the 2 port one anymore, but it would be nice to have done it right in the first place.

When you buy your beer line, see if you can get a 100' roll of it. That way you can cut pieces off at a larger length and cut them down to size to balance your system. Search out this forum for the bulk ordering from McMaster-Carr for your o-rings too.

Here's a good manual about kegging too. http://www.draughtquality.org/w/page/18182201/FrontPage

Oh and by the way, no matter how many kegs you start with, they will never be enough.

 

[63belair]

Is there a way to order the kegerator kits from kegconnection but add more beer line? 5' is too short! And I would rather avoid getting a 5' line with the kit and ordering a longer (most likely 10') line to the order

 

[user 21663]

Is there a way to order the kegerator kits from kegconnection but add more beer line? 5' is too short! And I would rather avoid getting a 5' line with the kit and ordering a longer (most likely 10') line to the order

I bet a call to them directly would do it.

 

[63belair]

I bet a call to them directly would do it.

Haha, I feel silly. I'm constantly telling the new people I work with 'pick up the phone, it will save you time!'

 

[PantherCity]

+1 on the picking up the phone. You can usually get some one on the other end who knows ALOT MORE about the subject than the web site and they can give you some personal opinions. That assumes you are prepared to take personal opinions with a grain of salt.

 

[erikpete18]

I am new to the kegging side of things, actually to homebrewing altogether, but this question is specific to kegging.

OK, I have ball lock kegs and I think our welding supplier is going to hook me up with a dual body regulator and a 5lb tank of co2. My question is what else do I need. I am going to pick up a small refrigerator to eventually do a converstion with a two tap tower, but for now I will probably just use picnic taps until I can get a little more money in my hobby fund. I can keep the kegs cold in the refrigerator, but I am clueless on the connections, such as swival nuts, barbed, quick disconnects, length of hoses, etc...

If someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Links would also be great so I can see what you are talking about. I am trying to spend my money once, so I thought I would ask the experienced people.

Keg connection is a good call, I've heard nothing but good reviews. From what I can gather you've got and using their website (not the only place, but going from there), here's what you'll need:

1. Ball lock disconnects, two gas and two liquid. They come in barbed and MFL type. The MFL have a little screw-on end that fits into the hose that you can unscrew from the disconnect. They are handy if you are thinking about switching between ball lock and pin lock kegs, or between corny and sanky (commercial) kegs. If you don't want to worry about them I figure the barbed ones pose one less link to leak.

2. Air and liquid hose. Nothing wrong with your basic clear hose. 3/16 is the standard for beer line and generally you'll need 5-10ft for each tap, depending on your setup. I'd suggest starting high (10ft/tap) and you can always cut it down from there. Also, a lot of people use 1/4 for the gas line, but check what connection your regulator has for the hose. You'll then need either a tee like this one for your gas line so you can run a single line off the tank and switch to two kegs, or a 2-way distributor to split the gas. The distributor comes with the benefit of having check valves so you don't accidentally ruin your regulator with liquid backing up into it.

3. Party faucet. And that should be about all you need! Grab some hose clamps, put it all together, and start enjoying the wonderful world of kegging! Of course this is a bare-bones way to start and there are plenty of ways to increase upon this, but if you want to get beer out of kegs this will get the job done.

 

[Thunder1]

Thank all of you for your input.

erikpete18 - That is exactly what I was looking for. I feel a little more knowledgable talking to someone now.

Thanks again!