Solutions to always have a beer on tap?

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Jordan Logo

Jordan Logo

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Hello All!

Hope everyone is staying safe during these strange times...

I'm trying to figure out the best route to go as to always having a drinkable keg. What route did you guys go to continuously have a beer on tap (i.e. glycol chiller, multiple fermentation fridges, etc.)? Or do most of you guys just have only one beer on tap and end up with a period of no beer while your next batch ferments?

I ask this question as I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place deciding on if I should pull the trigger on a glycol chiller, or buying another fermentation fridge.


Thanks!
 
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I don't think I understand your question correctly.
There are only a couple options, and they are obvious so I am not sure what you are really asking.
 
Are you using the same fridge to ferment and serve a keg in at this point?

I think the easiest way to accomplish always having a keg ready to drink is to prime and condition in the keg.
So buy additional kegs. Fill up the keezer with what you want to drink and have batches conditioning in the extra kegs. Once a keg is empty just pull it out and replace with the next. Then keep on brewing.
 
HB_ATL73 said:
Are you using the same fridge to ferment and serve a keg in at this point?

I think the easiest way to accomplish always having a keg ready to drink is to prime and condition in the keg.
So buy additional kegs. Fill up the keezer with what you want to drink and have batches conditioning in the extra kegs. Once a keg is empty just pull it out and replace with the next. Then keep on brewing.
Click to expand...

Yes, I use the same fridge to ferment and serve. This is why I was thinking about a glycol chiller so that I can ferment another batch without the need for a fridge. OR, I was thinking about just getting another mini fridge to ferment in that one, while the other fridge is just used for serving.

I'm kinda leaning towards the glycol chiller at the moment just because I can potentially even ferment 2 or 3 different beers at a time.
 
I have a large chest freezer to hold my serving and conditioning kegs. For fermentation, ales go in my basement in the mid 60s. Lagers go in a mini-fridge that I use for yeast cultures, hops, and a few random bottles. I am also experimenting with fermenting lagers under pressure at room temps.

I have no experience with glycol, so a second fridge with an Inkbird controller would be my natural choice in your situation.
 
personally i have a glycol chiller and a 4 keg keezer. so i chill and carbonate in my conical then do a closed transfer to the kegs. before i had the chiller i did not have best fermentation temp control, just different areas of my house depending on the beer style, i would then keg and add priming sugar so it would carbonate in the keg naturally so when my keezer needed a refill it just had to set overnight to cool down to serving temp.
 
i have 6 kegs, and brew 10 gallon batches....i drink about 10x12oz a day and have no problem keeping my kegs full.....if i ever needed to i could buy a pump and brew 20 gallons at a time, it takes the same amount of time to brew 100 gallons as 5......
 
bailey mountain brewer said:
i would then keg and add priming sugar so it would carbonate in the keg naturally so when my keezer needed a refill it just had to set overnight to cool down to serving temp.
Click to expand...

This is what I do. And not related to this post but when I started doing this and also spunding and kegging with gravity points left I saw a big change in flavor stability and less oxidation
 
HB_ATL73 said:
This is what I do. And not related to this post but when I started doing this and also spunding and kegging with gravity points left I saw a big change in flavor stability and less oxidation
Click to expand...

Never heard of this.... what's the process exactly? Do you keep the kegs in the fridge while its carbing with the sugar?
 
I have a 4 keg chest freezer for serving and an upright freezer that holds CF15 for fermenting. I make 15 gallon batches and can do most recipes grain to glass in two weeks if finished goods inventory is getting low. I used to try to maintain a large variety but mostly we like APA and IPAs around my house and mostly they are best fresh so tend to just steer everyone to whatever is oldest until it is gone.

With social distancing and grown kids home from college home consumption is somewhat increased but without being able to go anywhere I have a lot more available brew days so it evens out. Just got 4 sacks of grain from Northern Brewer yesterday and placed an order for 8 pounds of hops and resupply of PBW from Farmhouse today.
 
I have a keg fridge but only once used it for fermentation of a lager.

I later built an Inkbird-controlled fermentation chamber - it heats and cools as needed.
In your shoes this is what I would do because controlling fermentation temperatures has been one of the top quality improvements for a lot of homebrewers.

My keg fridge is a Danby unit designed for half barrels so it can fit a couple cornys in there, one tapped, the other lagering.

This keeps me with beer on tap always available, unless I don't brew for an extended period of course.
 
WestMichBrewer said:
You sir, are a professional!
Click to expand...

maybe that post should have disclaimer not to try it at home, it almost killed me after 5 years....bursting ass abscesses, puking blood.....fat...thankfully i didn't have to quit drinking, but had to become an amateur nutritionist with the help of the USDA's nutrient db.....now i can pull it off...i weigh 175, 6'2"....and can meet all my nutritional needs from food....(took 6-7 months of training though!! lol) :off:


edit: those are 8-9% too.....been doing it for 15 years now, haven't dropped dead yet....
 
tenor.gif


Jeeze, dude. No need to get so freakin' graphic! :eek:
 
just a word of warning.....unless you're willing to put the effort into it, don't try drinking like i do...unlike rockstars, i don't want kiddies thinking i'm cool...


edit: i could go on about how embarrassing it is at work......lol, like a girls first period at school.....
 
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For me it really boils down to planning out my brew days. Lately I tend to err on the side of having too much beer available, so when I have an empty keg - then I brew again.
 
Jordan Logo said:
Yes, I use the same fridge to ferment and serve. This is why I was thinking about a glycol chiller so that I can ferment another batch without the need for a fridge. OR, I was thinking about just getting another mini fridge to ferment in that one, while the other fridge is just used for serving.

I'm kinda leaning towards the glycol chiller at the moment just because I can potentially even ferment 2 or 3 different beers at a time.
Click to expand...

A glycol chiller and then figuring out a fermenter situation that will allow you to use the glycol chiller seems REALLY expensive relative to a second fridge and temp controller for fermentation.
 
Not sure what you use for fermentation, i.e. buckets conical... At one point I was using a 5 CU FT freezer with an ink bird temp controller. I added a collar to the freezer. Since I tend to do ales(5 gal batches) I was able to ferment 2 ales at once if I needed to. Since then I changed my fermentor to a keezer and now just ferment in my basement. I have looked into glycol chiller to do some lagering, but hard to justify the cost of of a glycol chiller (800 for the chiller alone) .
 
Decided to go the two mini-fridge route. One will be a fermenting fridge while the other will be a serving fridge for two kegs! That is if I don’t finish the first keg before the other brew is done fermenting!

anyways, any suggestions on how to get this bottle holder off without messing up the seal?? I was thinking to saw it off... what do you guys think??

D2911EBE-0928-4572-B854-E619603AC889.jpeg

0327B559-6A69-487D-8BB2-8739948AC935.jpeg
 
4 8 gallon fermenters with heat and cooling control plus 1 14 gallon fermenter with heat and cooling.

An ice master 100 keeps everything cool, heat mats keep things warm.
 
I am brewing as much as I can and have only one serving fridge. I will bottle condition most of the beers after I add a fresh keg to the fridge. I am saving C02 as I don't think I can get a refill at this time.
 
What is ambient temperature of the room you ferment in? You do not need a freezer to manage fermentation temperature for most beers. Unless you’re fermenting in an aluminum shed in Texas in August then fermentation temp control can likely be achieved with a plastic tub and a couple ice packs.

I did this for years. It wasn’t until I started doing 15G batches and started playing with laggers that I went to a ferm chamber. It made no difference in any of the ales I had been brewing with a tub....NONE.
 
Jordan Logo said:
Decided to go the two mini-fridge route. One will be a fermenting fridge while the other will be a serving fridge for two kegs! That is if I don’t finish the first keg before the other brew is done fermenting!

anyways, any suggestions on how to get this bottle holder off without messing up the seal?? I was thinking to saw it off... what do you guys think??

View attachment 673823
View attachment 673824
Click to expand...

Good solution you will be happy and a lot less coin then glycol and fermentors with coils.

That entire plastic part of the door should come off. Look under the gasket for screws. If like on my freezer they will go through both the gasket and the plastic door shelf part. Take out all the screws and save them. Remove the plastic. Replace the screws as they hold the gasket in place.
 
This is late to the party, but if I were considering an expensive Glycol chiller to remove the bottleneck, I'd be looking at making a keezer. If I were committed to spending Circa $700 on a chiller, I'd ask what other uses of that $700 would also solve the problem.

It sounds to me like you're just putting a keg in the refrigerator and using a picnic tap to serve. Nothing wrong with that, it's how I started. But a keezer would allow you to have several kegs on tap at one time, and if you build it properly, you could allow for expansion.

In my signature is a link to how to build a keezer with no glue--it's about as simple a way to build one as I know. You can decide how much capacity you want/need, from a 5.0 cubic foot freezer which will allow a couple kegs on tap, to a 16 cubic foot monster that....well, it's a lot.

My own is a 9 cubic foot freezer in which I can get as many as 7 kegs, though the normal number is 5 kegs on tap. My new one (moment of silence for my old freezer that gave its life that I could have beer on tap) has 5 taps, but you can start with fewer, make a mark on the collar so you can add faucets as you wish later.

A good standard is a 7.0 cu foot freezer. They cost in the low $200 range, but I have seen them on sale for as little as $169. The cost of a wood collar is probably $50 absolute max including foam tape; faucets plus shanks and connections will run roughly $60-100 apiece depending on quality (get stainless steel everything).

So, for $200 + $50 + $200 (2-3 faucets), you could have beer on tap in an appliance designed for that, leaving your refrigerator for fermentation.

A few pics of mine, plus my old one:

keezer3tapsmall.jpg keezer5tapsmall.jpg
keezerandmenu.jpg
 
I ferment in a chest freezer attached to an inkbird. It can maybe fit 3 kegs, but I've never had more than 2 at a time (and most of the time, I only have 1 keg in there). I ferment and serve out of the same keg, and use a spunding valve about 3-4 days in, so it's fully carbonated within a few days of pitching yeast.

I typically put it into my keezer after about 10 days, and let it sit overnight to get down to serving temperature. But in a pinch, I can probably do it within a week if needed.
 
I have 10 kegs and exclusively do 10 gallon batches, because 5 gallon feels like a waste of time in comparison. It's hard to imagine ending up with "too much beer" but if that happens I have lots of people who will gladly take it by the growler full.

Brewing when opportunities arise, even if I don't "need" any more beer, is also key. It's cool because I end up with kegs that sit untapped in my basement for weeks or even months. Sometimes I have to check the tags on kegs to even remind myself what is in them. "Oh yeah! Forgot I had this!"

Of course, I try to fast-track the hop-forward beers to the taps so I enjoy them when they're really fresh. The other styles (for me, that's mostly simple easy drinking ales like blondes, ambers, stouts, milds, etc.) always benefit from sitting around a bit rather than being rushed to the taps.

As for the glycol chiller idea, that seems like a really expensive way to achieve a simple task. I can usually find a fridge or chest freezer in the local classifieds for $50 that will work just fine as a fermentation chamber. It's definitely advisable to have separate refrigeration for serving and fermenting, if at all possible.

Another idea is to stick with yeasts that don't mind room temperature.
 
agree with eric19312, dont saw it off. there will be screw under the gasket, you can take everything off and then just keep the gasket in tact. i did this when i built a smoker out of an old fridge. it was a last minute, hey lets smoke a brisket! after a few beers i came up with a plan to build a smoker out of a dead fridge i had, temp controller, hot plate, and used a turbo housing for the chimney. good fun.
 
You just buy an extra keg. Always have a batch fermenting. Transfer beer to keg when you’re 4 points from predicted FG (tilt hydrometer makes this easy) and using a spunding valve to set pressure to 30-40 psi (depending on room temp and targeted vol co2). Once a keg in your keezer kicks, the keg will be carbonated and ready to drink in 12-24 hrs once it chills.

I use a ball and keg temp controller to control fermentation temp because it’s the most cost efficient way of controlling fermentation temp currently. Takes up way less space than a fermentation fridge or keezer.

This combined with an anvil bucket fermenter allows for closed gravity transfers to keg. I keep hops for dry hopping suspending on roof of fermenter with magnets. Never have to open unless I’m adding fruit or more than 2 sets of dry hops.
 
Jordan Logo said:
Decided to go the two mini-fridge route. One will be a fermenting fridge while the other will be a serving fridge for two kegs! That is if I don’t finish the first keg before the other brew is done fermenting!

anyways, any suggestions on how to get this bottle holder off without messing up the seal?? I was thinking to saw it off... what do you guys think??

View attachment 673823
View attachment 673824
Click to expand...

I started with these small minifridges too for fermenting and serving. Nothing wrong with doing that. The best way to get that plastic bottle holder off is to cut around the border of it with a razor utility knife taking care to leave enough of the plastic intact to preserve the gasket.

Keezers over complicate things and take up too much floor space. Easier and cheaper to come by an upright refrigerator and turn that into a kegerator. Then you don’t have to bother making a collar and trying to keep things air tight. Not to mention an upright fridge is more aesthetically pleasing and has a less “redneck look” than a keezer.

To make a kegerator out of an upright fridge, you just have to drill holes through the doors. No worries about building a collar.

https://imgur.com/gallery/bStb0as
A6836E46-5507-40D3-A898-68925A95E0FF

A6836E46-5507-40D3-A898-68925A95E0FF

Kegerator
 
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My solution was to spend way too much time and money on this hobby. I have amassed 26 kegs. An 8 tap bottle cooler. A 4 tap kegerator. 2 fermentation chest freezers with inkbirds and brew belts. I brew 10 gallon batches every 2-3 weeks. Keeps me in stock pretty well.
 

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Easy! Rotate yeast and augment temp control with a strand of Xmas lights or an ice bath.

When it’s cold, brew lagers; use lights as needed.

When it temperate, warm ferment lagers, brew ales, and/or use kweik yeast; use lights and ice bath as needed.

When it’s warm, brew ales and/or use kweik yeast; use ice bath as needed.

It’s like you never had a problem in the first place!
 
San Francisco, what's your average home temperature? In Tucson, I would ferment in a closet, 5 gallons at a time with a wrap and a couple of 1 gallon frozen ice blocks for years. That's at roughly 75 degrees home temperature.

I now have a freezer with Inkbird to ferment 12 gallons at a time, and a top-bottom fridge that can hold and serve 5 5 gallon kegs, with 4 on tap.
 
mongoose33 said:
This is late to the party, but if I were considering an expensive Glycol chiller to remove the bottleneck, I'd be looking at making a keezer. If I were committed to spending Circa $700 on a chiller, I'd ask what other uses of that $700 would also solve the problem.

It sounds to me like you're just putting a keg in the refrigerator and using a picnic tap to serve. Nothing wrong with that, it's how I started. But a keezer would allow you to have several kegs on tap at one time, and if you build it properly, you could allow for expansion.

In my signature is a link to how to build a keezer with no glue--it's about as simple a way to build one as I know. You can decide how much capacity you want/need, from a 5.0 cubic foot freezer which will allow a couple kegs on tap, to a 16 cubic foot monster that....well, it's a lot.

My own is a 9 cubic foot freezer in which I can get as many as 7 kegs, though the normal number is 5 kegs on tap. My new one (moment of silence for my old freezer that gave its life that I could have beer on tap) has 5 taps, but you can start with fewer, make a mark on the collar so you can add faucets as you wish later.

A good standard is a 7.0 cu foot freezer. They cost in the low $200 range, but I have seen them on sale for as little as $169. The cost of a wood collar is probably $50 absolute max including foam tape; faucets plus shanks and connections will run roughly $60-100 apiece depending on quality (get stainless steel everything).

So, for $200 + $50 + $200 (2-3 faucets), you could have beer on tap in an appliance designed for that, leaving your refrigerator for fermentation.

A few pics of mine, plus my old one:

View attachment 673838 View attachment 673839
View attachment 673837
Click to expand...
This is how I built my keezer. Been using it for 2+ years now. I do want to refinish the collar at some point but the build itself is great plus no glue.
 
*Long* term planning.

As in, when you buy your wife a refrigerator, think about her next one . . . and measure this one . . .

So my beer refrigerator was, from the moment she got it, *known* to fit 4 kegs in the refrigerator side and two more in the freezer side . . .

[ok, I'm still less than clear why I bought the knew *insanely* expensive 4 door that she wanted . . . maybe because my old fridge failed???]
 

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