SWMBO Made Me Do It!

[Trencher]

And I'm really glad she did!

Like most new brewers, I started complaining about cleaning/filling bottles while drinking my second batch. After 2 years and dozens of batches SWMBO must have tired of my griping because last week she told me to buy a kegging system. It seemed like everyone was looking for used chest freezers, every Craigslist ad I saw was gone before I could consider it, so I resigned myself to finding the cheapest new freezer available.

Saturday, after some rearranging of furniture to make space for the new toy, I went out shopping. First stop was the LHBS for a single keg draft system w/ refurbed corny and picnic tap, plus a Johnson controller. Afterward I picked up SWMBO and we hit some big-box hardware stores looking for clearance items. No luck, everything there was more than I wanted to spend, so we head home to make some dinner.

While waiting for dinner I figured I may as well check Craigslist once more, and there I found The Greatest Craigslist Deal Known to Man. :rockin: After some questions and negotiation, and with the help of a friend and truck, I picked up my new kegging system yesterday. It includes:
* 1 empty 5lb CO2 cylinder w/ regulator
* 1 near full 14lb CO2 cylinder w/ regulator
* 1 4-way CO2 manifold
* 2 picnic taps and 2 stainless taps w/ shanks
* 3 corny kegs
* 1 7 cubic foot chest freezer
* 1 Ranco digital temp controller
* 1 beautiful 2 foot tall custom bar top for the freezer with 4 tap holes
* Various tubing, clamps, new posts, etc, etc

Because I'm a nice guy I took a few other things off the seller's hands too:
* 25' 1/2" ID immersion chiller
* 2 5 gallon Better Bottles with spigots
* 2 5 gallon cube-ish plastic containers previously used for fermentation
* 4 books; Papazian's 2, Altbier, and Lager Brewing
* Assorted cleaners and sanitizers

All this cost me $10 more than I had spent at the LHBS earlier. I'll be stopping by there tomorrow to return the kegging kit and controller, and probably buy some new kegs and refurb kits.

Just thought I'd gloat to some people who would appreciate my luck!

 

[Irie5447]

Great score!

 

[smizak]

U sux.

Wow, who just drops a hobby when you're that invested? I hope the guy converted to Islam or something. Dag.

 

[SchizoFilly]

Nice job bro. Now put it to use.

 

[ibbones]

Talk about the right place and right time.

 

[enderwig]

If you're feeling guilty about grabbing up that deal with so many brewers out there that need it, you can send me some beer to assuage some of your guilt

 

[tidehouse]

Awesome find. I just kegged my first batch a couple weeks ago and was like "that's it? Now what do I do with all this extra time on my hands?"

 

[Trencher]

The guy I got it from said someone owed him some money and gave him the setup instead. I suspect they kept the nicest pieces as the bar top is conspicuously missing 4 taps and 2 dual-tap drip trays. So hopefully this was someone's leftovers and all the stars aligned to bring it to me for a song...

 

[passedpawn]

No fair. The double whammy... SWMBO acquiesces and a craigslist windfall. Nice.

 

[Sigafoos]

I must say I'm jealous. I have two cornies with picnic taps shoved haphazardly into an upright freezer my boss gave me that leaks and has the coils bent out of the way to make room. Next year, maybe, I'll get a good chest freezer and put a collar on it. A guy can dream.

 

[Trencher]

Upon closer inspection, it seems I have no gas lines and the CO2 manifold does not have check valves. And the stainless taps do not have shanks, they're connected directly to the quick disconnects. But the freezer and Ranco controller seem to work fine, so I've already gotten my money's worth.

Last night I rinsed the kegs and scrubbed the freezer and the outside of all kegs. Tonight I plan to find a wrench with enough clearance to remove the posts, do a thorough scrub and hot Oxiclean treatment on at least one of the kegs, and get the freezer closed and running. If all goes well I'll be drinking my first kegged beer on the 4th! I'm sure to have plenty of questions about forced carbonation...

So, do I really need check valves in my CO2 manifold? I've heard bad stories about the beers mixing, but that seems unlikely unless one keg is very full and at a higher pressure.

 

[Hotspur]

Tonight I plan to find a wrench with enough clearance to remove the posts,

This is what you're looking for: Corny Post Wrench at Sears

 

[Trencher]

That does look like the perfect tool, and much easier than using traditional wrenches or changing sockets frequently. Thanks!

 

[Trencher]

Turns out my Ranco temp controller doesn't work either... I plugged a lamp into it Monday evening, set to 50dF in a 70dF room and the lamp came on, so I changed it to 75dF to confirm that it would turn off. It did so but displayed "E2" instead of the room temp. After changing the temp setting back to the 50s the error code went away but it has never turned on again.

Guess I need to go get a new controller before I can keg that batch. I'm ready to drink my kegged beer!!

 

[Arkador]

You can keg the batch as soon as you can slap pressure on it to seat the lid, and let it keg age.

I want to see a pic of this "Custom Bar" you were talkign about, and out of curiosity, what did all that cost you? Sounds like it was in the $250 ballpark (that's what i paid for my chestfreezer and johnsoncontrols)

 

[Trencher]

You can keg the batch as soon as you can slap pressure on it to seat the lid, and let it keg age.

I want to see a pic of this "Custom Bar" you were talkign about, and out of curiosity, what did all that cost you? Sounds like it was in the $250 ballpark (that's what i paid for my chestfreezer and johnsoncontrols)

The beer I have waiting is a blonde ale that has been aging in the carboy for about a month now. It may have passed its prime already, and I really wanted to have a pint or 4 this weekend as I'm brewing.

I got everything for $300, which was basically what I paid for a CO2 tank, regulator, keg, cobra tap and Johnson controller at the LHBS. So I feel like I came out ahead even though it's taking more effort to get going. And really, if I wanted it to be easy, I'd go to the bottle shop and forget all this homebrew business.

The picture will have to wait until I get home.

 

[Trencher]

Here's the bar top, fits snugly on the freezer and has a hinged lid.

 

[ODP]

nice! great find! I wish I could catch a break like that!