Thinking about kegging, couple of questions.

[Fishing73]

#1 Ball lock or pin lock? The ball lock is more expensive, is it any better than the pin lock?

#2 Thinking about getting a 2 or 3 tap fridge kegerator conversion kit from Keg connection. Do I need anything else when I order the kit? I want to be able to force carb and dispense beer at the same time.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Wronguy]

I am new to kegging, but my understanding on your questions are:

Ball locks have a taller height and thinner diameter to them giving you more room for kegs in a fridge or keezer assuming height isn't an issue.

The ball lock kegs also have a pressure release valve which most pin lock kegs do not. The pressure valve can come in handy but is not necessary.

Most people recommend that you have at least 2x as many kegs as you plan to have on tap.

 

[Fishing73]

The ball lock kegs also have a pressure release valve which most pin lock kegs do not. The pressure valve can come in handy but is not necessary.




Come in handy, how?

 

[nameless]

I'm not familiar with pin-lock kegs, but a pressure release valve is pretty useful. It's just a little spring-loaded pin that you pull on to easily let the gas out. You could use it to quickly purge the keg of oxygen, or get rid of excess CO2 if you overcarbonate (or carbonate at a higher temperature than you serve).

 

[lumpher]

as ball-locks are much more popular, you can get replacement parts easier. as far as ratios, i have 3 kegs on tap, and 9 kegs, so wrongguy is right in saying at least

 

[jmo88]

I want to be able to force carb and dispense beer at the same time.

If you mean force carb in the sense that you will set one at a higher pressure for a couple of days while serving at a lower pressure out of the other keg(s) than you'll want a secondary regulator. This will allow you to serve at two different pressures as well, for say a mild and a saison simultaneously. I think it's worth it. If you have just one regulator you can still force carb one beer while serving the other but you will need to wait about a week for it to fully carbonate.

 

[Fishing73]

Thanks for all the reply's. Is Keg connection a good place to do business with? Thanks again guys!

 

[Wronguy]

Thanks for all the reply's. Is Keg connection a good place to do business with? Thanks again guys!

They seem to be a little spotty lately, but most reviews have been good with them, if you have any problems or questions it might be best to call them as their customer service seems to be the best when you call them rather than email.

I got my extra Kegs from Sabco http://www.brew-magic.com/keg_spec_bllocks.html They have very good prices ($120 for 4 and they completly refurbish them and add a nice shine to them)

 

[Fishing73]

They seem to be a little spotty lately, but most reviews have been good with them, if you have any problems or questions it might be best to call them as their customer service seems to be the best when you call them rather than email.

I got my extra Kegs from Sabco http://www.brew-magic.com/keg_spec_bllocks.html They have very good prices ($120 for 4 and they completly refurbish them and add a nice shine to them)

A little spotty how? Also, do u think their prices are fair? Thanks

 

[Changeduser123]

Thanks for all the reply's. Is Keg connection a good place to do business with? Thanks again guys!

I got a 4 keg complete setup with them. I am very happy with all the new parts (no leak, no mess), but I was disappointed with the kegs: not cleaned, a lot of dents, one had a wrong post.

So my advice would be to get everything from them, but not the kegs. The 4 kegs I recently got from sabco are just amazing, for the same price.

 

[Wronguy]

A little spotty how? Also, do u think their prices are fair? Thanks

You can check out this thread and decide for yourself. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-connection-com-218893/ I ended up not using them as they recently increased their pricing 15% on most kits and stopped offering their flat rate shipping.

They advertise that they clean and recondition their kegs, but lately people have complained that they still have syrup in them and the orings were not changed.

I ended up building my own system which consists of 4 kegs from sabco ($140) a dual regulator with a 5 out manifold with check valves and 6 gas lines with ball lock connects from ebay ($100) and a #20 co2 tank from a local supplier ($100) filled. Also got a few picnic taps with disconnects for $10 a peice from ebay. I couldn't be happier with this setup

So for $350 I have setup that can do two differnt pressure and grow to 6 kegs on tap at a time.

If you are patient and don't mind doing a little research there can be some savings to be had by building your own. Or you can buy a completed system from one of the many suppliers that are mentioned a lot on these forums (midwest, kegconnection, northern, AHS)

 

[Fishing73]

I got a 4 keg complete setup with them. I am very happy with all the new parts (no leak, no mess), but I was disappointed with the kegs: not cleaned, a lot of dents, one had a wrong post.

So my advice would be to get everything from them, but not the kegs. The 4 kegs I recently got from sabco are just amazing, for the same price.

The kits I seen had the kegs included. Can I get the whole setup minus the kegs?