What do I need......?

[tgunn137]

Hello, I am a noob here to the site and getting ready to brew my 2nd batch. I have a partial kegging set up but am not sure what I need to finish the set-up for use. I have a Co2 tank, regulator(not sure if it is calibrated or works), tap dispenser, some kind of lock for on the keg(I'm guessing) I know I need to purchase new gas and beer lines. I am getting a couple of corney kegs from a friend at work. If someone could give me some insight on what I need to get to finish this set-up including the corney kegs I would greatly appreciate it. I know next to nothing about kegging my own beer yet. I am planning to brtew the new Shining Star Pale Ale kit from NB this weekend and am kicking around the idea of trying to keg it instead of bottling. Thanks

 

[Billybrewer09]

First big question...where are you planning to put your kegs? Refrigerator of freezer(keezer).
Corney kegs
disconnects( ball or pin) depending on kegs
3/16 beer line(10' per keg)
Gas line
Taps(facuet or party)
O'rings for kegs
this is a short list. If you let us know where your serving from a better list can be supplied.

 

[beninan]

Welcome my friend

The tap (keg coupler) that you have is for a commercial keg, and it will not work on corney kegs. What you need are corney keg quick disconnects (or soda keg quick disconnects, they are the same thing) to use them with cornies. Cornies have 2 different styles; ball lock and pin lock. Ball lock kegs are what Pepsi uses, and pin lock is what Coke uses. They do use different styles of disconnects. No matter which type of keg you have, you will need 2 disconnects; a gas (usually gray in color, gray for gas), and a liquid disconnect (usually black in color, black for beer).
Here is a ball lock disconnect for the beer-out: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/kegging/ball-lock-liquid-fitting-1-4-barbed.html
And here's a ball lock for gas:http://www.midwestsupplies.com/kegging/ball-lock-gas-disconnect-1-4-barbed.html
Here's a pin lock beer-out disconnect:http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pin-lock-liquid-fitting-barbed.html
And here is a pin lock gas disconnect:http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pin-lock-gas-fitting-barbed.html

Although you don't necessarily need one, I would recommend a refrigerator that can fit the kegs

The quality of the beer flow can vary greatly with the amount of CO2 the beer is carbonated to, the temperature of the beer, and the line length of the beer serving line.
Typically, the serving line is around 6-10 feet of 3/16 inch inside-diameter tubing. This small tubing combined with the length provides resistance to prevent the beer from shooting out of the faucet and foaming up everywhere.
Carbonation levels can be referenced here: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php. As you can see here, the amount of carbonation in a liquid is related to the amount of CO2 pressure and the temperature of the beer. Typically, beers are carbonated to around 2.5 volumes of CO2. So if you want to achieve this, and your refrigerator is 38 degrees, you would need a CO2 pressure of around 11-12 PSI.

There are a couple different ways to carbonate a keg to achieve the CO2 volume you want. You can condition in the keg with priming sugar, similar to a bottle of beer, or you can force carbonate it with CO2. I prefer to force carbonate, but it's personal preference. When I force carbonate, I hook up the keg to the "serving pressure" (which is the relation of pressure and temperature to get the desired CO2 level, so again if your refrigerator is set to 38 degrees, it would be around 11-12 PSI) and letting the beer sit under that pressure for about a week, so the CO2 will fully absorb and carbonate. There are other variants of this method, so you should search around if you are curious of the other ways to carbonate.

I'm sure there's a bunch more info that I am missing

 

[tgunn137]

I am planning on starting with a refrigerator first but really would like to build a keezer. Some of the keezer set-ups I've seen members building are awesome. Thanks for the info so far it is very helpful. This site is great!!!!!!

 

[Billybrewer09]

Are you wanting to have your taps mounted on the fridge? I am using my extra fridge as my kegerator for now until my keezer is finished. I have my co2 tank and 2 kegs in it with a 3way manifold. Works just fine for now.
My setup is.
5# co2 tank
3way manifold
15' gas line(5' from tnk to manifold..5' from manifold to each keg
20' 3/16id beverage line.(10' on each keg)
2 picnic taps.
Simple setup and works great. And i didn't drill any holes in the fridge, open the door pour a beer.

 

[tgunn137]

Billybrewer09, That refrigerator set-up you have sounds like what I would like to have for now until I can build a Keezer. Thanks for the info guys!

 

[Billybrewer09]

Tgunn, glad i could help. I like my fridge setup. It is nice and simple a very functional.
i hope to have my keezer done in the next week or so.
good luck with your setup.