Zen and The Art of Corny/Keezer Maintenance

[Willy]

It has been almost 2 years since I ditched bottles and went to a Draft Beer solution. There was lots of help available on HBT forums but it took a lot of hunting to address specific questions. So I thought I would briefly share some things I learned and hope others freely add suggestions based on their experience.

The beginning - I wanted 6 taps because I enjoy a lot of different styles and was not planning on using bottles anymore. That meant I needed a larger sized chest freezer. I went with 14 cu ft which gives me enough room for 8 corny kegs and a small tank of CO2. Why 8 with six taps? Easy... So I can cool/gas up the stout corny that will replace the one due to kick in the next week. At that time... I am ready to swap hoses and pour. Chilled and gassed up.
The hardest part at the beginning was brewing up enough beer to fill all the taps ... And making sure I figured out the best way of swapping kegs and planning. There is a 2-3 week lag between brew day and pour day under the best of circumstances (longer for lagers). So getting the routine to keep 6 taps in a pour ready state is not as easy as it sounds. I don't weigh my kegs to track. Instead I use time since I keep a record of brew days. For me, a beer I love that friends love to goes faster (English Brown ale and stout) than a stronger IPA which takes longer. In short, the beloved kegs are gone in about 40 days and stronger stuff lasts 50-65 days.

Maintenance Routines - I flush the lines about every 60-90 days and clean the taps at the same time.

I track when I got a tank refill so I have a good idea when that will kick. For convenience sake, I keep 2 tanks of CO2 and 2 tanks of beer gas. That way I don't need to race out to swap a tank. No hurries no worries.

Also - I clean the keezer out from time to time, about once every 4-6 months. The keezer is tilted slightly with a board under a corner. The corner is opposite of the drain hole... So it will flow out. I just use water and then spritz with some star San after drying the interior with "dog washing towels".

Who else manages a multi tap keezer/kegerator and what tips have you learned over time?

 

[Agent]

I've learned that somehow when I have the smallest selection of beers waiting is the time that all four taps will blow within days of each other.

 

[fluketamer]

i find much like my wife if i treat melissa well, she treats me well.

yes i named my kegerator doesnt everyone?

 

[Willy]

i find much like my wife if i treat melissa well, she treats me well.

yes i named my kegerator doesnt everyone?

Don't really have a name for mine yet. Hmmm. Just calling Keezer but perhaps I should give him/her a name.

 

[VTMongoose]

When I moved into my new house, through Costco magic, I was able to purchase a 17 cu ft. wheeled chest freezer for around $200 shipped to my door. I had several objectives when building my keezer:

1) Keep costs as low as possible - I now live in North Carolina making NC money and cannot afford to throw money around like I did when I was in NJ making NJ money.
2) Keep lines to a minimum and accessibility to remove the kegs at a maximum
3) Avoid "building" the wooden lid lift everyone else has, and avoid using faucets
4) Not have a keezer full of mold and general disgustingness like every other homebrewer.

My solution:

1) Kegland all the things: Oxebar kegs with floating dip tubes, Pluto beer guns with short runs of micro EVAbarrier tubing, hung on the kegs
2) Simple CO2 line system, manifold fed through condensate drain (no drilling). Oetiker clamps, lines, etc, all from BrewHardware.com
3) Maintain temp at 48°F (perfect serving temperature) with ITC-308, remove all kegs monthly and clean the entire interior with Fantastik, then starsan, to remove/prevent mold buildup
4) All kegs (when they kick), beer guns, and lines, are cleaned with or soaked in Starsan to remove the inevitable small amounts of mold buildup

It takes me less than 20 minutes to pull everything out of the keezer, clean it, and put everything back in. This is the only way to keep everything clean, as beer is being actively served out of this thing regularly.

Everything in this corner of the room is on wheels, even the CO2 tanks are on plant dollies, so everything can be wheeled away from the wall for cleaning.

I would say this entire setup is easily <$600 all-in.

 

[fluketamer]

When I moved into my new house, through Costco magic, I was able to purchase a 17 cu ft. wheeled chest freezer for around $200 shipped to my door. I had several objectives when building my keezer:

1) Keep costs as low as possible - I now live in North Carolina making NC money and cannot afford to throw money around like I did when I was in NJ making NJ money.
2) Keep lines to a minimum and accessibility to remove the kegs at a maximum
3) Avoid "building" the wooden lid lift everyone else has, and avoid using faucets
4) Not have a keezer full of mold and general disgustingness like every other homebrewer.

My solution:

1) Kegland all the things: Oxebar kegs with floating dip tubes, Pluto beer guns with short runs of micro EVAbarrier tubing, hung on the kegs
2) Simple CO2 line system, manifold fed through condensate drain (no drilling). Oetiker clamps, lines, etc, all from BrewHardware.com
3) Maintain temp at 48°F (perfect serving temperature) with ITC-308, remove all kegs monthly and clean the entire interior with Fantastik, then starsan, to remove/prevent mold buildup
4) All kegs (when they kick), beer guns, and lines, are cleaned with or soaked in Starsan to remove the inevitable small amounts of mold buildup

It takes me less than 20 minutes to pull everything out of the keezer, clean it, and put everything back in. This is the only way to keep everything clean, as beer is being actively served out of this thing regularly.

Everything in this corner of the room is on wheels, even the CO2 tanks are on plant dollies, so everything can be wheeled away from the wall for cleaning.

I would say this entire setup is easily <$600 all-in.

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this should be an ad for kegland .

i take it you like oxebars?

i love mine

i didnt even notice the plutos at first. way cool.

jealous of your capacity.

 

[VTMongoose]

this should be an ad for kegland .

i take it you like oxebars?

i love mine

i didnt even notice the plutos at first. way cool.

jealous of your capacity.

Love them. The only reason I own regular ball lock corny kegs is that they are better for serving my Hefeweizens since the yeast tend to flocculate away from the floating dip tubes in the cornies. I still need to invert the corny kegs regularly, but not as often. I can't think of a single way the cornies are better otherwise, other than being physically smaller. They are heavier and harder to clean. I hit my oxebars with gelatin and I'm pouring crystal clear beer days later, plus I can dry hop in the keg. I've only had a problem with one single keg leaking and Morebeer replaced it.

I produce a significant number of beers now that are fermented, dry hopped, and served out of the same keg. I can also throw a RAPT pill in there beforehand and use my RAPT controller to control my fermentation temperatures more precisely than with an Inkbird. It's so silly how easy Kegland has made it to produce and serve pristine beer, and at a price point I can afford, so I will sing their praises. I would welcome competition from other companies. Sadly they don't have any right now. Keg King makes some fantastic products but nobody has picked them up here in the USA yet.

 

[fluketamer]

yes agree.

they make great unitanks just a touch on the small side but clear kegging is def where its at. and love the lightweight

keggi in brazil makes a very similar product but no usa or euro distribution.

https://keggi.com.br/?srsltid=AfmBOoo9g-LPPhu1YHLc7MmS7uvyg9HokuVKkPMLfCsBS2aCclXq_FfB

and 10 liter size.

 

[Skeeter686]

yes i named my kegerator doesnt everyone?

"Chesty McNipplestiff" over here . I usually just call her Chesty.