Considering kegging, wanna know my options

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by longbongsilver, Jan 20, 2013.

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  1. longbongsilver

    longbongsilver Pundit (785) Aug 27, 2005 Missouri

    Been homebrewing for awhile now (started January of 2011). Strictly bottle conditioning, save for picking up a Party Pig at one point and finding out how angry I get when the carbonation bag has a 2nd pop in it that ruptures the gasket & starts leaking my precious homebrew all over the floor (I haven't used it since).

    Well, I found out that Uncle Sucker owes me significantly more than I thought, and getting sick of the long turnover & unpredictability of bottle conditioning, while enjoying visions of home brew on draft I'd love to fulfill, I'm looking into kegging for real. A few things about that which I'm considering:

    -Space. I live in an apartment, and the fermenters are currently in the corners of my pantry (two Mr Beer containers. I upgraded from the kits to hitting up a LHBS I've discovered for custom partial mash jobs long ago, I just still use the fermenters because hey, I have them already).

    -Convenience. I've heard of kegerators, and also mini kegs. The ideal I have in mind is something where I could either fill a mini-keg & stick it in my existing fridge, or have an actual kegerator setup in the living room that'd take up no more space than an end table. Obviously either way I'm looking at CO2-forced.

    -Bang-for-the-buck. I'd rather not approach rent payment ($400) range with whatever I do here. Yet I don't want to half-ass it so bad that it's not worth it anyway either.

    So...thoughts? Recommendations?
     
  2. Travisurfin247

    Travisurfin247 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2010 South Carolina

    The least expensive route would be to get used/refurbished pin-lock or ball-lock 5 gallon soda kegs, but you would lose a lot of shelving in your existing fridge. Used 2.5 or 3 gal mini-kegs may be harder to come by, so you'll likely have to buy new. New kegs are expensive, but the mini would have less of an impact your fridge space, of course.

    If you go the mini-fridge or kegerator route, be sure the inside is tall enough to fit a ball-lock 5 gal keg, as they are a few inches taller than pin-lock kegs. At some point you'll want to make bigger 5 gal batches, so if you're going to spend the money on a kegerator now, make sure you won't have to upgrade later when you want the 5 gal kegs.

    Another space-saving consideration is to get a setup that uses smaller paintball style CO2 tanks (20 or 24 oz) instead of the usual 5 lb size tank. The regulator sizes are different, so they are not interchangeable without adapters. The paintball tanks are convenient to refill, too.

    I don't have a local shop with kegs, but I've been pleased with Keg Connection online. http://stores.kegconnection.com/Categories.bok?category=*Homebrew+Kegerator+Kits
     
  3. longbongsilver

    longbongsilver Pundit (785) Aug 27, 2005 Missouri

    Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Wasn't planning on even attempting a 5 gallon in my current fridge, but if I could afford the Kegerator thing then obviously I'd go 5. Thanks for the link, btw.
     
  4. sm0key

    sm0key Initiate (0) Apr 24, 2009 Michigan

    i started out SUPER cheap:
    buy used 5 gallon ball lock corny keg: $~50 (about $35 back when i did this)
    buy one of these: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/soda-keg-co2-charger.html
    use priming sugar to carbonate keg; push out beer the the co2 charger. My local HB store carried food grade replacement cartridges for a decent price...

    next step up: bought a standard regulator:~$80
    bought paintball tank to 5lbs co2 tank adapter ~$15
    20 oz paintball tanks are ~$25
    you can fill them for less than $5

    you can force carb with this setup, but i would suggest having at least two different tanks...
     
  5. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,647) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    Pin locks are a litte cheaper.
     
  6. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

  7. longbongsilver

    longbongsilver Pundit (785) Aug 27, 2005 Missouri

    Ok, I've done some more searching and...wow the prices shoot up quick!

    Best deal I saw was kegerator w/ everything but the keg itself (and the CO2 of course) for 350. Used keg I saw 5gallon for 40-50 range. How much does it usually cost to fill the CO2 containers? I've never played paintball so the frame of reference draws a blank.

    Oh yeah, also Google sucks when you use the shopping tab. Two pages in and it started showing me water coolers and coffee makers (???).
     
  8. Travisurfin247

    Travisurfin247 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2010 South Carolina

    The paintball tanks can be refilled for only a few bucks. The big retail sporting goods stores will refill them if they sell paintball gear (Dicks, Sports Authority, etc). I've never played paintball, but we have a good local facility that I bought a second tank from, and they included 5 refills in the price. So, I don't recall exactly how much each fill would be. I went through six 5 gal kegs on one tank, though. I had to swap tanks on the seventh keg, which is why I bought a second one to have on hand.

    I'm not sure how much the 5 lb tanks cost to refill.
     
  9. itsjustzach

    itsjustzach Initiate (0) Oct 23, 2006 Ohio

    I get my 5 lb CO2 tank refilled at a local beverage distributor for $8.

    If you don't mind a little DIY, the Danby DAR440BL can be found for less than $200 and converted into a decent kegerator. After taking the inner door shelves out (they can just be unscrewed and removed, no cutting required) it will snugly fit two ball lock cornies and a 5 lb CO2 tank.
     
  10. sarcastro

    sarcastro Savant (1,133) Sep 20, 2006 Michigan

  11. longbongsilver

    longbongsilver Pundit (785) Aug 27, 2005 Missouri

    That's good, I was assuming it was way more than that.
     
  12. jmich24

    jmich24 Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2010 Michigan

    Kegconnection.com

    High quality, many options. Sent assembled.
     
  13. longbongsilver

    longbongsilver Pundit (785) Aug 27, 2005 Missouri

    How do the actual kegs for homebrew use fill, anyway? Seen conflicting info.
     
  14. reverseapachemaster

    reverseapachemaster Zealot (722) Sep 21, 2012 Texas

    The entry point for kegging is not cheap, even if you are "repurposing" commercial 1/6 barrel kegs. You can do it cheaper up front by using those portable chargers or starting off using a picnic tap but you're really just stretching out the expense. In particular, those portable chargers are more expensive to buy refills for over the long term than buying a larger CO2 tank and filling it. You also have to think about your long term wants. If you start off with a single tap tower but decide in a year or two you want two taps you'll have to buy another tower and they aren't exactly cheap. You would be better off just buying the double tap tower.

    If you are going to keep brewing smaller batches and you're looking for a cheap, short term solution you might want to look at tap a draft or there are places online that have instructions how to convert those miller/coors home draft systems into reusable systems and you just buy CO2 refills. Those are both options that can fit in your fridge like the party pig but without the pig pouch issues.
     
  15. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    By 'actual kegs' are you talking about corny (soda, ball lock/pin lock) kegs? And do you mean how do you get the beer into the keg? Usually through a siphon, i.e. you rack pretty much like you would when moving beer from say, a fermenter to a bottling bucket. The nice thing about a keg is that you can purge most of the O2 by filling the space with CO2, both before and after racking. The siphon goes through the big hole where the lid would normally be, though there are other, more advanced ways too.
     
    longbongsilver likes this.
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