Kegging

You don't want to store and serve kegged beer at 66-68F. It will foam like crazy. And it will oxidize/age rapidly.

 

Maybe it is just me, but the only time saved kegging is in the fact that you are only filling the keg and not a bottling bucket then bottles. I still prefer bottling over kegging, and have two kegerators in the house. I find that rinsing the bottles right after emptying them makes cleaning them much easier. I still struggle with getting the right carbonation out of my kegs and have been using kegs for over two years now. And yes, as VikeMan says, being in the mid to upper 60s is not going to be fun. You will need to keep them in the 30s or 40s if you want to be able to serve from a keg, and 40s is pushing your luck in my opinion. Can remember the size off the top of my head, but with that two keg kit, you are probably better off trying to find the wine fridge or mini fridge that will hold two kegs and modify that into a kegerator, even if you still use the picnic tap.

 

Kegging is certainly less hassle then bottles. Very few brewers regret going to kegs.

The best part of having homebrew in a keg is being able to serve from kegs, and that requires a proper draft system. It is required. You must be able to store and serve your beer as close to 38F as possible, and the temp must be stable. Anything above around 43F causes some headaches, especially for the beginner. Anything above 45F is damn near impossible.

Bottling from a keg can be done with a counter pressure bottle filler. This is just a nice way to transport keg beer, and sometimes to store it to free up keg space. But kegging 5 gallons and then transferring it all to bottle kind of defeats the purpose.

So if you do invest in kegging consider the additional cost of a draft system. A refrigerator conversion would seem to be the best option for you.

Fermenting in kegs is possible, though it is also a bit more trouble than it is worth for most. And it will tie up a keg too. It can be done though, and there are definite advantages for some.
Cheers

 

I keg all batches these days. I have a lot of kegs.

Keg maintenance can be a pain. O-rings, poppets, PRVs can be problems.

I spend a lot of time cleaning. Sometimes the keg is disassembled for a deep cleaning. Suspect parts get boiled.

Most beers I make get closed transfers these days. Kegs are purged so that very little O2 remains, and the beer is filled through the out post. CO2 is put on top of the beer in the fermenter as the beer is emptied to keep air and it's O2 out.

I will be "that guy" and say that kegging doesn't save me time or work. Full kegs weigh about 50 lbs. My old back complains when I have to move the kegs.

The pleasure of pouring a properly carbonated glass of beer, with lack of perceptible oxidation, makes it worth it.

 

Amen . . . kegging has made my drinking much more enjoyable.

Double Amen . . . not only does it work exceptionally well, it looks good.

As stated, you really don't want to be bottling from a keg. Yes it's doable and I will bottle a few for gifts or a competition, but it's a Grade B PITA. It's relatively easy to build your own kegerator from a fridge/chest freezer. I have found dialing in the right carbonation to be easy, and if you ever wanted to change the level that's easy also. A big advantage is pouring a small amount. Ideal for visitors and you open a bottle of something exotic, say a Rauchbier. After opening a bottle there is a chance they won't like it after one sip . . . it's an awkward moment when they are wondering what to do with the remaining 11 ounces. Very convenient to make short pours if you want to sample a lot of beers.

Yes the workload is significant and realistically you'll want/need a lot more than two kegs. I normally have five kegs serving out of a total of nine kegs on hand and that's almost not enough. But the enjoyment of having five different styles ready to go is PDG. Oh yeah . . . hang out in Home Bar forum for some good keg-talk.

 

I have a simple set up in a full size garage fridge. I was able to take all the shelves out of the left side so I can fit 2 kegs and a CO2 tank on that side... and normal fridge shelves on the right side. I keep it at 37F with a simple picnic tap attached (this avoids a home bar set up or Keezer etc..)

bottling is pretty simple too. I use the tube from my spring loaded bottle wand with the cap removed. It fits perfect in a picnic tap. I put all of the bottles/pieces in the fridge over night. Let out the PRV and give it 3psi. Then fill the bottles from the bottom up... keeping in mind I don’t purge the oxygen, I drink within 48hrs. Works great for taking growlers/bottles to a friends house.

I have also done secondary fruit fermenting in a keg using a spunding valve and a floating ball dip tube. I think those two things together were about $90

good luck! I don’t regret it at all. The quality of hop presence in my iPAs went up tremendously

 

Jeff, Michael Tonsmeire has made that same comment in the past on his blog. I think it would be prudent for homebrewers considering going to kegging to consider/realize that they will likely not save time/effort by switching to kegging (if they are conscientious about keg cleaning/sanitation/maintenance).

Have you ever lost a batch of beer due to a keg failure (e.g., a leaking poppet)?

Cheers!

 

Yes, in a keeper, which was a pain in the rear to clean up.

I've also lost bottles of CO2 due to slow a leak.

Those problems have not stopped me from kegging.

 

Losing CO2 would not be too onerous for me but losing a batch of beer would make me cry.

Cheers!

 

A leaking poppet is only an issue when there is no gas/beer line quick disconnect in place. And when it happens, it's normally when you're going from disconnect engaged to non-engaged, i.e. while you're actually at the keg, removing a disconnect. I've never seen it happen another way. (The way poppets are designed, it's hard to imagine one going from closed to leaking, spontaneously. And again, they can't leak when the keg is hooked up, because they are open.) If it's gas side, you can't miss the hissing. If it's liquid side, you can't miss the beer squirting out.

What happened?

 

The liquid out poppet was really worn, did not seat properly, and there was a slow leak. I didn't have a disconnect on it, and there was a few days that the keezer was not opened.

So it goes.

 

I made more beer. The keg got a new poppet.

 

Kegerators aren't inherently ball lock or pin lock. The one you linked comes with commercial taps (not corny keg type ball or pin), but you can easily change the actual taps (not to be confused with faucets, which people often do). Ball/Pin lock corny taps (i.e. quick disconnects) are pretty inexpensive.

 

Well that's a bummer. I've never seen a seated poppet (seated well enough to not leak initially) go from sealed to leaky without being cycled. I'm fairly sure yours is the first I've even heard of.

For any non-keggers reading this: I wouldn't let this scare you off. I think this is a one-in-a-million kind of thing, and it looks like @hopfenunmaltz already took one for the team!

 

FWIW I have read other homebrewers post about losing a batch of beer due to a keg fault. This is what prompted me to pose this question to Jeff.

As to what level of risk (e.g., one in an x chance) this is I am uncertain.

Cheers!

 

Let's find out.

 

Best Buy? For a kegerator?

No. No. No. Do not buy a kegerator solely based on the price and convenience. Do a little research and get the one for you.

Best Buy sells washing machines, DVDs and Play Stations. There people are unequivocally unqualified to offer kegerator advice, and the Home Bar section has plenty of threads related to what happens after the Insignia kegerator is unpacked and it doesn't work right.

Save yourself the headache. Please.
Cheers

 

See Vikeman's thread. I disagree about the time issue. I rinse and set empty kegs aside until I have 3 or four to clean. Then I take 45 minutes to pump hot PBW through them(hooked in series), then very hot water twice to rinse. They are clean and ready to use again. When I had beer ready to keg I could come home on my lunch hour, sanitize with Starsan, each lunch, fill 2 kegs and be back to work on time. I've kegged 3 or 4 hundred batches, never had a single infected keg. If i bottled 10 gallon batches it would take an entire day. Another thing about kegging is that I can brew a beer and dry hop each keg with different hops, thus getting 2 different beers out of one batch.