Best kegging system?

Get a fridge drill holes in the door and run your taps there. I don't like drilling in the sides as I've hit a coil and ruined a fridge that way before. A lot of people get used ones I just bought a new one. Newer is obviously more energy efficient and your wallet will thank you when you pay your electric bill every month (at least it does for me I live in Los Angeles). For each line you just need a faucet a shank and some line and clamps. Used corny kegs will run you around $60 a piece. I went with Pin locks cuz I have a vertical clearance issue in my beer fridge. There are also lower profile pin lock disconnects that will save you maybe an inch of clearance as well. Ball locks are great too just a little taller and slimmer. No difference in function between the twos. Kegging is the way to go. I fill bottles off my kegs with a cobra tap and bottling wand shoved into the end of the cobra tap with a bung in the bottle to counter pressure fill em. You'll need a CO2 tank and regulator too. All in all you're looking at around maybe $300 for a keg, set of disconnects, CO2 tank, regulator, faucet, shank and hose and clamps once you get a fridge. A lot of people do the chest freezer with a temperature controller. That works too you will either need to mount a tower to the top of the freezer or build a collar around the top and mount your taps there. Again to avoid drilling into the side of the freezer where I believe the cooling coils are. I believe with the necessary modifications a chest freezer will cost about the same as a fridge.

 

If you're just starting kegging,I wouldn't recommend drilling a bunch of holes in anything until you're positive you're going to use that fridge/freezer just for your kegs and never need it as a fridge again. I use an old fridge and just use the cheap faucet lines with plastic cobra heads and keep them inside the fridge. It's not much effort to open and close the door every time to get a beer, and it helps me keep an eye out for any possible leaks in the system more often. This option has been cheaper and easier for me and my family, and still leaves the option to revert it back to the spare fridge with no problems.

I've had several friends build elaborate keezers only to realize that life changes and they only have a chance to brew once or twice a year, leaving them with an expensive, empty, space filler.

I'd recommend starting with at least 2 kegs, don't fool yourself into thinking 1 will be good enough. My LHBS has used kegs for around $55, which is pretty good, but you should be able to find them for around $75-$100. You'll also need a CO2 canister and regulator (these 2 tend to be the most expensive initial investments) with at least 1 gas line, if you don't plan on getting a multi port distributor. Besides that and some spare o rings and parts to have around in case of emergencies, then all you would need is a faucet line for each keg.

It's a lot easier to keg than most think and a whole lot more rewarding!

 

Cornelius system is great to start, it´s cheap and you don´t need a lot of accessories, they are easy to clean and they fit in kegerators nicely. Other keggins systems requiere lot´s of couplers, valves, cleaning chemicals and lots of stuff.

 

The best kegging system is the one you can afford

 

I recently bought a new chest freezer that holds 6 ball lock kegs with an 8" collar for $150 on sale. They go on sale frequently and I recently saw one that would hold at least 8 for $180. With the collar I didn't have to drill into the freezer itself. I didn't even glue the collar on, just put some weather stripping on the base and some insulation on the inside. Lucily I had some faucets but had to buy a couple more.

It's important to know if you are going to go ball lock or pin lock kegs before you get your freezer/fridge because they have different diameters.

 

My first batch of beer, I bottled...then said never again. I hate hate hate bottling.

I would do what I did. I just went to the local homedepot bought a kegerator then bought a coke keg online. Their where only a few cheap tubing parts needed to adapt the kegerator to the coke keg.
Works greats !!! Kegging give you allot more options for clarifying your beer and doing stouts with nitrogen.