I have been reading through the forums while trying to decide on which kegerator to purchase. I am thinking of going with the Kegco 309 single tap with perlick 650ss faucet. Any thoughts on this? Will i need to consider adding a tower cooler or will the built in fridge fan be enough? Any advice would be great.
Funny that they invested the time to put a circulating fan in it but not a tower cooler. For the best pours you need a tower cooler - you want to have the same temperature from the keg to the faucet. Any change along the way will cause foam. Without a tower cooler you will have first beer foam.
So would something like this work? http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/towers/tower-adapter/coldtower-st-beer-tower-cooler-38.html or should I get this full tower? http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/towers/singlefaucet/bf_gfa152-1.shtml
Also on that tower, the reason they are saying air cooled is because it isn't configured for glycol like some of their products. In that context, all air cooled means is there is nothing inside the tower, just like the one you already have. It will not come with a blower or anything else to help your cause.
before you get the tower cooler be sure the Kegco does not come equipped with a tube that extends into the tower. doesn't look like it does. and they would advertise this if it did. some kegerators have a fan with and a 1" diameter tube that is installed in front of the blower. the fan circulates air in the box as well as pushes cold air into the tower. see UBC for example. you don't need the 650 Perls really. the standard 630 is fine, but if you like that sort of thing go ahead. the price on the 630 at Kegco is competetive. having worked on and sold dozens of kegerators, I do not recommend this Kegco. your money is better spent on a used True, Beverage Air, Perlick or other commercial unit. the quality of these home units has gotten so bad recently that they are almost useless. no joking, the market is flooded with really cheap Chinese parts and they just do not work. it is an actual industry issue, not just the rant of one cranky guy. will this pour cold beer? yes. is it good? not really. not even good enough. and it's not cheap either. the electronic T-stat is not better than the mechanical dial T-stat. you will never see an electronic T-stat on any commercial kegerator. the electronic thermostat will break and good luck fixing that. otoh, mechanical t-stats almost never fail (unless someone jams a regulator against the dial) and they are easily fixed. kegerators that do not come equipped with a tower cooler are by definition not built correctly. they will never work right; you must "fix" a brand new appliance. think about the less obvious corners cut. "Deep Chill"? this is just insulting. look, heat from the keg is transferred to the cold air, and the compressor removes the heat. there is no fucking magic in it, all refrigerators do the same thing. they chill the air inside. the rate at which anything gets cold is just a function of the temperature differential and time. what's the coldest air temp the kegerator can achieve? that's your Deep Chill. - note too that there is no mention of the compressor HP. because THAT will actually let you know how robust the cooling function is. want more? plastic interior... not a crime. plastic drip tray. that's shit. maybe in your garage but nowhere else. i'll go out on a limb and say the standard chrome tower is abs plastic painted chrome. so, in case i haven't been clear, I do not like this $750 Kegco kegerator. Cheers.
I suggest you go for kegco with tower cooler.I think fridge fan will not be sufficient to keep beer cool constant temperature for longer time.
