Thinking of Kegging

[General]

I'm thinking of getting into kegging, and just wanted to know:

What exactly do I need?

Where can I get it?

Where can I get it very cheap?

Does it fit in a 240L fridge?

Does it matter if that fridge is running as a freezer? (cause the thermostat is buggered)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Shaun]

General

You will need:
1 x regulator,
1 x Pluto gun (or tap with panel adaptor if you want the tap in the door of the fridge this is more expensive though),
1, 2 is better kegs (post mix)
1 x beer quick connector
1 x gas quick connector
Gas line,
Beer line, and
CO2 (rented bottle).

As for the price all I can say here is shop around, get prices for the system as a hole and as individual parts. Try places that service pubs as well as HBSs. Watch ebay as you see parts sold there all the time I saw a two tap system and fridge go for around $400 recently.

To give you an idea there are pictures of my system here http://groups.msn.com/MacabresBrewery/beerfridge.msnw you will not need all of this. Dogger has also put pictures of his here http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1033 look for the link in the post from dogger. Evo has also put photos of his freezer on here somewhere.


As for the fridge running as a freezer Evo will tell you to run a chest freezer as a fridge. You will need to fix the thermostat or have beer popsicles.

[General]

Shaun your set up looks great!

I'm thinking of running the kegs from the fridge to a bar where the taps would be located. The bar is being built around the fridge, which is quite small.

Will I lose much beer if the line from the keg to the tap is so long?

[Shaun]

General

I short no, the beer line is of small diameter (4mm from memory) going from the fridge to the bar is only a short run and will not hold a lot of beer. However you may need to play around a bit with your pouring pressure due to the extra length.

You can always add a Glycol system to insulate the lines and chill the font at a later date.

[JAZZA]

G'day
just a suggestion when I put my gas line in I pushed it in through rubber gland at the back, where the electrical cable goes into the cabinet, saves drilling holes in the side especially if you don't know where the piping or electrical cable is in the sides.

Cheers,

Jazza.

[Dogger Dan]

Its not the beer that you loose that is the problem but the Carbonation. The longer the line, the higher the CO2 pressure required

Dogger

[NickMoore]

shaun, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we want to live at your place!

[General]

Thanks guys, great advice.

The Glycol business? Sounds good, does it mean that I don't need the keg in the fridge?