Brewing Master » Brewing Beer » Kegs?
Kegs?
Question:
In the Fall 1991 Zymurgy there was an article on a "Jockeybox" essentialy a cooler chest full of ice with hoses carrying beer passing through to chill. It called for 50feet of stainless steel tubing (5/16 Inner Diam) coiled up in the jockeybox.
Just an idea…. but some of the pubs over here that do not have proper cellars don’t bother trying to keep all the beer cold. After all the lager in the UK is all pasturized and kegged under pressure so it does not matter too much how its kept, so long as it does not get HOT. Instead the pubs have little chillers that either run under the bar or outside. These chill the beer as it passes from the keg to the tap and are probably just a heat exchanger. This might give you DIY experts a pointer. — tel: 0442-230000-x3476 swally in the streets and kebab houses, we shall never be sober. Rab C. Nesbitt.
Response:
| | Be sure to get a 2-gauge regulator. They are more expensive, but | this is what you need so you can both regulate the pressure on the beer | as well as knowing how much gas you have left. You certainly don’t | want to run out of gas! | | It is my understanding that CO2 is a liquid while in the tank, and so the | regulator will only measure the pressure of the gas between the surface of | the liquid CO2 and the regulator. This pressure remains relativly constant | until all the liquid CO2 has evaporated, and then your guage will go from | "full" to "empty" too quickly to do you much good. How quickly it goes from full to empty depends on the gas flow rate. If I’m force carbonating a new batch, I want to make darn sure I have enough gas and only do so when I know my tank is full enough. My gauge moves about 200 pounds between `full’ and `about to go empty’ so I do have some idea how much is left. The quick change situation described above usually only happens when I’m serving a couple of pints. It starts about 600psi and drops to nothing after about 8 pints from the tap. Unless I’m serving many beers, I can catch it before it’s completely gone. Without the primary gauge, I find I have practically no warning when the tank will quit — the secondary gauge just drops from 15psi to nil. I try to never let my tanks go completely empty and the primary gauge lets me do this. Steve Dempsey, Engineering Network Services Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 +1 303 491 0630 UUCP: boulder!ccncsu!longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu!steved, …!ncar!handel!dempsey
Response:
Note, however, that I’ve found the biggest problem here to be that I don’t have a refridgerator to keep the keg cold so I can have it on tap all the time. Now I’m keeping my eyes open for a cheap little ‘fridge!
In the Fall 1991 Zymurgy there was an article on a "Jockeybox" essentialy a cooler chest full of ice with hoses carrying beer passing through to chill. It called for 50feet of stainless steel tubing (5/16 Inner Diam) coiled up in the jockeybox. Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Ft Collins CO 80526 P.S. One thing I can’t stand is all these posts about people getting their CO2 kegging setups for $20, I keep looking and looking, one day I hope to be amongst those I can’t stand.
Response:
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.brewing Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: Georgia Inst. of Tech – DSP – Atlanta, Ga Keywords: Just a few more tidbits of information on this topic: 1. If you buy a used soda canister, as you should, you must replace all the seals, because your friendly distributor certainly won’t. The syrup impregnates them and imparts taste (one brewer’s experence on the net was that root beer flavor even got into the stainless steel of the canister!). 2. Make sure you get a canister with a blow out valve on the lid. 3. Pay attention to the size of the CO2 tank you get. A 5# one is small and easy to handle, but doesn’t last long. A 20# one lasts a long time, but is bulky. A 10# one is the right size for me, but judge for yourself. Does it have to fit into your ‘fridge? Also, filling for most of these costs about the same, regardless of size. 4. Don’t buy new when you can buy used! That way, you’ll keep the cost down to below what even local brew shop kits come in at. — Kurt Baudendistel — — GRA Georgia Tech, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250
Response:
I have a single gauge regulator on a 10 lb. tank. I didn’t get a 2-gauge reg. since my wife bought my kegging system as a surprise birthday present. I think a second gauge would be nice, but it’s not a necessity. In two years, I’ve carbonated, delivered, and rinsed probably 40 kegs or more on one 4 dollar fill of CO2. The tank isn’t close to empty – I can tell by swishing the liquid inside the tank to get an idea what the liquid level is. Right now, it’s about 1/3 full. When it drops to about 1/4 or 1/5th, I’ll spend another $4 and get it filled again. At two bucks a year for a tank fill, it would take a long time to pay for that second gauge. — Paul Brownlow | What do these men have in common? Data I/O Corp. Redmond, WA | Jim Lefebvre Chuck Knox |
Response:
…The cost for one of these sy … is about $50-60 a keg complete, where the cornelius keg systems are $$$$
Be careful! Like anything else in life, knowledge can be substituted for bread. If you “shop” around at junk sales and the like, you can pick up the basic components for a soda canister (cornelius) keg system for cheap: 1 2 Item New Used & Source Canister $45 $10, from a roadside junk dealer CO2 Tank $99 $40, from a soda distributor who pressure checked it before selling it to me Fill CO2 Tank $10, but it was filled when I got it Regulator $50 $40, but I bought the new one (double gauge for me) Fittings, Hoses, Seals, Tap, etc. $20, mail order 1: I’m guessing here, since I don’t have catalogs in front of me. 2: I’m guessing here, trying to remember exactly where I got the stuff. All I’m trying to point out is that you can do it, if you just keep your eyes open and don’t have to have it all done tomorrow. Note, however, that I’ve found the biggest problem here to be that I don’t have a refridgerator to keep the keg cold so I can have it on tap all the time. Now I’m keeping my eyes open for a cheap little ‘fridge! — Kurt Baudendistel — — GRA Georgia Tech, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -…The cost for one of these sy … is about $50-60 a keg complete, where the cornelius keg systems are $$$$ Be careful! Like anything else in life, knowledge can be substituted for bread. If you “shop” around at junk sales and the like, you can pick up the basic components for a soda canister (cornelius) keg system for cheap: 1 2 Item New Used & Source Canister $45 $10, from a roadside junk dealer CO2 Tank $99 $40, from a soda distributor who pressure checked it before selling it to me Fill CO2 Tank $10, but it was filled when I got it Regulator $50 $40, but I bought the new one (double gauge for me) Fittings, Hoses, Seals, Tap, etc. $20, mail order
All this sounds kind of expensive. My local brew supply shop is selling soda keg kits for as low as $125 complete. This comes with: 5lb CO2 tank(used/full), 2-gauge regulator(used) 5 gallon stainless soda keg (26′ X 8.5′) with ball locks(used), 2 hoses(pressure hose in, tapper hose out). The prices go up if you want a new regulator, or a different sized (dimensions or capacity) stainless keg. Extra kegs are $25 (standard 5 gal). — The War on (some) Drugs…ANOTHER FAILING PROHIBITION O—- These are my views, not necessarily those of my employer! <<—-O
Response:
Be sure to get a 2-gauge regulator. They are more expensive, but
this is what you need so you can both regulate the pressure on the beer as well as knowing how much gas you have left. You certainly don’t want to run out of gas! It is my understanding that CO2 is a liquid while in the tank, and so the regulator will only measure the pressure of the gas between the surface of the liquid CO2 and the regulator. This pressure remains relativly constant until all the liquid CO2 has evaporated, and then your guage will go from "full" to "empty" too quickly to do you much good. For this reason, I bought a single guage regulator and saved myself a little money. Another el-cheapo keg system tip: When you buy your CO2 tank, check around the local welding supply shops for used tanks in most sizes. I bought mine in a shop where they just replace the empty tank with a full new one when needed. They also take care of the periodic safty inspections on the tanks. If you have your own shiny new tank, most places will send it out to be filled, and you have to wait a day or two to pick it up. When if your tank is found to be defective, the filling company will punch a hole in it to render it unfillable, and you’re just out of luck. That may never happen but it may be worth considering… Erik Smith "Anyone who *never* worries should lay off the Xanax for a while…"
Response:
Just a few more tidbits of information on this topic: 1. If you buy a used soda canister, as you should, you must replace all the seals, because your friendly distributor certainly won’t. The syrup impregnates them and imparts taste (one brewer’s experence on the net was that root beer flavor even got into the stainless steel of the canister!). 2. Make sure you get a canister with a blow out valve on the lid. 3. Pay attention to the size of the CO2 tank you get. A 5# one is small and easy to handle, but doesn’t last long. A 20# one lasts a long time, but is bulky. A 10# one is the right size for me, but judge for yourself. Does it have to fit into your ‘fridge? Also, filling for most of these costs about the same, regardless of size. 4. Be sure to get a 2-gauge regulator. They are more expensive, but this is what you need so you can both regulate the pressure on the beer as well as knowing how much gas you have left. You certainly don’t want to run out of gas! 5. Don’t buy new when you can buy used! That way, you’ll keep the cost down to below what even local brew shop kits come in at. 6. Finally, join a brew club and talk it up there. There are always folks who want to get out or trade up, and they can sell you their equipment as well as give you pointers! Happy Brewing! — Kurt Baudendistel — — GRA Georgia Tech, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250
Response:
Hello, I have just recently been looking into the possibility of kegging my beer, but only if it can be done at a resonable cost. There is a company in New Hampshire that is selling pressure barrels for homebrewing. One of the manufacturers was EDME, and the others were Rotokeg and something else. I was wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with these `low end’ kegs. They use the little CO2 cartridges, like air guns. Please let me know if you have any experience. The cost for one of these systems is about $50-60 a keg complete, where the cornelius keg systems are $$$$ Thanks Frank