I dread having to clean and sanitize bottles (I currently use flip-top pint size and magnum bottles), so Santa has committed to delivering a new system. But I don’t know which set-up to get.
I brew 5 gal batches and will drink a pint or two every other day or so. My question is; Do I get a 3 gal mini draft, a couple of party pigs, or a 5 gal corny? I’m leaning toward the 5 gal corny given that I’m trying to decrease my time spent brewing, but does the beer stay fresh for the 5 to 6 weeks it takes me to consume it at a rate of a pint or 2 per day?
Go with the 5 gallon system. You can always bottle what’s left if you need to free up the keg to brew some more.
I just bought a 2 keg setup from Kegconnection.com and it will be sitting on my doorstep this afternoon when I get home from work. Chest freezer will be coming on Saturday, which gives me one week to get it all setup to keg my first beer, a winter warmer currently fermenting.
I would go with the corny’s.
As long as you follow good sanitation procedures, maintain the seals, and purge the air with co2, your beer will easily keep for a year.
Don’t waste you money on the other systems when eventually down the line you will want to go with the 5 gallon system. Also, get a few extra kegs. You can find them used for 20 bucks sometimes. I used to be able to get them for 10 bucks a piece. That’s why I have over 20 kegs.
I have some beers in kegs that are well over a year old, barley wines and RIS and sour beers and such. Kegged beer actually stays fresher longer than bottled beer, mainly because the O2 exposure goes way down.
Thanks to all. I just bought a 2 corny keg system from http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=324 The dude that took the call answered my questions and was very helpful. Based on this experience, I will do business with them again in the future.
I have did my first kegging ever on Saturday, and thought I screwed something up because it was so easy. Got a little confused with the carbonation technique ( skaing rather than sitting ) but got some great advise from another forum so I’m good to go.
Enjoy your new kegging system ( I know I’m enjoying mine ).
Thinking about pulling the trigger on a keg system soon. Question though: Can you just put the CO2 canister into the fridge along with the kegs or is it necessary to keep it outside of the fridge for temperature reasons? I can probably convince my wife to get a cheap fridge to put in the garage however I’m not sure that I could make a convincing argument for drilling holes in the side of it.
I do keep my CO2 tank in the fridge.
One bad thing is that I never know when I run out of CO2.
I get no warnings and then I am out.
If you keep your tank in room temp the regulator should show you that you are close to be empty.
So the regulator isn’t accurate when it’s refrigerated? That makes sense. How do you know though that your beers are getting the correct pressure if that’s the case though?
the regulator is accurate but the actual pressure in the tank falls with temp to the point tat you would know you are running out of gas. You will still get the warning but the tank will only last for for a few pours once you see the pressure is dipping.
