Beer engines and corny kegs.

[Wyvernbrewer]

Hi, I'm relatively new to the brewing game - just bottled my second batch of all grain but am now thinking about getting into beer engines and corny kegs. I've spent a fair amount of time on the net looking for suggestions of what kit I'll need and I think I now have a rough idea but the two things I'm getting stuck with are where to purchase a cask breather in the UK and then what kit I need to connect this to CO2. Any help / adivce would be gratefully received. I apologise in advance if this question has been answered previously but I couldn't find the answer. Thanks.

 

[eltei]

Hi there,
This may or may not be of any help at all but i brew from kits and have just acquired a free beer engine. I have a bottle shortage at the moment so tend to store the remains of brews in a demi john awaiting the second spoon of sugar for carbonation. Now I have the beer engine I just put a pipe in the dj and pour a pint from there, tastes as good as any bottled stuff from the same batch and is less gassy. I personally dislike anything too gassy so this is beer heaven for me.....problem now is lack of dj's. Hope I have been of help I can only suggest you try this before spending out on other equipment.

 

[Dads_Ale]

If you can set your gas flow really low then you may get away without a cask breather. Also pays not to have the beer too carbonated as you end up with a lot of froth.
Worth a try before shelling out a lot of money as cask breathers are quite expensive.
You will probably also need some way to control the temperature of the keg as temperature fluctuation can also result in lots of froth.

Although corny kegs have a relatively high start up cost (keg, C02, fridge, tap, beer line) and take up space they are the way to go if you want draught beer at home. I have recently moved into cornies and would not go back although I do still bottle some. The keg tap works fine and the beer stay fresh for over a month (probably longer if I didn't drink it all).

 

[Wyvernbrewer]

Thanks guys, I might give it a go with just a beer engine first straight from a demi john as I have a few knocking around from days of making wine.

 

[Fil]

lots of folk with beerengines feed them from simple polypins, no gas, the pin simply collapses as you draw out the beer

DennisKing is the undisputed polypin expert, check out his posts on the subject

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/search.php?searchid=13836