corney's what are they??

[simonkidder]

im interested in corneys. ive read a little about them but i have know idea how they work i have a whole range of questions


do you secondary ferment in them or just use presureise them? does this make it really fizzy??

is it ok to put cider and beer in them or just ale?

do you need a gas cylinder to presurise them. where do you get them from and how much are they generally

thankyou in advance

 

[Moley]

You can secondary ferment in them, but the main point is that you don't have to secondary ferment in them.

You can use them for any beer, wine or cider, and pressurise or ‘force carbonate’ that to whatever level you choose. They will withstand the same sort of pressure as a PET bottle, and significantly more than glass bottles or any of the plastic kegs.

You will need a regulator, a gas bottle and a tap.

A regulator will cost around £40.
A tap might be anywhere from £15 - £40 according to how posh you want to be.
You will need to shop around locally for gas, I paid £25 refundable cylinder deposit + £15 for the gas.

 

[cumbrian brewer]

hi you can use them for beer, cider, ginger beer, anything that you want fizzy. You need a co2 cylinder you can get a small one from your LHBS or do whet I have done and get a pub size CO2 i would recomend this as when you are new to them you can use quite alot of gas.

You can find them on ebay but I got mine from HAMPSTEAD HOME BREW in the midlands fully converted they are £70 ish and he will deliver :clap: his service s very good

I am no expert on using them yet but they beat presure barrels and plastic bottles hands down, the resale value is very good as well :thumb:

 

[simonkidder]

so to get this right i need a regulator, a tap, a gass source and a cornie and thats everything?? i mainly brew kits and ive got a lot on the go at the minute and bottles are getting to be a pain so im looking for an alternative. do i need a regulator and a tap for each cornie??

is it just a case of presurise it and if its not fizzy enough put some more in??

 

[Moley]

hi you can use them for beer, cider, ginger beer, anything that you want fizzy.

Just because you can doesn't mean that you have to.

Your beer, wine, cider or whatever else can go into the keg completely cleared.

Champagne is naturally carbonated in the bottle, Asti is force fizzed. I fizz up some WOW-type wines to the same sort of level as an Asti.

Lager drinkers tend to like theirs quite fizzy.

I don't like my beers particularly fizzy, so my pressures are set such that it can only just about crawl out of the tap, but the kegs draw from the bottom and dispense from the top so you can only serve drinks under some positive pressure.

do i need a regulator and a tap for each cornie??

You only need one regulator. Number of taps is up to you, at the moment I only have one for wine and one for beer, but I can attach them to a choice of brews. The kegs have push-on, snap-off connectors and will hold their pressures if you disconnect the tap or their gas supply.

is it just a case of presurise it and if its not fizzy enough put some more in??

Yes :thumb:

 

[keith1664]

so to get this right i need a regulator, a tap, a gass source and a cornie and thats everything?? i mainly brew kits and ive got a lot on the go at the minute and bottles are getting to be a pain so im looking for an alternative. do i need a regulator and a tap for each cornie??

is it just a case of presurise it and if its not fizzy enough put some more in??

You can run several cornies off one regulator, you just need to split the gas feed however many ways. You also need disconnects to connect the tubing to the kegs, tubing and sometimes John guest fittings to attach the tubing. You'll need a tap per cornie thats dispensing beer (as opposed to conditioning / carbing ).

There are calculators available online to work out what pressure you need to apply to the cornie to get the required carbonation.

Basically they're not the cheapest method, but once you've bought everything and got your head around what you're doing they're the easiest and most reliable way to keep your beer.

 

[simonkidder]

what is this tubing you are talking about to use johm guest fittings with, what does it do and what do you attach it to. why do i need to connect the kegs

can i not just use the regulator to charge up one corney, take it off and charge another??

also this may sound random but does the fact that they are charged with Co2 make them cold??

currnetly drinking a nice apple and cherry TC :drink:
tastes ok but needs conditioning longer but i cant wait.not got enough stock......yet :

 

[keith1664]

OK... (Adopts talking to homebrew sampler tone)

The regulator is attached to the gas bottle, you then have to get the gas to the keg. So you have a length of tubing from regulator to the keg. To attach one end to the regulator you have a John Guest fitting, to attach the other end to the disconnect there's another fitting. To get the beer from the keg to the tap you need tubing.... and possibly just the one John Guest fitting at the disconnect end (in my setup the other end connects directly to the tap).

If you buy your kegs from Norm, which a lot of us do, then the keg will come with disconnects and the fitting which goes on it and about a metre of tubing on each. Leaving you just to find the fitting to go on the regulator.

They say a picture says 1000 words, so look at this, see the black disconnect has a grey bit on it, thats a John Guest fitting.

The grey disconnects have them as well, it's just easier to see on the black ones.

Now if I really wanted to blow your mind I'd tell you to follow the tubing from the black disconnect back about 12" to the grey lump, that drops the tube size down..... but I think thats for another day :

 

[simonkidder]

i understand what the JG fittings are but why do you need pipe for the tap can you not just connect it direct to the keg? im really puzzled as to why the you would connect the taps up permantley piped up to the gas. would you not just connect gas, presurise it, disconnect it and just leave the keg with the tap connected?

 

[Moley]

Have you seen Vossy's Guide to Corny kegs? That explains quite a lot, although much of it won't actually make sense until you're looking at and handling a keg.

Each keg has two steel posts on top. The “IN” post is for gas and it has a stubby little dip tube inside it. The “OUT” post is for liquid and has a dip tube inside it which goes all the way down to the bottom of the keg.

The regulator screws on to the gas bottle, then there's a length of piping between the reg and a grey ‘disconnect’, which pushes on to the “IN” post.

You can leave that connected to one keg, or move the disconnect from one keg to another.

If you buy from Norm you will get everything you need to go from the gas bottle to one keg, then it's up to you if you want to buy more disconnects and JG fittings to split the gas line and feed two or more kegs at the same time.


A black disconnect pushes on to the “OUT” post. From that, a length of piping connects it to a tap. There are pretty shiny chromed taps available which will push straight on to the “OUT” post and sit on top of the keg. I've never used one, and I understand they are a PITA because they tend to deliver a glass of froth. There are also ‘party taps’ available which have a black disconnect, a foot or so of tubing and a very simple tap. These are quite cheap, and convenient if you want to take a keg of beer to a party, but for home use I understand they are also a PITA because they deliver a glass of froth.

Most of us will use a black disconnect and a metre or more of piping to a tap mounted on a wall or worktop or coming through the side of a fridge.

When you are drinking from a keg, you need that one to be connected to the gas so you can top up the dispensing pressure.

 

[simonkidder]

Do the corney's come in different sizes. I've seen 2 gallon ones but I've not seen any 5 gallon ones

Smon

 

[Moley]

The standard ones are 19 litres, or just over 4 gallons, so a standard brew length would give one keg plus a few bottles.

There is a smaller size available, but they are as scarce as rocking horse manure, I haven't got any so I can't tell you their capacity, and you are just as capable of googling it as I am.


Edit: strike that, >see here<, 11 litre.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

The most common size is 5 US gallon, thats 19 Litres. Thats what nearly all of them are, like this one.

On the top of them you have the 2 post, one on each side, one is for gas in, the other for beer out.

To connect to these you need quick disconnects like these.

To get the gas in you need a regulator that will attach to the gas bottle. You can use a pub style gas bottle or a converted Fire Extinguisher like mine

There are simple regulators like this which allow you to set one pressure.

Or more complex gas management boards like this which allow 3 different pressures.

To get to the beer you need a tap, Moley mentioned a shiny one that connected to a keg, that would be this one.

Or you can get one that connects to beer line like this

I use the ones that connect to beer line as they look nice on my fridge door.

Once you have a collection of kegs you will want to keep them cool in a fridge.

And then you can get to your beer from the taps on the front of the door.

Everything in the pictures apart from the fridge and gas cylinder are sold by Norm. His contact details are in the LINKS section on this site or you can find him on ebay. It's best to send him an email. If you don't mind bent and bashed kegs ask him if he has any budget kegs, I think they cost £70.00 for a pair and come with one set of disconnects and some beer and gas line.

You can also find Norm on ebay here

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/normannumpa/? ... 4340.l2559

 

[simonkidder]

Ah I have Gota get me one of those fridge things. They look the business. But I'm going to have to wait till I have my own house next year.

Thank you for all the help. I'm sure I will be contacting norm at some point.