Corny keg levels

[RGeats]

There is nothing more disappointing than when you go to pour a glass of a lovely homebrewed beer at the end of the day and be met with a glass of foam and gas!

Does anyone have any good ways of tracking the amount of beer left in a corny keg? I've seen the float system but wondered if anyone does anything else. They are in a kegerator so don't want to have to open the door to check.

 

[Graz]

Easy - 19L is roughly 34 pints, I just mark a tally on my fridge door with a whiteboard marker every time I pull a pint. So far it has been largely accurate to about a pint either way. (So long as I'm not too drunk to remember to mark it up )

 

[St00]

It's pricey but I use Plaato Kegs. They also allow me to fill up to the gas out by weight when pressure transferring, without having to open the keg. I have two in the kegerator and one left out for when transferring.

 

[Banbeer]

Does anyone have any good ways of tracking the amount of beer left in a corny keg?

Look Here this is for the Plaato system

It's pricey but I use Plaato Kegs

Great minds Eh!

 

[stan.distortion]

Would putting it on a bathroom scale work? Take a note of the empty weight and you should know it's about out when it's within a kilo or so.

 

[St00]

Would putting it on a bathroom scale work? Take a note of the empty weight and you should know it's about out when it's within a kilo or so.

Definitely, but you have to get up and go to the fridge for that. I get an alert on my phone when I'm running low

 

[foxbat]

I do the same as @Graz. Keep a tally of the pints pulled and when you get to 30 then it's time to start pulling halves in case you get to 90% of a pint and then the cursed tap spits trub and ruins almost a full pint!

 

[Drunkula]

Lugguage scale from poundland, hook under the handle, lift.

 

[RGeats]

It's pricey but I use Plaato Kegs. They also allow me to fill up to the gas out by weight when pressure transferring, without having to open the keg. I have two in the kegerator and one left out for when transferring.

Never seen those before so thank you. I was thinking if you could use load cells. I wonder how easy it would be to build something using a raspberry pi?

 

[RGeats]

Lugguage scale from poundland, hook under the handle, lift.

Yep like that idea, simple and easy.

I do the same as @Graz. Keep a tally of the pints pulled and when you get to 30 then it's time to start pulling halves in case you get to 90% of a pint and then the cursed tap spits trub and ruins almost a full pint!

Don't like that idea! That would mean keeping a track of how many I've been drinking!

 

[Drunkula]

Don't like that idea! That would mean keeping a track of how many I've been drinking!

Exactly. I've said before that bottled beer is like coins and notes - you can see what you're spendin', kegs are like plastic - yeah, bosh a couple of cheese n onion on luv, and some of them scratchinss, luvvly!

So if you see 7 bottles from the night next to the sink you might think.... ok, 2 or 3 more then that's definitely enough. With the keg when you pour a 'pint' you actually pour, swig, top up, steel yourself for facing her again, turn around, deep breath, march back in with a smile... and you've forgotten the nuts you were sent to bring back in the first place. Of course, so that's wrong. You're wrong again, intchahhhh. So you marches back to the kitchen with the 'pint' in your hand, have a swig, might as well top up while we're back here, get the nuts, return. There you go, my love! Did I even consider that a dish or two might be useful rather that passing them back and forth, mauling them out of the packet all night? Sorry, luv, didn't even think. Kitchen, swig, top up, walk back, halfway back remember the dishes.

And all that's still a 'pint' mind. You get about 3 of them in a keg.

 

[RGeats]

Exactly. I've said before that bottled beer is like coins and notes - you can see what you're spendin', kegs are like plastic - yeah, bosh a couple of cheese n onion on luv, and some of them scratchinss, luvvly!

So if you see 7 bottles from the night next to the sink you might think.... ok, 2 or 3 more then that's definitely enough. With the keg when you pour a 'pint' you actually pour, swig, top up, steel yourself for facing her again, turn around, deep breath, march back in with a smile... and you've forgotten the nuts you were sent to bring back in the first place. Of course, so that's wrong. You're wrong again, intchahhhh. So you marches back to the kitchen with the 'pint' in your hand, have a swig, might as well top up while we're back here, get the nuts, return. There you go, my love! Did I even consider that a dish or two might be useful rather that passing them back and forth, mauling them out of the packet all night? Sorry, luv, didn't even think. Kitchen, swig, top up, walk back, halfway back remember the dishes.

And all that's still a 'pint' mind. You get about 3 of them in a keg.

Love that! Yup whenever I pour a pint, I have to try it immediately to make sure it's OK, then you can't walk back with a not full pint!

 

[Edison]

I was very tempted to build this one day:

http://raspberrypints.com/
Just geeky enough for me. Trouble is it’s not easy to find the flow meters.

 

[Norfolk79]

It's pricey but I use Plaato Kegs. They also allow me to fill up to the gas out by weight when pressure transferring, without having to open the keg. I have two in the kegerator and one left out for when transferring.

Can vouch for these too, only have one (which can be a pain when I’ve got 2 kegs on the go) but it works really well

 

[Edison]

Ooh, that’s tempting. Buying three works out to £260 and free shipping!

 

[ChilledGecko]

I'm using the luggage scales method with my corny Kegs.
I've weighed them empty, filled to the top and weighed again.
I then knocked up a chart to convert weight to volume (I assumed 1 litre = 1 kg, close enough I feel)
All I do now is lean into my keezer, attach the scales and look up the weight. I then have a reasonable idea of number of pints left
I've laminated my chart and leave it in the keezer for use next time.

 

[St00]

Ooh, that’s tempting. Buying three works out to £260 and free shipping!

Just make sure you have a visible 2.5GHz wireless network as they don't work on 5GHz.

 

[Joust]

I'm currently building a mini bar with two cornies in a cooled box with a couple of beer taps on top.

I've spent a tenner on the electronics from some bathroom scales and a couple of little LCD screens. I'll write some code so each beer tap has a display showing what beer is on and how many pints are left.

 

[RGeats]

I'm currently building a mini bar with two cornies in a cooled box with a couple of beer taps on top.

I've spent a tenner on the electronics from some bathroom scales and a couple of little LCD screens. I'll write some code so each beer tap has a display showing what beer is on and how many pints are left.

Be interested to see how you've done this, like the idea. OK with wiring stuff up but not great with the electronics and coding.

 

[NicB]

I've said this before ... get a cheap <£5 old fashioned bathroom scales (NOT electronic).
Weigh one of your empty kegs.
I'm sure you can work out the rest.
N¡ck