Easy Keg 5L

[Leon103]

Turn the brew fridge on yesterday since the first time since moving. Wanted to chill a keg for the weekend. Went in this morning and noticed the fridge was sitting above 37c.
I had only put the heater plug in the fridge socket. The keg didn't like the heat.

Anyone for a warm pale ale

 

[pvt_ak]

I’m going to fill a mini keg for the first time next bottling session.

I’m going to go with 15g of sugar me thinks.


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[Dutto]

Turn the brew fridge on yesterday since the first time since moving. Wanted to chill a keg for the weekend. Went in this morning and noticed the fridge was sitting above 37c.
I had only put the heater plug in the fridge socket. The keg didn't like the heat.

Anyone for a warm pale ale

Ouch!

Not sure which is worse, that or my own fridge cock-up last summer when I put the FV in the fridge, switched the Inkbird on, set it at 19 degrees and went to have a pint in celebration of another completed Brew Day.

Luckily, I discovered the problem about an hour later when I wandered into the garage, wondered why the temperature on the Inkbird hadn't moved, discovered that the probe was still sat on the worktop above the fridge and the temperature inside the fridge was down to nearly 10 degrees! When I attached the probe to the FV I discovered that the brew had hardly been affected and by the next morning it had sorted itself out and was fermenting merrily.

I made sure that my 2nd Brew Fridge had the Inkbird probe permanently placed inside but as I use the first one with a Heat Pad I can still make the same mistake with it!

BTW, ever heard the definition of a "Bachelor"? It's a man who hasn't made the same mistake once!

 

[Bevvied]

Apologies for suddenly disappearing from the thread and the site.
I somehow managed to get run over whilst I was walking on the pavement and I've had a lifetime of hospital and physio which curtailed all things home brew related.
Great to see my little question roused so much interest.

Incidentally, stuff I bottled more than a year ago has proven to be good/great/incredible still.
My foray into AG has lasted the time well, but not improved, funnily enough, coopers stout has developed into something otherwordly.

Have fun guys.

 

[MyQul]

Apologies for suddenly disappearing from the thread and the site.
I somehow managed to get run over whilst I was walking on the pavement and I've had a lifetime of hospital and physio which curtailed all things home brew related.
Great to see my little question roused so much interest.

Incidentally, stuff I bottled more than a year ago has proven to be good/great/incredible still.
My foray into AG has lasted the time well, but not improved, funnily enough, coopers stout has developed into something otherwordly.

Have fun guys.

I wondered where you got yourself to. Welcome back. Sorry to hear about your accident

I think your 'little question' is one of the most popular threads on the site (you've got a bit of reading to do)

 

[Dutto]

Welcome back! :thumb:

That's the hardest way I've ever heard of to learn about the benefits of lang term conditioning!

 

[pvt_ak]

Apologies for suddenly disappearing from the thread and the site.
I somehow managed to get run over whilst I was walking on the pavement and I've had a lifetime of hospital and physio which curtailed all things home brew related.
Great to see my little question roused so much interest.

Incidentally, stuff I bottled more than a year ago has proven to be good/great/incredible still.
My foray into AG has lasted the time well, but not improved, funnily enough, coopers stout has developed into something otherwordly.

Have fun guys.

Bloody hell ! But you lived to tell the tale / now that’s got to be a great micro brewery in the making !

Glad you survived !!


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[Dutto]

It's a sad thing to admit, but the 5 litre MK's are either not big enough, or too big. for my needs!

i.e. With a "drinking beer" like a Bitter I can sup 5 litres in less than three days (obviously it's not big enough); but for an "occasional beer" such as an Oatmeal Stout I don't feel safe just pulling a pint every so often from a 5 litre keg and therefore much prefer bottles.

As a result, I have for sale:

• 9 MK's.
• A Flexi-Tap and CO2 Pressure Regulator.
• About 7 "soft tops" through which the Flexi-Tap is inserted. (*)
• About 7 "hard tops" which are used to allow air into the MK when it runs out of carbonation pressure. (*)

(*) I been experimenting with a few of the tops so I don't still have the original nine of each. The rest of the kit is (as far as I know) in good condition and the MK's have only been used about three times!

Bought new they would cost well over £100 and all I want is £30 for the lot. They are sold on the basis of:

• "No I'm not prepared to split them up."
• "No I'm not prepared to negotiate the price." and
• "Collect them yourself 'cos I can't be bothered to parcel them up."

If you want them, please PM me and we can organise a day for you to drop in at Skegness to pick them up.

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[Ghillie]

Hey guys,

Interested in the 5L Easy kegs as I'm fed up of bottling and lack the space for cornies, co2, another fridge, taps, etc... One of these would fit perfectly in our kitchen fridge.

I typically make IPA's and Pale Ales and normally carb at 2.5/2.6vols. Does the 15g of dextrose/table sugar give a well carbonated Pale Ale/IPA for those who keg them?

 

[3FJ]

Dredging up the past with this- fascinating read though- congrats to OP on not being allergic to cars.

Mini kegs- you'll get about 5 uses out of them before you scratch the lining somehow, or the lip of the rip and it starts getting rusty. Imparts a nice flavour but can't be good for you. If you try carbonating these, you'll rapidly find the tap trying to pop off, and they'll begin to leak around the edges. Cleaning is impossible. Cheap and cheerful middle ground between bottling and corny kegs. My advise is get the shop ones and reuse. Haven't seen a decent beer in one yet, but couple of half decent ciders. Cider is easier to clean, especially strongbow as its mostly bleach anyway.

 

[Mungri]

Used my easy kegs much more than 5 times each without problem. Give them a really good rinse after use and then sanitise and rinse just before next use.
Not managed to damage the edges and no rust on mine.
The only thing I would say is if it's the Huber keg, get as many of the 3 piece bungs as you can. I've had a couple of re-used bungs (used 3 or 4 times each) leak gas lately.
Never had a problem with the new bungs or taps trying to pop off under carbonation.

 

[Leon103]

Dredging up the past with this- fascinating read though- congrats to OP on not being allergic to cars.

Mini kegs- you'll get about 5 uses out of them before you scratch the lining somehow, or the lip of the rip and it starts getting rusty. Imparts a nice flavour but can't be good for you. If you try carbonating these, you'll rapidly find the tap trying to pop off, and they'll begin to leak around the edges. Cleaning is impossible. Cheap and cheerful middle ground between bottling and corny kegs. My advise is get the shop ones and reuse. Haven't seen a decent beer in one yet, but couple of half decent ciders. Cider is easier to clean, especially strongbow as its mostly bleach anyway.

Sorry got to disagree with this. Although they aren't perfect for highly carbonated beers I have never had taps looking to pop off, leaks, scratches or rust. Well looked after they will last for years

 

[Ghillie]

Used my easy kegs much more than 5 times each without problem. Give them a really good rinse after use and then sanitise and rinse just before next use.
Not managed to damage the edges and no rust on mine.
The only thing I would say is if it's the Huber keg, get as many of the 3 piece bungs as you can. I've had a couple of re-used bungs (used 3 or 4 times each) leak gas lately.
Never had a problem with the new bungs or taps trying to pop off under carbonation.

It's a few of these that I'm looking to buy:

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/easy-keg.html

How do you find carbonation in the keg, is it alright? I usually carbonate my brews at around 2.5vols, so if I can get close to that with the 20g sugar in the keg then I'd be happy enough!

 

[Ghillie]

Although they aren't perfect for highly carbonated beers I have never had taps looking to pop off, leaks, scratches or rust.

Happy to hear this!

So these wee kegs would be grand, carbonation wise, for your typical IPA or pale ale?

 

[Mungri]

It's a few of these that I'm looking to buy:

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/easy-keg.html

How do you find carbonation in the keg, is it alright? I usually carbonate my brews at around 2.5vols, so if I can get close to that with the 20g sugar in the keg then I'd be happy enough!

Carbonation is fine Ghillie. Depending on what I’m kegging I go up to 30g without a problem. That’s the max amount I’ve used personally. Usually 20 to 25g for my taste.
The ones your looking at are the Huber kegs, same as mine. I’ve found them really good for my needs. Would love a corny keg setup, but don’t have the space to refrigerate them.

 

[Ghillie]

Carbonation is fine Ghillie. Depending on what I’m kegging I go up to 30g without a problem. That’s the max amount I’ve used personally. Usually 20 to 25g for my taste.
The ones your looking at are the Huber kegs, same as mine. I’ve found them really good for my needs. Would love a corny keg setup, but don’t have the space to refrigerate them.

Ace Mungri, exactly what I wanted to hear!

Will try with an initial 20g then for my IPA and see how it goes. Quite looking forward to trying these now!

So when bottling, I racked to a bottling bucket first. Is the process the same for the kegs or do you go straight from primary?

 

[Mungri]

Ace Mungri, exactly what I wanted to hear!

Will try with an initial 20g then for my IPA and see how it goes. Quite looking forward to trying these now!

So when bottling, I racked to a bottling bucket first. Is the process the same for the kegs or do you go straight from primary?

Yes, if you normally rack to a bottling bucket just do the same for the kegs.

 

[FrankM]

This is what we use on the farm, we've had great feed back - https://www.darkfarm.co.uk/mini-keg-growler/

https://www.darkfarm.co.uk/shop/equipment/

Happy to offer thehomebrewforum.co.uk 15% off send me a message for discount code :)

YEP, I'M UP FOR A DISCOUNT! DO YOU SHIP TO SPAIN?

 

[Leon103]

Although I have been praising these kegs I have just noticed some amiss with my kegs.

I have recently finished a keg. I have done my usual good rinse with warm water and then let it dry. I put kitchen roll in it and shake throughout the day to collect as much water drops as I can.

Tonight I have gone to put the keg away but decided to look inside with a torch and a lot of side as a black staining. Don't think it's mould but like scum. Bit like if I don't clean my cycling bottles properly. (As experience this week).

I went in the garage and checked two other empty kegs and they are the same.

I usually rinse ans soak in starsun before use but I doubt the black marks will budge. The one in the house is not soaking with fairy and got water. I will see if its moves the marks if not I will try sodium procarbonate. It does make me worry about using the kegs

 

[Mungri]

Although I have been praising these kegs I have just noticed some amiss with my kegs.

I have recently finished a keg. I have done my usual good rinse with warm water and then let it dry. I put kitchen roll in it and shake throughout the day to collect as much water drops as I can.

Tonight I have gone to put the keg away but decided to look inside with a torch and a lot of side as a black staining. Don't think it's mould but like scum. Bit like if I don't clean my cycling bottles properly. (As experience this week).

I went in the garage and checked two other empty kegs and they are the same.

I usually rinse ans soak in starsun before use but I doubt the black marks will budge. The one in the house is not soaking with fairy and got water. I will see if its moves the marks if not I will try sodium procarbonate. It does make me worry about using the kegs

Just checked the couple I have empty at the moment. Thankfully nothing lurking. Inside looks nice and clean.
I use a cleaner / sanitizer in one which is based on sodium percarbonate.
Hopefully if you clean with something similar it will shift it.