Keg dispense setup

[Darren Jeory]

Hi can someone suggest the best/most cost effective way of setting up a dual corny keg system...or if there is a thread out there then chuck me in that direction?

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well I just made my own keggorator with a cheap fridge off Facebook Marketplace (maybe £20), a tower and twin tap setup (about £130) and maybe £20-worth of lines and connectors. Already had a 10ltr corny keg and 5litre mini keg and a soda stream bottle and regulator. The only problem re-using fridges is that you can struggle to fit in two full size corny kegs so be careful about the internal dimensions as the do vary. The fridge I got is slightly smaller so cannot fit in a full size corny keg but can get in a 9.5ltr one and a 5ltr one. Plenty of keg threads on here if you use the search function.

 

[DarrenUK]

Nice. This will be an interesting thread. Been looking into this myself.

 

[MmmBeer]

It's not cheap initially, but a proper CO2 cylinder (3.15 or 6.3 kg) is the most economical long term solution. Sodastream bottles may be fine as an emergency back up, but you will struggle to get more than one or two kegs use out of one.

Have a look on the BrewKegTap website for the ready madeup packages, they come with all the bits and good instructions. Some good 'how to' videos available on youtube and lots of good advice on this forum of course too.

 

[Darren Jeory]

Yeah I have a chest freezer that I'm gonna use so space won't be an issue.

I was looking at brewkegtap already and just wanted to see if anyone had any other insight that may be useful/cheaper

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Darren, i have 3 kegs, the first one i got from bkt with all the bits £125 i then got 2 more £60 each, the fridge i bought a brand new larder fridge, i have not drilled any holes in it mainly because of the warranty that will happen when it runs out, so at the moment i have 2 kegs and a 6.35kg gas bottle in it and use 2 party taps, with mods when i do them i will be able to get 3 full size kegs and 2 10L one's in, as mentioned above it is expensive but once done that's it and the kegs will last a life time

 

[DarrenUK]

Hi Darren, i have 3 kegs, the first one i got from bkt with all the bits £125 i then got 2 more £60 each, the fridge i bought a brand new larder fridge, i have not drilled any holes in it mainly because of the warranty that will happen when it runs out, so at the moment i have 2 kegs and a 6.35kg gas bottle in it and use 2 party taps, with mods when i do them i will be able to get 3 full size kegs and 2 10L one's in, as mentioned above it is expensive but once done that's it and the kegs will last a life time

Yeah I'm looking at two 10L stainless steel ones. Then I will get the rest of the parts as I go... Probably from China as there a bit cheaper. Except for the keg. The postage makes it far cheaper to buy here. But the 19L kit from BKT dose look well priced. I just prefer the stainless steel ones.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Darren, all my kegs are from bkt and are all stainless the quality of them is spot on, and they come pressurised so you know they are good can't fault them first class service

 

[Darren Jeory]

How easy is it to add a 2nd keg if I just get the one to start with?

 

[phildo79]

Very simple. Just buy a splitter JC fitting for your reg and some extra line as a gas disconnect.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

If you want to serve beers of different styles that should be served at different pressures, you'll need a secondary regular for each subsequent keg (i.e. one secondary for two kegs, two for three etc).

 

[phildo79]

If you want to serve beers of different styles that should be served at different pressures, you'll need a secondary regular for each subsequent keg (i.e. one secondary for two kegs, two for three etc).

Is that totally necessary? He could always set his kegs to different psi's first and then have them all hooked up to serving psi.

Edit: by different psi's I mean different levels of carbonation.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

I'm pretty sure the pressures would end up equalising. You may independently pressurise keg one to, say 15 PSI and keg two to 10 PSI, but as soon as you connect them both via a splitter to a regulator set at 15 PSI, keg two will pressurise to 15 PSI and conversely, if you set your regulator to 10 PSI, the regulator will vent keg one down to 10 PSI.

Though the more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to think I may be wrong.

 

[phildo79]

That might happen but only if you left your gas connected.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

But if you don't leave the gas connected, how will you dispense?

 

[AnimatedGIF]

To be honest, I never got onboard with the whole 'serving pressure' and disconnecting gas between sessions. My preference is to set the pressure once (to the desired carbing pressure) and not fiddle with anything until the keg is empty. So much easier and more enjoyable IMO. Although yes, this would mean a secondary regulator for serving two different styles.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I’d not bother with a secondary reg for additional gas lines until you find a problem with over or under carbonation.
I‘ve tried to balance both my beer lines so they pour a pint in about 15-20 seconds with around 12-15 psi pressure. With the fridge at 6C that gives me around 2-2.5 vols which suits most of the beers I tend to brew.
What is definitely useful is a 2 or 3 way manifold for isolating gas lines in the fridge most have the bonus of non-return valves to prevent beer going into the regulator as well.

Here’s my set up, I can just about squeeze a 30l kegstar keg in, I sometimes get one from a local brewery for parties.

 

[The Baron]

Binkei Huckaback is correct on the equalisation but there are a few compromises if you do not want to secondary reg. You could compromise on the carbonation on yours beers so they are both a mid way between each other or carb to what you want then get a 3/4 way gas distributor-gassing to the correct serving pressure for that one beer then turn off (at the distribution board)the one you have regassed so as it holds that pressure do not forget when gassing to keep the others turned off. You must also once re-gassed turn of the co2 each time at the cylinder.
It is not ideal but a slight work around but having said that a gas distributor will cost as much as a secondary anyway
This is not a ideal way and a pfaff and does not work absolute perfect

 

[stripeyjoe]

This is helpful, pick a pressure and temperature combo that will give you a carbonation level that suits most beers, 2.2-2.4 looks like it would suit most, exception being ale which I would have thought you would want a hand pump for and lambic/wheat beers which you're probably not going to be brewing that much!

 

[Broken Toe]

+1 for BrewKegTap great service and two kegs with everything you need apart from gas's at under £250 is good.

Might also be worth speaking to Ben at keg that and see what he can do for you?