Kegging my homebrew

kermettfrog · Jul 14, 2010

Hi everyone, first of all, forgive me if this has been discussed numerous times. I am completely new to the world of homebrew and just need a little help.

I successfully created and bottled my first batch of coopers lager. it went well but i dont want to have to bottle it every time. I noticed that i can buy a Cornelius Keg 19 Litre - Reconditioned keg for around Â£40.

My question is, what else do i need?

beer tap - will any do?
keg connector - what type?
co2 tank or injector - how much do i need?

I apologise for all the questions...Any help greatly appreciated :drink:

tron · Jul 14, 2010

Right i've just been through this last week and now have 2 cornies, heres what i did:

CO2: get a 2kg bottle from ebay (mine was from ebay then found it was actually norm from this forum) and a regulator with a couple of john guest speed fittings (just push the pipe in and away you go), Â£80 for the bottle and regulator.
Pipe: 3/8s gas pipe again from ebay, got 20 meters for about Â£8
Disconnect in/out: I got my disconnect out with a bit of pipe and a plastic tap attached for about Â£15 from http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk, you can also get the disconnect in from there which attaches to your regulator via a fitting, if you get your regulator from norm it comes with the correct fitting.

Probably could of been done cheaper, but im happy and pouring now :)

kermettfrog · Jul 14, 2010

tron said:
Right i've just been through this last week and now have 2 cornies, heres what i did:

CO2: get a 2kg bottle from ebay (mine was from ebay then found it was actually norm from this forum) and a regulator with a couple of john guest speed fittings (just push the pipe in and away you go), Â£80 for the bottle and regulator.
Pipe: 3/8s gas pipe again from ebay, got 20 meters for about Â£8
Disconnect in/out: I got my disconnect out with a bit of pipe and a plastic tap attached for about Â£15 from http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk, you can also get the disconnect in from there which attaches to your regulator via a fitting, if you get your regulator from norm it comes with the correct fitting.

Probably could of been done cheaper, but im happy and pouring now :)

I cant thank you enough for this info. il be making a start on this now.!!

kermettfrog · Jul 14, 2010

tron said:
Right i've just been through this last week and now have 2 cornies, heres what i did:

CO2: get a 2kg bottle from ebay (mine was from ebay then found it was actually norm from this forum) and a regulator with a couple of john guest speed fittings (just push the pipe in and away you go), Â£80 for the bottle and regulator.
Pipe: 3/8s gas pipe again from ebay, got 20 meters for about Â£8
Disconnect in/out: I got my disconnect out with a bit of pipe and a plastic tap attached for about Â£15 from http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk, you can also get the disconnect in from there which attaches to your regulator via a fitting, if you get your regulator from norm it comes with the correct fitting.

Probably could of been done cheaper, but im happy and pouring now :)

So can i attach the setup to a standard bar tap instead of using the disconnect tap?

Hawks · Jul 14, 2010

kermettfrog said:
So can i attach the setup to a standard bar tap instead of using the disconnect tap?

You will need the disconnect to get from the corny to a 3/8" pipe. You can then run this to a beer tap. Beer taps can have different size pipes in though so you may need a reducer ( and to decrease the chance of excess foam you may want to reduce down to 3/16" anyway for about 6 feet).

If you get a keg from Norm then you will get both disconnects and some pipe thrown in, so then you'll need the gas ( this I would not get from Norm, but purely as you may struggle getting someone to fill it, try and source pub gas) and a regulator.

Final set up for 1 corny will be gas cylinder - reg - 3/8" pipe - disconnect in - corny - disconnect out - 3/8" pipe - tap

If you were reducing then that would be an extra step between the last pipe and the tap. I have 3 dalex taps and they all have different pipes going into them.

Hope this helps
:thumb:

Finally, once you have one, you'll likely want two - so maybe try Norm for some 'bargain' ones - generally Â£60 for 2 kegs with 1 set of disconnects and pipe. :party: