Total keg newbie - few questions about corny ball lock kegs

[Do_you_realise]

Hey,

I picked up a couple of ball lock corny kegs ages ago. No other equipment and no idea what to do really.

For now I will probably only have one keg connected at once, although I do like the idea of being able to have both kegs connected in future and having them at different pressures. Also I live in York, any idea where I might be able to get cheap CO2 tanks nearby?

Finally, I can't afford (and don't have space for) a kegerator at the moment, however my next brew will be something to drink over Christmas so I'm thinking that for this brew I'll just have the keg setup sat in the garage and just drink it at whatever the ambient temperature is. I'll be brewing a best bitter so no real need for it to be overly chilled. Will that affect what I will need to buy in terms of tubing and taps?

Basically I'm looking for help building a complete list of what I'll need to purchase (and where from) in order to make this work. Really grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

EDIT: I've continued reading about this and come across the idea of having a single pressure regulator connected to a manifold which has taps on each keg. So e.g. if I have a keg on at serving pressure and I need to add a keg to force carbonate I can turn off the tap for the serving keg and bump up the pressure for the new keg. Does that work in practice?

 

[Fil]

In short you NEED a co2 supply and regulator, gas/beerline, and a tap.

My kegs all sit in an outhouse which is insulated against the extremes, come the end of spring/summer i do need a shelfchiller to serve but am fine the rest of the year, Its still worth insulatng your kegs to try and maintain a stable temp as far as you can tho.

the relationship between temperature and the level of condition that the beer can contain is critical so checking out and referring to kegging charts is well worthwhile
http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php

My co2 supplier is liquide air and costs £22 iirc per refil a 6.5-7kg bottle should last you a couple of years with a single keg if not longer so avoid monthly subscription contracts they are good for bars changing bottles every few weeks but for us are Very expensive options..

a basic welders regulator for circa £30 works well as corny kegs come with an intergral prv in the lid you dont need one on the regulator too, just ensure the output dial reads in psi :)

when it comes to serving when at ambient temps vent the keg to normalise the pressure before any pouring (pull the prv to vent off any excess pressure, as the keg fluctuates in temp so will the level of absorbed co2 in the beer(condition))

use 3/8" ldpe gas/beerline But also get a length (upto 2m) of 3/16" microline for the beer, the thin line restricts the flow and therfore helps balance of the kegs serving pressure, ideally you want to drop the pressure at the tap point to a nominal 1-2psi as its a sudden drop in pressure that can and will stimulate a foam out or fobbing, the thin line before the tap is the simplest method to sort this you can use flow control taps and inline flow control devices but tbh a length of microline is both cheaper and easier to maintain.


check ebay for taps, attached to ex pub fonts they can be heavy so only look for local ones,, a black plastic dalex style tap should cost £5-8 2nd use, attached to a font £15+

theres a bit more to it but lots of info on the web, browse digest and if you dont get somethng ask in here

happy kegging





http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php

 

[Do_you_realise]

Hi Fil,

That's great, thanks - lots to think about and digest.

One thing I'm not sure of is I can go out and buy a "co2 supply, regulator, gas line, beer line, and a tap, but the bit which would confuse the hell out of me is what kind of connectors/adapters I need. Are there certain kinds of adapters/fittings/etc which I need to go for? E.g. between regulator and gas line, gas line and corny keg, corny keg and beer line, beer line and tap?

Cheers.

 

[Fil]

co2 bottles and regs are fitted with a standard connecting thread, google "co2 info team onslaught" for a paintballers co2 info resource for details on co2 connections if your using a non standard co2 source.

3/8" ldpe line is the standard for co2, some folk invest in JG connectors to screw onto a regulator exit port (3/8" bsp thread i think??) but a 1/4" hosetail attachment with a jubilee clip works for me...

3/8" outside diameter ldpe gas line has a 1/4" inside diameter

JG fittings to step up/down from/to 3/16" line for the beer is the simplest solution.

when using jg fittings cut the line square with a sharp blade, dont use scissors as they will deform the tube before cutting and result in a curved cut, and double check every connection is pushed well home. Also if negotiating corners with the 3/8" line use a 90 degree bend fitting to avoid putting strain on the fittings, the tube is fairly rigid and thw fittings dont like sideways pressure

 

[Joeyriles]

Rob (the Malt Miller) is the man to talk to. I talked to him on the phone and he made sure I had all of the connectors and fittings that I needed. Very helpful and doesn't try and sell the stuff to you (though I went and bought it through him as a way of saying thank you for all the free advice.)