What's the best type of keg

[Cqr]

I'am thinking of starting to keg some of my beer
What would the more experienced keggers recomend
Crusaders or cornis, King keg etc
Crusaders look harder to clean out, but look less likely to leak
Any advice would be very welcome

 

[Spoc]

All my king kegs are fine I would recommend if you don't want to spend too much

 

[gl0ckage]

I have uses sankey kegs that pubs use, I have used casks and corny kegs.

I prefer sankey kegs if you have a big budget.
Corny kegs for ease of use and holds the right amounts.

I had to do bigger brews in my sankey kegs and casks.

Beer engine + cask + cask widge was easy to setup also

Everytime I used a pressure barrel I had terrible experiences. So sold all them.

 

[Godsdog]

I have 2 kks and 3 cornies,both have their advantages,kks will hold a full 23 litre plus a little more brew but cornies give you the real pub mouth feel imo,bottles? not for me far too much work although when cornie kegging If I brew to 23 litres i will bottle the excess as my cornies are 19 litres

 

[Fil]

while i use cornies I would recommend Sankey style kegs, the perceived benefit of the corny lid providing access is in reality of little use as an oxi solution and rinse will clean a keg without any need for physical access, and the simpler single seal construction allows you to keg n forget while cornies require an eye on internal pressure when off gas to avoid a lid seal fail should the internal pressure drop too low (while the headroom may have been pressured to 20 psi, its still small in volume and the co2 can be absorbed in full with a sudden temp drop like an early frost)

The kegs are only the storage aspect of a dispensing system which relies on a regulated co2 supply and temperature control over the beer. a keg fridge while not essential will make life easier, i get by without one but need to employ a shelf chiller for the warmer months..

 

[Cqr]

Sankey type sounds like the ones to go for

Thanks for your advice

 

[gl0ckage]

You do need the keg, a co2 regulator with a pressure relief valve on, a sankey fitting, a special sankey keg with the anti tamper spear removed so you have remove it at home.

There are a few more gadgets you need like a cleaning station.

 

[dan125]

I've got a KK bottom tap with cap spanner & half full co2 cylinder that I was going to ebay this week as I don't use it any more since getting the corny kegs.
I'm not too far from you - in Medway - let me know if you're interested.
:

 

[Graz]

If I was starting over again and I could get hold of a pub gas cylinder then I'd go with Cornelius kegs. Specifically this offer: http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/a-used-corny-kegs-pack-of-3-19lt-ball-lock-p-2796.html

As things stand I've already got three King Kegs and don't have the funds to upgrade at the moment. These do work fine for me, last kit I made only had to use a single CO2 bulb to get the last 4-5 pints out, the pressure from secondary fermentation was very good.

Any other options seem like quite a lot of hassle.

Do quite like the concept of the mini kegs though, could be ideal for taking some beer for camping, round to a mates, etc. so may get a few of these one day.

 

[Cqr]

I've got a KK bottom tap with cap spanner & half full co2 cylinder that I was going to ebay this week as I don't use it any more since getting the corny kegs.
I'm not too far from you - in Medway - let me know if you're interested.
:

How much do you want for the keg

 

[HebridesRob]

I have a King Keg, which I re-fill every time it empties but I only use it for bitter and mild style ales. The beer from it isn't too far away from cask ale served with a beer engine, totally unsuitable for highly carbonated styles like lager, in my opinion (would probably be good for stouts and porters but I like those bottled because I don't drink them that often).

 

[Cqr]

Thanks for the info Hebridesrob

 

[Cqr]

Thanks for the keg dan, I'am very happy with the condition etc
Was good to meat a fellow Brewer, even if your beer tastes better than mine :mrgreen:

 

[Soton]

Now you have a KK after a while you will start to think how you can improve on it and I have to say in my experience a corny keg is better, if you charge your KK with a S30 gas bottle you could then get a corny and fit a inline S30 valve to the lid of the corny then all you need if a standard corny ball valve with a direct fit beer tap and you will have two usable kegs, just treat the corny the same as a KK and prime the beer in the corny but add a touch of CO2 when you keg your beer from the S30 CO2 bottle to seal the lid and your good to go.
you could also use this for your CO2 with 16g bulbs http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compact-C...-Charger-Kegging-equipment-Brew-/111902156207 Ignore the price on there, if you get one from Aliexpress there are just a few pounds

The good thing if you did it that way and added a couple more corny kegs you could add a proper pub CO2 bottle and beer lines later, its a good way of spreading the costs while still using what you have

 

[dan125]

Thanks for the keg dan, I'am very happy with the condition etc
Was good to meat a fellow Brewer, even if your beer tastes better than mine :mrgreen:

Thanks for the compliment Cqr - its always good to chat about beer/brewing. Makes me wish there was a local homebrew club (ideally within walking distance).
:

 

[Cqr]

Thanks for the compliment Cqr - its always good to chat about beer/brewing. Makes me wish there was a local homebrew club (ideally within walking distance).
:

I have to agree a club would be great
I did think off starting a brewing club once
Take turns brewing at each other's houses etc
But with 3 kids times a problem

 

[dan125]

I have to agree a club would be great
I did think off starting a brewing club once
Take turns brewing at each other's houses etc
But with 3 kids times a problem

I know what you mean - especially If you wanted to include actual brewing at the meetings. It'd turn into an all day p**s up :lol:
There used to be a club in Maidstone I think that met in a pub same evening each month, but don't think they're still going.
Would it work at a regular rota of friendly pubs in different local towns so everyone got one 'local' meeting in every three or four??? Probably not I fear.

 

[Cqr]

Pub sound good
I was thinking of actual brewing, but as a drop in type of thing
Stay for the hole game lol, or a hour's socialising
But as I say hard to get things going with kids
Also I've only brewed 3 AG brews, but lots of kits and wine
So maybe I'am not the one to start this salt of thing off ??

 

[marlon]

I know what you mean - especially If you wanted to include actual brewing at the meetings. It'd turn into an all day p**s up :lol:
There used to be a club in Maidstone I think that met in a pub same evening each month, but don't think they're still going.
Would it work at a regular rota of friendly pubs in different local towns so everyone got one 'local' meeting in every three or four??? Probably not I fear.

They're still around. On facebook? - Check out 'Maidstone Brewers' and in Canterbury 'East Kent Amateur Brewers'

 

[Dutto]

Hmmmm .... ! A great Thread this one and a real thought provoker.

If, like me, you slowly work your way into brewing you look back with wonder at what you bought.

For me, I started off with enough bottles (40 x 500ml) to store a +/-20 litre brew. However, when I started to run out of beer I realised that for another brew I would need more storage if I didn't want to run out completely; so I bought a King Keg.

This combination was fine for a few brews but I discovered that some beers needed longer conditioning times (and filling 500ml bottles was a pain) so when I went to France I bought 650ml flip-top bottles (full of beer); and now have enough flip-top bottles to bottle 2 x 23 litre brews.

However, I was also increasing my experimentation so I needed yet more storage and added 3 x 5 litre MKs to my collection.

So, would I do things differently on the basis of "If I knew then what I know now ..."?

To be honest I'm pretty happy with what I have ... :thumb: :thumb:

... but I will probably buy another KK and three more MK's just to be sure! :lol: :lol: :lol: