Help me Keg

[sockmerchant]

I like bottles. I really do. I mostly brew belgian beers, and they seem to benefit from bottle conditioning. 

But damn it, I have been brewing too much lately. Getting hold of more and more bottles has become a major pain in the ass.

So I reckon i need to get into kegging. Not for the belgians mind you, but the session beers would be good.

There are a few kegging discussions that showed up in the search, but they seem to be from a year or more ago. 

My fermentation fridge fits two fermenters easy so I am sure i can fit one or more kegs in there as well (fridge is only for pilsner/lagers etc, so 10C max).

So...whats the best deal at the moment? Probably wont put taps on the fridge at this point so gun is fine. 

Thanks guys!

[sockmerchant]

Yeah the one i picked up wasnt too far off needing a check and half filled. So they are giving me a free check and another fill. Seems a good crowd 

[John H]

Where does one go to for clear 3/16 beer line?

[Druid]

If you are in Auckland, go to Pipeline WAM in Patiki Rd, Avondale- it's about $2.40 per metre.

Other places stock it but you want 8x5 LDPE tube (that's 5mm ID, 8MM OD).  I notice Brewcraft in Mt Eden Rd has some cheap looking stuff and craftbrewer.com.au also have it - pretty sure that the Pipeline price is the best I've seen so far.

Make sure you read up on getting the right lengths as you use the internal flow resistance of the beer line to balance the pressure in the keg so that the end flow at the tap is gentle enough not to froth the beer as it exits the lines.  I use anywhere from 3m to 8m. 

If you get the John Guest pipe connectors that screw on the back of your tap fitting and the corny disconnects with flare fittings (as opposed to barbs - see here) you can use John Guest fittings on them too, so you can easily interchange the lines to get a balanced system that suits the carbonation style of the beer that you happen to have on a given tap.

[John H]

Cheers - I noticed Blackwood and Paykels stock 4.8mm ID clear hose but wall thickness is only 0.9 which put me off (or shouldnt it?) {Pretty cheap $0.70/m

 

Usinthe calculators I can get away with 1.4-1.6m of 3/16(4.75mm) hose but need 2.5-3m of 5mm hose to balance my flows.

 

Pipeline WAM also seem to have a branch in East Tamaki - cheers - thats quite close to my work

 

[Druid]

That clear pipe sounds like the flimsy vinyl stuff.

You need to satisfy yourself whether a) it's food safe, b) it will cope with the pressures you want to run and c) with regards to taint etc, whether it's OK to have beer sitting in it for long periods of time between pours.

Beer is acidic anyway but when it's carbonated it will also have carbonic acid added to it - not sure what it will do in contact with cheaper plastics.

Also, regarding the lengths - I did all the calcs beforehand and discovered I still couldn't run anywhere near the levels of carbonation I wanted - hence the 8m lengths which just handles 6-7psi.  Interested to hear other experiences regarding beer line length.

[Smiffy]

The small size of hose will handle the pressure OK, but best to test on the CO2 bottle at say double the pressure you will ever use. As far as taint goes, I always run off 50 ml at the first pour of the day, mainly to rinse out the spout of the tap, that will also run out what has been sitting in my very short line.

As to length, I am using as short as possible, but with an added restriction which clamps the hose. I'm using 9psi at 9°C to give about 1.9 volumes carbonation.

I see the biggest problem with that sort of hose is that it goes hard over time, but the plus side, it is cheap enough to just replace. Its also not as tough as the nylon type stuff, but it shouldn't have to cope with being trodden on in a short run inside a beer fridge.

[Druid]

So a simple clamp works ok for restricting beer flow?

I always thought the pressure change across a hard restriction like that would cause the CO2 to come out of solution.

I had compensators built in to my taps but ended up removing them because they caused heavy foaming. I assumed any attempt at restriction would do the same.

Looks like I will have to do some experimenting.

[Smiffy]

I thought the same, but by using curved plates clamped onto the transparent tube, there are no sharp edges, and I can see that there is no foaming in the tube.

[Adam Sparks]

Hey guys... I just bought a corny from Brewrs Coop and a cylinder from PC.... But Im having  a devil of a time sealing this keg. Is it normal for them to leak like a bitch if you tip them upside down (and I mean, it almost pours out!) with no pressure? As it stands there is no way I could naturally carbonate in it. It is only sealed properly once under about 10-11psi

New seals?

[mattd2]

New little plastic feet for the lid, and seals. Most who naturally carb still purge the headpsace and seal the keg with bottled CO2 first.

[Matt Smith]

Have you tried flipping the lid 180 degrees? I have a couple that only seal one way. Either way, like mattd2 said, if you blast it will 10 psi initially, then purge it should seal.

[Adam Sparks]

Ah that makes sense.... cool, Ill grab those parts in the morning... cheers