12 replies to this topic

[Bigeasy]

Woohoo I've got my first kegs.Got a good deal too.They're shiny and glorious.Bottling was beginning to affect my enjoyment of the hobby....Anyway,my questions are these:I intend to run three kegs for now,soon to four with cobra taps in a fridge.Is a check valved gas distributor a must?Can I get away with a series of tees?As I'll be carbing all my beers to about the same level and pushing them with the same psi it seems the tees are ok...?I don't mean to go cheap if it will affect the performance of the system at all.Is there a tool to test carb level while force carbing a keg?How often should I proactively change o rings?For the foreseeable future I think any one of the new $40-$50 regulators on ebay will serve me well.If you know of a better deal hook a brother up.I think I've covered the interwebs pretty thoroughly as far as kegging resources....are there any secret places for hose and o rings and such?And lastly,how delicious is that first kegged pint gonna be?Thanks.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Woohoo I've got my first kegs.Got a good deal too.They're shiny and glorious.Bottling was beginning to affect my enjoyment of the hobby....Anyway,my questions are these:I intend to run three kegs for now,soon to four with cobra taps in a fridge.Is a check valved gas distributor a must?Can I get away with a series of tees?As I'll be carbing all my beers to about the same level and pushing them with the same psi it seems the tees are ok...?I don't mean to go cheap if it will affect the performance of the system at all.Is there a tool to test carb level while force carbing a keg?How often should I proactively change o rings?For the foreseeable future I think any one of the new $40-$50 regulators on ebay will serve me well.If you know of a better deal hook a brother up.I think I've covered the interwebs pretty thoroughly as far as kegging resources....are there any secret places for hose and o rings and such?And lastly,how delicious is that first kegged pint gonna be?Thanks.

You can use Ts but having a manifold with checkvalves and shut off valves is very nice and I would recommend it. With 4 kegs on tap you may also want to consider at least being able to run 2 different PSIs.Tool for testing carb level - your mouth.I don't know how often to change the o-rings but I would say that you should keep them lubed up with keg lube. It will make them seat better and will extend the life by reducing wear and tear.I haven't recently researched regulators but I used to like micromatic for all of my kegging bits and pieces.It seems like maybe mcmaster-carr might not be a bad place for hose and clamps if you need to buy a decent amount of hose.Good luck!

[MakeMeHoppy]

I agree on the manifold. It will allow you the ability to turn gas off to other kegs and they usually have the build in check valve to protect your regulator. Even if you serve all the beer at the same PSI you still want the manifold. You can force carb a keg by turning the co2 off to the already completed kegs and just run high pressure to the new keg overnight.Congrats and welcome to kegging, you'll never go back.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Congrats and welcome to kegging, you'll never go back.

I actually went back and bottled one batch of beer after kegging for a year. It's not something I want to do more than one or two times a year

[RommelMagic]

You can use Ts but having a manifold with checkvalves and shut off valves is very nice and I would recommend it. With 4 kegs on tap you may also want to consider at least being able to run 2 different PSIs.Tool for testing carb level - your mouth.I don't know how often to change the o-rings but I would say that you should keep them lubed up with keg lube. It will make them seat better and will extend the life by reducing wear and tear.I haven't recently researched regulators but I used to like micromatic for all of my kegging bits and pieces.It seems like maybe mcmaster-carr might not be a bad place for hose and clamps if you need to buy a decent amount of hose.Good luck!

+1I would definitely get a check valve. If you overcarb and disconnect the keg (or for some reason the keg is pressurized over the pressure coming out of your regulator) then reconnect later, you could end up pushing beer into your regulator, then be prepared to buy a new one. It's much cheaper to just add a check valve. McMaster sells the o-rings (sorry I don't have part #s).As far as breaking down the kegs, I rarely do, and I've only changed the rings like once in the 3(?) years I've kegged. Like said above, use keg lube and increase the life of the rings. it'll also be easier to get the disconnect on and off

[ncbeerbrewer]

Woohoo I've got my first kegs.Got a good deal too.They're shiny and glorious.Bottling was beginning to affect my enjoyment of the hobby....Anyway,my questions are these:I intend to run three kegs for now,soon to four with cobra taps in a fridge.Is a check valved gas distributor a must?Can I get away with a series of tees?As I'll be carbing all my beers to about the same level and pushing them with the same psi it seems the tees are ok...?I don't mean to go cheap if it will affect the performance of the system at all.Is there a tool to test carb level while force carbing a keg?How often should I proactively change o rings?For the foreseeable future I think any one of the new $40-$50 regulators on ebay will serve me well.If you know of a better deal hook a brother up.I think I've covered the interwebs pretty thoroughly as far as kegging resources....are there any secret places for hose and o rings and such?And lastly,how delicious is that first kegged pint gonna be?Thanks.

Congrats Bigeasy. You are going to love kegged beer and yes never go back to bottles. You can have your kegs cleaned and beer transferred into them in the time it takes to bottle one batch of beer. I agree with the previous posts that you will wanna get a manifold as its nice to shut off the gas after a keg is carbed to save some gas as well. A tool you can build to test your carb levels. Here is a link to a fellow homebrew club members page that explains how to build this tool. Pressure TesterI agree that you might not need to change your O rings too often unless you see some visible wear and tear but using keglube is a great idea and I suggest that as well. As to a supplier I say check your Local Homebrew Shop but I think McMaster Carr supplies them too. As to a regulator and a manifold I suggest Beverage Factory I bought all my initial kegerator parts there and I think I got a single gauge regulator brand new for $35 too. Great site and company if you ask me. Lastly welcome to kegging it will serve you well. Enjoy your beer!!!

[Big Nake]

I want to ask a question and I hope it doesn't derail or hijack the thread.I have been thinking of replacing my 2-keg draft fridge with a 4-keg chest freezer. I have two 5lb tanks in my draft fridge, one for each keg. Both are set for serving at 8-10 psi. If I used 1 tank to serve two kegs, could I just split that line with a "T" since they will always be set to serving pressure? I have another tank that I use for force-carbing. BigEasy... you will absolutely love kegging. Cheers.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I want to ask a question and I hope it doesn't derail or hijack the thread.I have been thinking of replacing my 2-keg draft fridge with a 4-keg chest freezer. I have two 5lb tanks in my draft fridge, one for each keg. Both are set for serving at 8-10 psi. If I used 1 tank to serve two kegs, could I just split that line with a "T" since they will always be set to serving pressure? I have another tank that I use for force-carbing. BigEasy... you will absolutely love kegging. Cheers.

I don't see why this would be a problem.

[Thirsty]

I want to ask a question and I hope it doesn't derail or hijack the thread.I have been thinking of replacing my 2-keg draft fridge with a 4-keg chest freezer. I have two 5lb tanks in my draft fridge, one for each keg. Both are set for serving at 8-10 psi. If I used 1 tank to serve two kegs, could I just split that line with a "T" since they will always be set to serving pressure? I have another tank that I use for force-carbing. BigEasy... you will absolutely love kegging. Cheers.

A T will work, however I feel that a "wye" adapter is better, because you can thread on a shutoff check valve to each line. This is a pic of a manifold that is now in my "equipment graveyard", which I used in my old kegerator. I split it into 4 lines, each with a shutoff. Hope that helps.

[Bigeasy]

Thanks for the tips and links guys.

I agree on the manifold. It will allow you the ability to turn gas off to other kegs and they usually have the build in check valve to protect your regulator. Even if you serve all the beer at the same PSI you still want the manifold. You can force carb a keg by turning the co2 off to the already completed kegs and just run high pressure to the new keg overnight.Congrats and welcome to kegging, you'll never go back.

The overnight force carb makes it worthwhile alone.Thanks,I was wrestling with that.

A T will work, however I feel that a "wye" adapter is better, because you can thread on a shutoff check valve to each line. This is a pic of a manifold that is now in my "equipment graveyard", which I used in my old kegerator. I split it into 4 lines, each with a shutoff. Hope that helps.

Graveyard,huh?Split 4 ways you say,like I was talkin about?Each with a check?Graveyard,eh?

[Thirsty]

Graveyard,eh?

Yeah, it is unfortunately a large and expanding area of my garage that is collecting very nice, but now obsolete equipt as my system itself expands and gets trimlined.

[Big Nake]

BigEasy: Notice how he didn't even get your hint?Thirsty, the words "Equipment Graveyard" so oh-so-attractive to new brewers!

[Thirsty]

BigEasy: Notice how he didn't even get your hint?Thirsty, the words "Equipment Graveyard" so oh-so-attractive to new brewers!

Oh I got it, unfortunately I seem to be the go-to guy every time a friend wants to build a kegerator. So my graveyard then becomes a parts dept. I thought it was nuts to buy a 7/8" stepped drill bit, who knew I was going to drill about 400 holes with once owned! Hey its all for the sake of draft beer.