Home Brew in a Keg?

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

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sven137
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2004 12:40 am

Home Brew in a Keg?

Post by sven137 »

I am becoming more and more interested in starting a home brewing hobby. I currently enjoy drinking beer at home through my keggerator and I was wondering if the two were compatible. I have read quite a bit lately about getting started in home brewing, but I have yet to see mentioned anything involving a home keg that I might be able to enjoy home brew through my keggerator. Any knowledge on this subject would be much appreciated...
BillyBock
Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:37 am
Location: Ohio

Kegging

Post by BillyBock »

Hi, Sven. Homebrewing is a relaxing and rewarding hobby. You truly can't buy the beers you can make at home.

As far as kegging goes, since you have a keggerator you have the expensive part laid down allready--the CO2 system, tap, and refrigeration. Most homebrewers use Cornelius kegs (Corny for short) as their kegs, these are the type that soda companies shipped their syrup in. They hold 5 gallons (a typical batch size) and are about 2 feet tall and 8-9 inches in diameter. Check the dimensions on your keggerator, you might be able to fit 2 cornies in there. I imagine there are some brewers that own standard kegs (15.5 gal?) But you'd have to have be brewing 15 gal batches to make it worth your while plus being able to legally own the keg. Check out www.morebeer.com or www.williamsbrewing.com and look under the kegging supplies to get an idea of what's out there. New cornies cost about $90, reconditioned cornies about $30-35, and of course price breaks if you get a bundle of them. You can get uncondition cornies for $15-25 depending on the source. For each keg you'll need a gas quick disconnect and a liquid quick disconnect, roughly $5 each. You may need some more liquid or gas tubing at about $0.50/foot.

Hope this helps.

v/r
Bill
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