Thinking going back to corni kegs!!

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The homebrewcompany currently has a pack of 3 used ones for £108, beer line with tap for £14 and a reg for £70 or thereabouts (if those are what you want), which with forum discount is about £180 exl postage. Advantage with 3 is that you always have two on tap and the next one conditioning, them being secondhand isn't really an issue as they are all metal so inside damage/scratches etc are rare. A spare washer set is also worth considering getting to have to hand.
 
If you can get to Sunderland, Ashley gases in ryhope do a 6.5kg for £40 deposit, £9.91 refill. Got mine from there no bother.

Thx pal.
I'll look on it!
It might the way ahead tbh!
Only 19 mile away..not on Tyne tunnel.
£40 quid is good..& once I go it be plain sailing!
I'll tell how I get on.
Thx pal
 
The homebrewcompany currently has a pack of 3 used ones for £108, beer line with tap for £14 and a reg for £70 or thereabouts (if those are what you want), which with forum discount is about £180 exl postage. Advantage with 3 is that you always have two on tap and the next one conditioning, them being secondhand isn't really an issue as they are all metal so inside damage/scratches etc are rare. A spare washer set is also worth considering getting to have to hand.

Thx chewie,
That good..
But thinking one at the moment is nuff to handle!! Lol
Info overload...but I'll get there..
 
So!!
The corni kit..delivered by weds..check!
A tank from Sunderland on Monday..check!
Clean it all and look more on the forum and YouTube...check!
Phewwww! Me head is buzzing
 
You can keg condition by using priming sugar in the keg. I do this as saves on gas (you still need a burst of CO2 to seal the lid and to dispense). Has its disadvantages but works for me, so an option for you to consider.
 
You dont need a keg fridge, however it will make life easier,
But if you have a spot that you can maintain a constant cool temp, it can be done. I manage most of the year OK needing a shelf chiller for the summer months.
It does involve a bit more active management of the co2 pressure and the natural level of condition can swing somewhat with the seasons meaning i can serve some fizzy bitters mid winter.
You can also use a bit more co2 as its always wise to vent a keg prior to pouring from it to counter any condition loss and overpressurisation of the keg.

shelf chillers cant be enclosed without overheating and can be quite noisy in a quiet home, so if your pockets are deep you could look at a flash chiller like the pygmys http://www.lindr.cz/products/pygmy-25k These connect to a keg and are ready to serve chilled beer at the flick of a switch..

even with a party tap its a good idea to insert a length of restricting 3/16" microline before the tap if you intent to keep kegs at condition maintaining levels of pressure. without it you will need to reduce the keg pressure to nominal to serve foam free..

:-(:-( look at the price!!!
 
Well before I get onto beer lines n stuff..the corni keg will be delivered well before doing my kegirator type of thing!!
So thought this was better than a party tap! Don't u think
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

thats as much use as a chocolate T-pot :( perhaps i exaggerate a tad, but in order to use that you will need to drop the keg pressure to a nominal pressure well below the level to retain hardly any condition.. And any option to hack it to include a length of pressure reducing microline will cost a lot more than you will want to spend... I know cos i once thought it would be a good idea myself :)
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

thats as much use as a chocolate T-pot :( perhaps i exaggerate a tad, but in order to use that you will need to drop the keg pressure to a nominal pressure well below the level to retain hardly any condition.. And any option to hack it to include a length of pressure reducing microline will cost a lot more than you will want to spend... I know cos i once thought it would be a good idea myself :)

Ohhhh!! It looked ok on YouTube!
Ok it gets a bad press!
Looking at a experience HB I'd think it would be good for me? No lines n stuff.
Looked at the operation of it! Lowering the dispensing delivery...
Oh well did think after looking at all the vids on balancing the lines, how much beer line needed blah blah blah then a tap just plonked to the corni, no beer line or nowt!!
But it still pores!!
 
Agree with Fil, I started on one of those and it just gives you a glass of foam.

Looks like the party tap is the best option for me!! For now...
I'm thinking for all I don't drink much!! (Could change lol)
Three corni's..
One beer corni...one emply corni for filtering into (looking on the filtering now!) and a spare..
You just know I want to brew more!
I've got nuff grains n stuff for 3 x brews, even though there are small batches..
I'm thinking (ohhh god! Bri's thinking! Here we go!...)
From now one 18l batches to accommodate into the kegs!
But that a question on my other threads for 'How much grains to add to make up 18l from a smaller batch recipe?'
TBH all this learning is good for me...and not jumping in..
So as I said so far:
1 x corni keg kit...bought.
Additional kegs..to be sorted.
Co2 tank...to be sorted.
Additional kegs..to be sorted.
Filtering... to be sorted.
Eventually get the beer lines for balancing and when get the kegirators or what ever the fridge is called.
I could just use my old chest freezer (see an old thread) for cool the corni and use the party tap in the mean time...
Means off Loading food into the up right freezer lol

Mind I think why the kegirator dilemma didn't work there not nuff room for 2x corni's to fit (unless cutting the inside..) just one..
Happy Sunday!
 
Hi There

I have recently made a keezer and I did find it a tad technical but not insurmountable. I went down the same route as yourself by using a freezer. It works lovely and when I wired in the inkbird I didn't put any heating element in it and it still holds temp lovely to within a degree. The only thing is that you will either need to drill the collar for taps or get a beer tower like I did. Another wee tip would be to ask your local pub for bits and pieces. They nearly all have some taps/towers and line in the cellars that is not being used. I bought my beer tower off ebay but I pimped it with commercial taps that my local kindly gave me for free. They were real good quality Dalex taps, some with flow control.

Here is a wee pic of my set up now. I will be changing the cider handle soon - I don't like brands but the taps themselves are great.

DSCF0052.jpg
 
Hi There

I have recently made a keezer and I did find it a tad technical but not insurmountable. I went down the same route as yourself by using a freezer. It works lovely and when I wired in the inkbird I didn't put any heating element in it and it still holds temp lovely to within a degree. The only thing is that you will either need to drill the collar for taps or get a beer tower like I did. Another wee tip would be to ask your local pub for bits and pieces. They nearly all have some taps/towers and line in the cellars that is not being used. I bought my beer tower off ebay but I pimped it with commercial taps that my local kindly gave me for free. They were real good quality Dalex taps, some with flow control.

Here is a wee pic of my set up now. I will be changing the cider handle soon - I don't like brands but the taps themselves are great.

Great set up pal!
Had a couple of taps from Fil but don't know where they are..think in stogage up Scotland.
 
My preference would be for good ol 2nd use ex pub dalex style taps, either in standard black plastic or nice shiney SS from a branded font. While many crave the pertlick? style taps similar to the snap on keg type they one MAJOR drawback, the spouts are part and parcel of the tap and cannot be removed.

now that not sound too bad to start with However unless you adopt the commercial practice of regular line/tap cleaning, you can find the tap spout builds up gunk inside it from a film build up of succesive pours.

a dalex style tap allows you to simply unscrew the spout and soak clean between sessions ;)

this became apparent to me after i went to pour from a keg that had been online for some months and didnt contain the best brew so was last in line to sample from, And i flipped over the tap lever and nothing!! it transpired that the spout had gunked up and whatever was living on it had grown to fill the void of the spout and sealed up the tap!!

SO now i pull tap spouts after a session and soak em till the next session simple, with the pertlick style taps you will need something like a squeezey bottle and bucket to squeeze a cleaner/rinse up the tap spout, and or buy the special silicone cups they sell to cover the tap spouts to keep the fungus gnats out.
 
Thx Fil..
Great advice...👍
I failgy remember the bars I used to run as I mess manager for a bit!! The taps etc were soaked every day!! It's all coming back to me!! 4 bottles of speckled hen it's a micacle...lol
Thx pal
 
My 4 penneth after HRMC brewing for 6 months with 14 x 25l Corni kegs. Got them from Chris https://www.kegtopia.co.uk/shop/ Perfect for us. Now on gyle 26. 25l = 22.7l batches, dropped straight in the keg.
To dispense we generally use taps direct with disconnects on the kegs. Dispense into glasses and let it settle, no problem. 3pt Jugs and decant out coped with big events. Taps go in Star san every night, infact every fek'n thing gets SS at every opportunity, never had beerstone or gunge. One batch failed due to me forgetting to purge the cask with CO2,,,,:doh: Ne-way CO2 runs @ 4psi delivering got a split feed to two gas in disconnects. One 6.5 cylinder has lasted a season. So you should have plenty. I don't prime with dex as I have plenty co2!! and like simplicity (less trub) but be sure to mega purge and cold condition @ 20psi for a week @ 2-6*C then leave for a fortnight. No isinglass, but beer is clear as a bell. I shift the kegs into our kitchen end of night as it is cooler. System works and had no failures in equipment. I am still an extract/hop tea brewer though,,,, :whistle: But learning and enjoying it! (Ex-pat Geordie too!) You shoudn't need the filter unless you need cleared beer urgently. I draw bright beer to another keg if we are partying/travelling,,, Cornie kegs are the biz!
 
Before I act! Just want your opinion...looked a few on YouTube..
If it viable and does the job why not??
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Keg-Beer-Filter-The-Home-Brew-Shop-UK.html

Thx

Sorry Bri, not a good idea at all.. i tried it with 2 x 10" filter housings using 1 x 5 micron filter before 1 x 2 micron filter. started off ok but the trickle of beer into the receiving keg soon stopped requiering a pressure increase to push it through etc.. by the time it was circa 60psi pushing the beer through the 2 x filters the plumbing started to fail atomising the beer ;) the atomised beer penetrated curtains carpets and wall paper and soon turned to a sour stale beer smell. ;( If you do attempt keg to gek filtering do so outside ....
 
My 4 penneth after HRMC brewing for 6 months with 14 x 25l Corni kegs. Got them from Chris https://www.kegtopia.co.uk/shop/ Perfect for us. Now on gyle 26. 25l = 22.7l batches, dropped straight in the keg.
To dispense we generally use taps direct with disconnects on the kegs. Dispense into glasses and let it settle, no problem. 3pt Jugs and decant out coped with big events. Taps go in Star san every night, infact every fek'n thing gets SS at every opportunity, never had beerstone or gunge. One batch failed due to me forgetting to purge the cask with CO2,,,,:doh: Ne-way CO2 runs @ 4psi delivering got a split feed to two gas in disconnects. One 6.5 cylinder has lasted a season. So you should have plenty. I don't prime with dex as I have plenty co2!! and like simplicity (less trub) but be sure to mega purge and cold condition @ 20psi for a week @ 2-6*C then leave for a fortnight. No isinglass, but beer is clear as a bell. I shift the kegs into our kitchen end of night as it is cooler. System works and had no failures in equipment. I am still an extract/hop tea brewer though,,,, :whistle: But learning and enjoying it! (Ex-pat Geordie too!) You shoudn't need the filter unless you need cleared beer urgently. I draw bright beer to another keg if we are partying/travelling,,, Cornie kegs are the biz!

Hallow Druncan,
Great read pal.
I'll send a better message once I've woken up! 4 bottles of old specked hen n the best nites sleep in two years since I had to give up alcohol!!
This thread is as ya know me re learning things due to my memory being smashed in..
I love with my questions being put straight and being sure I don't buy **** I don't need, or doing something not right!
I'll do forced carbonation just to try it! But the rest condition it with time..
Have to take our lass to work...!
 

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