Corny Keg but no fridge

[tondy79]

Hey all,

I'm interested in picking up a corny keg rather than using a pressure barrel or bottling, but I don't have (or have room for) a brew fridge right now.

I am wondering whether keeping the corny keg in a cooler spot in the house, and transfering across to 5l kegs which fit in my regular fridge is a workable approach.

Would the beer degrade quickly if not refrigerated?

If it would last a reasonable period, them I could transfer it, and chill and carbonate it in the small kegs...

 

[The Baron]

Right plenty of options, Keep the keg in cold places through winter spring etc should keep it cool.
Brew beers to the season i.e IPA's Lager styles in the winter when you can keep it in a colder place and bitters ales as it warms up going into summer as they should be served at warmer temps.
Then in the summer pull of 2 litre pop bottles and fridge them the beer will stay quite well carbed as long as you do not leave it too long a day or so is ok IMO.
Then get a fridge when you deem it suitable for you.
I use 2 litre pop bottles rather than keep going to my outside pub/bar and it serves ok from them

 

[obscure]

I use corny kegs (9.5L ones) in much the same way many people use pressure barrels, so I prime my keg with sugar and keep unrefrigerated.

But a few things to consider.

1. For me this works quite well for about 9 months of the year from about Mid September through to mid May. I suppose I could transfer to a smaller keg in the summer, but I find it easy to just switch completely to 5L kegs and bottles in the Summer.
2. Even if you do prime your keg to carbonate it you will need a source of CO2 I use a soda stream cylinder you can also use 16g cartridges or go for a proper size cylinder which would be the cheapest option.
3. This really only works for certain styles, basically beers that work well in pressure barrels so Bitter, Mild, some Stouts, brown ales etc. Basically if it is good served on a hand pump it will work well.
4. You may want to consider a flow control tap, as especially in the warmer months you will get a fair bit of foam otherwise.
5. Will the beer degrade - Most of the beers I keg are fairly low gravity session ales, that are drunk fairly quickly however it can still take me three to four weeks to finish a keg and that assumes I drink nothing else, but five or six weeks is more typical and I have seen no significant change in the beer from first tapping it to finishing the keg.

 

[Leon103]

Why don't you buy 5l cornies and not bother with a full size one?

 

[tondy79]

Excellent, thanks all, lots of food for thought here! Buying 5l cornies seems quite a bit more pricey than one large one, which is why I was hoping to stick with one large, one small.

Now, anyone looking to get rid of a corny keg in the Peterborough area?!

 

[obscure]

Why don't you buy 5l cornies and not bother with a full size one?

The big issue aside from cost with most 5L kegs is they are not cornies and have only a small opening making them more of a pain to clean. With a corny keg I can if needs be get my hand in to clean, I can also shine a torch into a corny keg and check there is no residue left in it. You can get 6.5L corny kegs and I have a couple but they are almost as expensive as a full sized one. Basically for the nine months of the year I can use them corny kegs are the superior choice.

 

[Siscokid85]

I used a maxi chiller with corny kegs for quite a while, served in my garage bar. Works fine for 9 months of the year, but at the ambient temperature in winter, there wasn't much call to switch the cooler on! Then in summer I found the beer in kegs weren't keeping very long at ambient! (or I wasn't drinking it quick enough!) so I found myself keeping them in my brew fridge with party taps, which then posed an issue when I wanted to ferment in there!

Long story short I got a cheap under counter fridge that fits 2 kegs in and I run the 2/16th line out the door seal to the font / gas regulator. This works for me the beer keeps for much longer as the keg itself is chilled. I am saving up for a kegland series X kegerator - something that looks a bit smarter than a second hand fridge, in the hope the mrs will allow it in the dining room!

Sorry, i havent really solved anything for you, but I like the idea of the pop bottles in the fridge though I think thats the way I would go, if you keep them sealed does the beer keep OK? You could fill them as you need them pretty easily with a kegland carbonation cap / tee thing.

I was getting rid of some kegs back in the summer and I am about 20 mins from peterborough so thats a b*gger! I have used naked keg on ebay in the past, great service and for £30ish more everything is reconditioned and working rather than buying a second hand keg and potentially buying a problem.

All the best.

 

[tondy79]

I used a maxi chiller with corny kegs for quite a while, served in my garage bar. Works fine for 9 months of the year, but at the ambient temperature in winter, there wasn't much call to switch the cooler on! Then in summer I found the beer in kegs weren't keeping very long at ambient! (or I wasn't drinking it quick enough!) so I found myself keeping them in my brew fridge with party taps, which then posed an issue when I wanted to ferment in there!

Long story short I got a cheap under counter fridge that fits 2 kegs in and I run the 2/16th line out the door seal to the font / gas regulator. This works for me the beer keeps for much longer as the keg itself is chilled. I am saving up for a kegland series X kegerator - something that looks a bit smarter than a second hand fridge, in the hope the mrs will allow it in the dining room!

Sorry, i havent really solved anything for you, but I like the idea of the pop bottles in the fridge though I think thats the way I would go, if you keep them sealed does the beer keep OK? You could fill them as you need them pretty easily with a kegland carbonation cap / tee thing.

I was getting rid of some kegs back in the summer and I am about 20 mins from peterborough so thats a b*gger! I have used naked keg on ebay in the past, great service and for £30ish more everything is reconditioned and working rather than buying a second hand keg and potentially buying a problem.

All the best.

Always the way! I'll check out naked keg, cheers!

 

[Rento]

I’d recommend cornies for bulk storage and use Kegland carbonation caps and t-piece on 3l Pepsi bottles (Iceland sell them). I have 3 of these I use and also 2x5l ss kegs. Tbh the ss mini Kegs are no better…..and about 50x more expensive! You can also see the level inside the Pepsi bottle which is great for filling via a liquid-liquid jumper. I also use a soda-stream bottle and mini regulator.

l’d also recommend a flow control tap and dispense At very low pressure…..2-3 Psi

 

[LeeH]

A small insulated bag and rotating prizes 2l pop bottles should work well.

 

[LeeH]

Something like this maybe, dimensions to be checked. Sodastream bottle can be stored on the outside, party tap coiled up on the inside.

LemonGirl 20-25L Hiking Backpack Cooler Bag Insulated Large Camping Backpack for Men Women Travel Picniic Lunch Amazon.co.uk

 

[tondy79]

I’d recommend cornies for bulk storage and use Kegland carbonation caps and t-piece on 3l Pepsi bottles (Iceland sell them). I have 3 of these I use and also 2x5l ss kegs. Tbh the ss mini Kegs are no better…..and about 50x more expensive! You can also see the level inside the Pepsi bottle which is great for filling via a liquid-liquid jumper. I also use a soda-stream bottle and mini regulator.

l’d also recommend a flow control tap and dispense At very low pressure…..2-3 Psi

I'm liking this idea, and much more economical! I have a party tap at the moment so will likely try that with the pepsi bottles initially, before looking at the flow control tap option

 

[Rento]

A party tap will be fine, you just need to adjust the pressure to suit. A meter if 3/16 line at a low serving pressure of say 3-5 psi should work.

 

[Rento]

I just saw this on instagram from nakedkeg (I’d recommend them). One of these flow controls with a ball lock rather than the prv is similar to one of my setups, although I use the older stainless steel kegland flow control

 

[tondy79]

I just saw this on instagram from nakedkeg (I’d recommend them). One of these flow controls with a ball lock rather than the prv is similar to one of my setups, although I use the older stainless steel kegland flow controlView attachment 82134

This looks perfect, thanks for the info!