corny keg price?

[malty_me]

iv been brewing for a few months now and have upgraded my setup to 2 fv's. iv been using bottles up until now but am really interested in going for a corny. iv seen a few corneys out there for alot of varying prices. all i want to know is how much you lot think a fair price would be for a complete corny setup ie...1 corney, tap, gas, regulator etc im on a budget of about 80 quid atm so i doubt i will be able to afford a full setup. but for future referance could somebody help me out with this question. cheers

 

[fbsf]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I don't think it's going to be possible for £80, unless you can find an absolute steal from one of the ad-rags from someone local who just wants rid. On Ebay, people know what they are worth, so market prices dictate.

For an ebay keg (condition unwarrantied) you are going to be looking at about £50 including shipping (maybe a little less, but around that price), then you are going to need at least £25 for a regulator, a couple of quid for gas pipe, some method of dispensing, and there's your £80 gone.

Before you've managed to get any CO2. Realistically, you're going to need about £130 for your first corny setup. I've just got a 2-cornie setup from Norm (refurbished, and warrantied) and it cost £180ish without gas. I got my gas from BOC who rent me the cylinder for £3ish a month, and a cylinder's worth of gas is about £25.

As knackered cornies and regulators (dents, bad seals) can end up as money pits, you are probably better off using bottles or trying to find some cheap local pressure barrels (you can normally find these for £5-10) until you can save up enough to do it properly.

 

[keevan]

You will be struggling with a £80 budget.

Have a look at Norm's eBay page for pretty much everything you need. Keg, disconnects and basic tap:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORNELIUS-19- ... 337d3da7ea


CO2 is probably the biggest hassle. I was lucky and found a place in Oxfordshire who will supply a pub cylinder rent free with a £19 exchange charge. I get a different cylinder each time as they are taken away to be refilled.

These things are handy for kegerators if you can get them filled after they are empty:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORNELIUS-KEG ... 4abd3ebf57

I have a fire extingusher company 5 minutes from me who refills mine for me. Not really too cheap at £9 for 2Kg :shock:


Just leaves you with a regulator to find. I went for a primary to 3 secondary and it set me back around £75. Harmony hut on ebay usually sell primaries but i can't see any listed. People have used these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CO2-Single-St ... 2a1ddd0269

but i'm not a fan of them as they are designed for welding. Don't buy a old "bargain" regulator from eBay. It's really not worth risking it with the kind of pressures in the bottles.

So then:

£75 Keg, tap, disconnects and line
£50 Gas bottle
£30 Regulator

£155 for a basic setup

On top of this lot you need to think about how you are going to cool your kegs. Try to dispense a warm keg and you will be rewarded with a pint of foam. My early failures put me off cornys for a while but i have since knocked together a keg fridge from an undercounter fridge from freecycle.

 

[keevan]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I don't think it's going to be possible for £80, unless you can find an absolute steal from one of the ad-rags from someone local who just wants rid. On Ebay, people know what they are worth, so market prices dictate.

For an ebay keg (condition unwarrantied) you are going to be looking at about £50 including shipping (maybe a little less, but around that price), then you are going to need at least £25 for a regulator, a couple of quid for gas pipe, some method of dispensing, and there's your £80 gone.

Before you've managed to get any CO2. Realistically, you're going to need about £130 for your first corny setup. I've just got a 2-cornie setup from Norm (refurbished, and warrantied) and it cost £180ish without gas. I got my gas from BOC who rent me the cylinder for £3ish a month, and a cylinder's worth of gas is about £25.

As knackered cornies and regulators (dents, bad seals) can end up as money pits, you are probably better off using bottles or trying to find some cheap local pressure barrels (you can normally find these for £5-10) until you can save up enough to do it properly.

Beat me to it

 

[fbsf]

Years of touch typing... :

Seriously though, with the chance of things going wrong, I would wait until you can afford a setup you are confident will last - buying discounted gas-related items from private ebayers is a good way to throw money down the drain.

 

[JABB]

CO2 is probably the biggest hassle. I was lucky and found a place in Oxfordshire who will supply a pub cylinder rent free with a £19 exchange charge. I get a different cylinder each time as they are taken away to be refilled.

Can I ask where please?

 

[malty_me]

Yeah this is kinda what I guessed would be the answer. Second question. Are pressure barrels any good? Honestly? So far everyone has told me they are ****. You never get the carbonation you want, they crack and split and are very difficult to refrigerate. Are these things true? If so are there any ways to fix them?

 

[Dave1970]

It depends whether you're brewing ales or lagers. You can get perfectly good carbonation for an ale from a plastic keg, you're going to struggle to get proper well carbed lager in a keg.
Cooling it is only a problem because of size, I've got a keg of ale in the garage now that's plenty cool enough because it's been cool at night.

You might manage to get a corny, a party tap and a portable CO2 charger for not much over £80.
If you get the party tap from Norm ask for the line to be replaced with 4 or 5 foot of 3/16ths line, it'll foam a lot less than the standard thicker line

In the long run this'll cost more in CO2 than a big bottle but it's a way of getting a working corny until you can build up to a proper system Once you go to a big bottle the portable charger & party tap are still handy if you take the corny to a party, away on holiday or whatever.

 

[keevan]

CO2 is probably the biggest hassle. I was lucky and found a place in Oxfordshire who will supply a pub cylinder rent free with a £19 exchange charge. I get a different cylinder each time as they are taken away to be refilled.

Can I ask where please?

This place

http://ctcwitney.co.uk/index.php/

I emailed them and they replied the same day. You need to have a bottle to exchange or buy one from them.

 

[keevan]

It depends whether you're brewing ales or lagers. You can get perfectly good carbonation for an ale from a plastic keg, you're going to struggle to get proper well carbed lager in a keg.
Cooling it is only a problem because of size, I've got a keg of ale in the garage now that's plenty cool enough because it's been cool at night.

You might manage to get a corny, a party tap and a portable CO2 charger for not much over £80.
If you get the party tap from Norm ask for the line to be replaced with 4 or 5 foot of 3/16ths line, it'll foam a lot less than the standard thicker line

In the long run this'll cost more in CO2 than a big bottle but it's a way of getting a working corny until you can build up to a proper system Once you go to a big bottle the portable charger & party tap are still handy if you take the corny to a party, away on holiday or whatever.

The portable keg chargers work quite well. I think i went through 2 x 16g bulbs for a full keg when i took one away with me. It was already fully carbed up though. Like dave1970 says, extend the beer line for the party tap and you should be fine.

You have to find the correct bulbs though as not all the 16g ones fit

 

[Fil]

CO2 is probably the biggest hassle. I was lucky and found a place in Oxfordshire who will supply a pub cylinder rent free with a £19 exchange charge. I get a different cylinder each time as they are taken away to be refilled.

Can I ask where please?

This place

http://ctcwitney.co.uk/index.php/

I emailed them and they replied the same day. You need to have a bottle to exchange or buy one from them.

its a bottle deposit afaik, not a purchase so if you 'retire' from serving up with c02 you should get it back.. also if closer andover patio centre will just give you a bottle for the price of a refill (pick up 2!)


conrny kegs themselves are just part of the dispensing system.. youve identified gas as another aspect of the system, a third being temp control.. depending on where you store your full kegs you may need to employ some active chilling. If your lucky enough to have a cellar with a constant cool temp that suits the style of beer you want to serve your laughing.
One of the features of the big metal surface of the kegs is they take on the ambient temp very readily. room temp beer will want to loose its condition as soon as you pour it resulting in foam..

Also chain or tie your gas bottle to the wall securely, before you start anything else.. one little knock or tug on a gas line is enough to topple a bottle, and if it lands on you it will hurt, and if it lands on the regulator it can break and dump all the gas in one... (could be leathal in a basement or enclosed space.)

 

[Windy]

Second question. Are pressure barrels any good?

If you get a decent one and sort out any issues you have then yes.

Honestly?

I have 3 King Kegs and no problems with them.

So far everyone has told me they are ****.

I'm sure you can get **** ones, some are very cheap!

You never get the carbonation you want.

If you are fussy then you can always fit a pressure regulator and get exactly what you want. The standard fixed 10psi pressure release wont suit everyone and every type of beer.

they crack and split

They are normally formed from two plastic parts which are welded together and the process can fail. Get a good one and they will never split.

are very difficult to refrigerate.

My standard sized fridge will take one King Keg without any difficulty. I guess some fridges are too small.

If so are there any ways to fix them?

A Widget World barrel Manifold will cheaply sort the pressure regulation. A Brewgas Keg Tap significantly improves pouring a drink. All other problems can be sorted...

 

[keevan]

its a bottle deposit afaik, not a purchase so if you 'retire' from serving up with c02 you should get it back.. also if closer andover patio centre will just give you a bottle for the price of a refill (pick up 2!)

If this is true then it wasn't made clear when i visited them. No details were exchanged and i walked out the shop with a bottle on the basis of bring it back and exchange it for a filled one. I've only exchanged it once and they didn't need any form of proof that i had the original from them.

The bottle i have has a purple collar. Can't check the brand as i'm working away this week.

Not planning on giving up anytime soon anyway s :