Mini Keg System

[Brewfoo]

During the last meeting at Noble, Don(backhousebrew) brought his mini keg system which I've seen him use once before. I only know bottle conditioning and do not have any kegging knowledge or equipment. I recently made a batch which did not carbonate at all in the bottle even after two weeks. I used a new liquid yeast on the market from realbrewersyeast.com called "Lucky 7" and it is just an awesome tasting DIPA even flat. I even thought later how I would just add club soda to it and drink it in a glass with ice.

What I really need to do is learn about and invest in kegging. In the meantime, where can I find a mini keg system like Don's either at a local store or on-line?

[Marotte Brewery]

I would ask Don, as I have never seen a setup like that for Homebrew.

[maltbarley]

I think he said Addison's now carries it but I could be wrong. But you can find them elsewhere, too: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/party-st ... ystem.html

[backhousebrew]

During the last meeting at Noble, Don(backhousebrew) brought his mini keg system which I've seen him use once before. I only know bottle conditioning and do not have any kegging knowledge or equipment. I recently made a batch which did not carbonate at all in the bottle even after two weeks.
What I really need to do is learn about and invest in kegging. In the meantime, where can I find a mini keg system like Don's either at a local store or on-line?

I have found a few good uses for these kegs.
During a brew day at my house last year, one of the guys had an extra gallon of wort and we didn't want to pour it down the drain so I loaned him one of my mini kegs. I filed down a rubber bung until it fit in the mini keg hole and was air tight. The air lock was put in place and the mini keg became a mini fermenter!
The mini kegs are a good way to transport 5 litres of beer instead of 5 gallons. Just fill a mini keg from a corney keg and it's good to go.
To carbonate beer from a bottle, as long as you're going to drink it right away, it should be fine. I wouldn't try to store it due to oxydation. Eric has the top mechanism for around $75. He also carries the CO2 cartridges. You can buy the mini kegs full of beer and then re-use the keg with your own.
I

[Brewfoo]

I think he said Addison's now carries it but I could be wrong. But you can find them elsewhere, too: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/party-st ... ystem.html

Thank you for the link and Don for the info. After reading about it's usage, it's not meant to carbonate my flat beer like a regular keg would. I plan to learn more about kegging from some friends and go that route. Bottling does get old pretty quick but I do enjoy stocking my garage frig with various homebrews.

[grico]

I saw the top of the system at Addison on Friday. Its on the grain side of the rack in the middle of the shop by the DME.

[nico soze]

I'm still eyeballing that system. I found reports on the net that said while its intended to maintain carb as opposed to force carbing, it can be done in there. Also, it is suitable for "bottle conditioning" w sugar.

[Brewfoo]

So, AHP sells only the top portion? Where would I get the bottom? I don't want to have to drink a whole mini keg of commercial brew. Eric does sell regular kegging equipment, right? I might seriously try to learning how people keg, as lame as that sounds to some of you. I have just never been taught. What would I do with a corney keg if I don't have a frig for it or a kegarator?

[bwarbiany]

Looks like buying all that stuff from the link will cost $129 ...

Seems to me you could build a kegging system cheaper, through craigslist... Especially if you're willing to accept serving from a picnic tap while you're starting out before building a full kegerator with hard-mounted faucets.

This guy has a CO2 tank w/ regulator and 12 corny kegs available (not sure what his price is), but I'll bet if you took the tank/regulator and ALL 12 kegs, you'd probably get a good enough deal to resell some of the kegs to us at a slight markup and make back a good chunk of the cost of that tank & regulator...

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/for/2510890576.html

[nico soze]

You pretty much still need a dedicated fridge though

[bwarbiany]

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/app/2507006566.html

or similar...

[rex]

One of my friends (Maynerd on these boards) bought a similar setup from another BC member and I was never too impressed with it.

We used it a few times to try and carbonate/condition inside the keg and could never get the right level of carbonation. We tried half the normal amount as bottling, and even a third, and it was always way too foamy. IMO you just don't get very good control of the CO2 - we always had it dialed down to the lowest level and it was still too much.

[lexuschris]

Brewfoo, when I started here I was an extract brewer just about to try AG .. and after a few meetings and a few AG brews, I still couldn't find a good answer for "why are you still bottling?"

I am not a handy guy. I figured out a screwdriver a few years back, and I do own a drill. But other than hanging pictures for the wife or replacing a Qwikset lock on the backdoor, I am really a n00b in the physical realm of hardware.. (Yeah, another IT/software guy here!)

So, I did search on youtube and found many 'how to' for both kegging basics as well as a building your own kegerator out of an old Sanyo 4912 counter fridge.

I found a used Sanyo 4910 on craigslist.com, which somebody here pointed me to. Then, I ordered a dual tower/kegging system from Keggle Brewing.

A few weeks later, I had my working kegerator and started kegging my beer. There are several good posts covering this on our boards like this one .. and then a how-to link here ... and this one.

So, check it out .. and get ready to save bottling for those rare times you really need to age something or put things in bottles! It's been great!
--LexusChris

[Brewfoo]

Holy smokes. Thank you all, for your replies and research even on craiglist for me. I don't think this mini keg system is the answer to my problem. I'll have to get into kegging eventually.