let's see your kegerators...

[glockaddict]

I'll start with mine..i put it together about eight years ago and run nothing but Shiner Bock...

 

[StriderTB]

Nice work! How long do kegs stay fresh once they're tapped?

 

[glockaddict]

i heard about 45 to 60 days but not sure because i go thru one keg a month...

 

[sirsloop]

Beer stays good for quite a long time in a keg. Its by far the best non-flavor adding long term storage container. I have a few beers that I just kicked that were 2 years old. Average age of my homebrew beer is around 12 months, granted its mostly imperial ales, barleywine, dark strong belgians, etc. I just drank a sam adams triple bock from THE 90s!!! These large beers need time to smooth out.

Your standard lager or american ale is best around the 3-4month range. Its not going to go bad as long as its not getting any oxygen, light, and is not already contaminated. The hop flavor will subside and you'll have a lifeless piss water tho.

These numbers are coming from using a CO2 system. If you are using a hand pump thats pumping air into the keg (cask style) you've got a week tops before the beer gets overly oxidized and infected/sour.

Here's my Sanyo 4910 mini-keggerator build up!

 

[nathank]

Love the Shiner kegerator!

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Here's mine...It's a True...

 

[Buford T. Justice]

Beer stays good for quite a long time in a keg. Its by far the best non-flavor adding long term storage container. I have a few beers that I just kicked that were 2 years old. Average age of my homebrew beer is around 12 months, granted its mostly imperial ales, barleywine, dark strong belgians, etc. I just drank a sam adams triple bock from THE 90s!!! These large beers need time to smooth out.

Your standard lager or american ale is best around the 3-4month range. Its not going to go bad as long as its not getting any oxygen, light, and is not already contaminated. The hop flavor will subside and you'll have a lifeless piss water tho.

These numbers are coming from using a CO2 system. If you are using a hand pump tYhats pumping air into the keg (cask style) you've got a week tops before the beer gets overly oxidized and infected/sour.

Here's my Sanyo 4910 mini-keggerator build up!

Holy smokes man! and I thought I like my beer! I've always just told the old lassie what to get and when it arrived home I chill it and drink 'er down. You've put some serious science into this haven't ya chap

 

[glockaddict]

lets resurrect this thread.....

 

[drmarkr]

Ya'll need some custom tap handles...like these I made for a buddy. ...

 

[92GreenYJ]

I always feel slightly bad posting my behemoth. But only for a second. 8 taps. 8 5 gallon kegs of home brewed goodness on call at any time. And yes, I made the rap handles myself. I'm more into metal than wood working

And my mobile 4 tap jockey box rig for ice cold brews while out camping in the desert

And for the heck of it, where the brews are made (also built by yours truly)

 

[38Chevy454]

Not so spectacular, just a converted old frig:


I live close by Sierra Blanca Brewery, so I keep two 5 gal kegs on tap in the frig. usually an IPA and then something else, been liking the Outlaw Lager recently.
http://www.sierrablancabrewery.com/beers.html

No home brewing for me, just do not have the time. Wish i was closer to have Shiner Bock on tap, one of my favorites!

 

[ERICNUSOURCE]

Great Post! What would we do without them!

 

[SpeedCoach]

This is my home unit:

And just finished making my "off the grid' variant for some upcoming race weekend camping trips:

 

[Zogman]

Bump bump. Come on guys, need more pics. I'm looking to get my man cave hooked up soon I and need more ideas. Thanks!!!

 

[ADSR]

lol this thread is awesome!

 

[JonnyMac]

This is my home unit:

And just finished making my "off the grid' variant for some upcoming race weekend camping trips:

Thats an awesome idea, to use dry ice, I do find it puzzling that such a good looking set up and fine looking ale is accompanied by cans of coors light!!

 

[trainer]

here's mine
Based on a 50's International Harvester fridge

 

[malibu101]

I know almost nothing about beer in barrels so I ask the following.

A barrel like in this picture holds beer? I've only seen soda like that. Beer has always been in a different style barrel.

A 1/4 barrel as I know beer to come in holds 7.75 gallons.
How much does one of these hold?

Are these style normal for beer or am I just that lost.

 

[sayoda]

You are right, that is called a soda keg. And they are used for homebrewing beer.

 

[92GreenYJ]

You are right, that is called a soda keg. And they are used for homebrewing beer.

This. It's due to how commercial kegs are sealed. Commercial beer kegs use what's called a Sankey fitting on the top. A special valve is installed with a ball to keep the contents in and sealed. This is far too cumbersome and expensive to acquire the correct equipment to be able to drain, clean, and fill for the home brewer.

The soda kegs (Cornelius kegs by proper name) were produced back in the day for both Pepsi and Coke and came in two sizes and two configurations. Pepsi kegs are the more desirable as they used ball lock fittings as opposed to pin lock. The most common size is the 5 gallon ones you see pictured in this thread, however there were some 3 gallon ones produced.

The benefit of using these is they have a removable center cap. This makes it very easy to open, drain, clean, sanitize, and fill for the home brewer. The residual co2 pressure is bled off, the cap is opened, you drain out the remaining dregs of beer the tube could not pick up (usually less than half a cup worth) and you can actually get a brush down in there to properly clean it out. To fill the beer is just transferred via a hose from your brewing bucket or vessel straight in. Then reseal the cap, hook it to co2 for a day or two and the beer is carbonated and ready to drink.

In this pic of the inside of my kegerator you can clearly see the removable lids with the small pressure relief valve in the middle. The little wire cage thing just flips up and the center drops out

 

[malibu101]

I now understand the basics of beer barrels.
I did not know (or ever really think about) how homebrewers packaged their product.

Thank you for the info!

 

[Jim B]

Then reseal the cap, hook it to co2 for a day or two and the beer is carbonated and ready to drink.

Or in a Beer Emergency you can chill the keg, hook up the CO2 at about 12 to 14 psi and roll the keg on the floor with your foot for about min. Instant carbonation.

Very nice keg setup, BTW.

 

[duckdogs]

1949 General Electric built by GMC. Painted in HOK Candy red over grey metallic. Was my winter project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ADSR]

1949 General Electric built by GMC. Painted in HOK Candy red over grey metallic. Was my winter project.

Holy cow! Thanks for posting it!

Beautiful!

 

[92GreenYJ]

Or in a Beer Emergency you can chill the keg, hook up the CO2 at about 12 to 14 psi and roll the keg on the floor with your foot for about min. Instant carbonation.

Very nice keg setup, BTW.

That's why you brew enough to always have plenty on hand

 

[92GreenYJ]

I now understand the basics of beer barrels.
I did not know (or ever really think about) how homebrewers packaged their product.

Thank you for the info!

Well there is also bottling as well. Most home brewers start out that way, but it gets old and tedious pretty fast so most upgrade to a keg set up.

With bottling it also takes longer before you have drinkable beer. When using kegs, the beer gets carbonated by co2 being hooked up to the keg. This is known as forced carbonation. When bottling, this is not an option. So typically when you bottle you add a bit more sugar (boiled down bottling sugar in water) to the batch prior to racking it into bottles. Then you cap them and they have to sit for about two weeks to carbonate naturally. During this time the leftover living yeast from the fermentation cycle will consume the added bottling sugar, not usually enough to produce much more alcohol, maybe a tenth of a percentage point, but enough to naturally produce co2 (a by product of the yeasts digestion cycle) and carbonate your beer.

 

[larry4406]

I carbonate my kegs just like bottles but use 3/4 cup corn sugar for the 5 gallon keg. I apply just enough CO2 to ensure the keg seals are set and then let it naturally carbonate in the keg. After several weeks carbonation, I attach the co2 line and dispense. The co2 then acts as the propellant and displaces the consumed volume.

I have never done forced carbonation with the kegs

 

[tw0st3p]

Black chalkboard paint. Room for one more tap.

 

[mo2872]

1949 General Electric built by GMC. Painted in HOK Candy red over grey metallic. Was my winter project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! Almost a spot on match for my HOK Brandywine over grey metallic Cougar!

 

[JTslim]

Well there is also bottling as well. Most home brewers start out that way, but it gets old and tedious pretty fast so most upgrade to a keg set up.

I loved brewing, researching, reading, watching the fermentation....BUT I HATED bottling/racking/sanitizing and cleaning all of the bottles!

So...I SOLD all of my brewing stuff because the time spent racking all those bottles just took the fun out of it... unfortunately I had an awesome set up.

Fast forward- I found this thread... and I am surfing CL daily for home brew set ups so I can start kegging. I can't believe I didn't think of this before and now I'm kicking my self in the *** for letting my set up go for so damn cheap!

Ohh well, I'm excited because the hoppy... I mean hobby, was so much fun. AND I saved all of my books (with notes) so I can pick right back up! I will be watching this post (bump, bump, bump) for more ideas!