PeterJMC Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Me and my boys have brewed over 100 gallons of beer in the past year. 2008 should be a lot of drunken fun. Best thing to do when you are having troubles while brewing beer... relax sit back and have a home brew... then go back to brewing again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 thanks for the advice on the blow-off tube, sneaky. that looks like a pretty slick rig. the air-loc is managing pretty easily now. i do think the 6 inch high foamy head on the top of the air-loc was quite impressive the first time i got home, but the clean-up was a bit much. thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallysquirrel Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I've got Irish Red on tap right now. Kolsch is carbonating and the Pilsener is lagering in the garage. I decided to not deal with the bottles and went right to the soda kegs. They're $35 each and well worth it compared to cleaning the bottles. Next up I'm looking at making wine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoreS4 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I used to brew at home -- have lots of equipment lying around (carboys, wort chiller, malt grinder, thermometer, lots of cornelius kegs for draft system, lots more). If anyone in the Toronto area wants some equipment PM me, wife wants me to dump it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallysquirrel Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 nomoreS4 I wish you were closer. You can never have too much equipment. Have you tried craigslist in your area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 is kegging pretty easy? i know you need the co2 rig and a place to keep it cold. any real issues? might be a better way, the bottles are going to be a pain after a while. i have a few growlers i plan to use as well. beer fridge is loaded and wont be able to kegerate it. might have to look in to a smaller fridge. bottling the first batch thursday...to much to do tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoreS4 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 nomoreS4 I wish you were closer. You can never have too much equipment. Have you tried craigslist in your area? nah, a bit lazy, thought it would be easier to find a good home this way, perhaps a bit of Legacy barter too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallysquirrel Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 kegging is sooo much easier. Corny keg is $35. After secondary fermentation, just rack into corny (soda) keg, pressurize for 2 days and enjoy. If you're planning on buying a kegerator Do NOT buy a tower kegerator unless it's commercial grade with the tower actually cooled, otherwise you'll end up with plenty of foam in almost every pour. I originally bought a commercial kegerator, but decided I needed more room so I build my own using a newer $50 fridge I found on craigslist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoreS4 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 is kegging pretty easy? i know you need the co2 rig and a place to keep it cold. any real issues? might be a better way, the bottles are going to be a pain after a while. i have a few growlers i plan to use as well. beer fridge is loaded and wont be able to kegerate it. might have to look in to a smaller fridge. bottling the first batch thursday...to much to do tomorrow. Kegging is pretty easy; about $150-$200 invested in gear & you're up and running. Much easier to sanitize one vessel instead of many dozens, nice to pour "just another half a pint", great for parties. I drilled 2 holes into a dedicated fridge, one for the CO2 line, the other for the tap. Best to use a newer fridge, as older ones have bad door seals and aren't energy efficient. On my 1st such fridge, I mounted the tap on the front door, but on the 2nd one, placed it on the side, just nicked a tube from the compressor, no leaks, I was lucky! If you want to save some $ and effort, use a Cobra valve, but you have to open the fridge every time you need a pour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 you have convinced me...went out and got the soda keg, regulator, faucet and co2 cylinder. im going to keg the wheat when i get there. is there anything else i should be thinking for kegging like double fermenting or anything? i didnt do too bad of a job siphoning the first batch into the bottling bucket. let me know. im committed now...or will be soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Congratulations, you just saved yourself a lot of trouble. The bad news is that you are now past the point of no return. One important thing to know is that if you plan to carbonate your keg using priming sugar (like you would with bottles) you use much less sugar than you would with bottles. I forget how much because I always force carbonate with the co2. This is how you force carbonate. http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/ForceCarbonation.html It is also important to "line balance" your system. The beer line needs to be at least 5' long to avoid a foamy pour. Details you ask?... http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_html/docs/balance.html Now go build yourself a kegerator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://community.livejournal.com/homebrewing/413981 http://www.kegman.net/rc.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 i got the co2, so shouldnt need the priming sugar in the keg...right. i am still reading. i am making the wheat tomorrow and should be kegging in 2 weeks. i am looking for the fridge for the kegerator tomorrow and getting a couple more soda kegs to have fun with!! yep, beyond the point of no returen here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 You don't need priming sugar if you are carbonating with co2. There are a ton of refrigerators on craigslist. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 i guess which is more consistent with carbonating...sugar or co2. should not be too bad with co2 as long as the temp is consistent. does sugar carbonating leave a lot of sediment at the bottom of the keg that gets dispensed? curious, thanks for the help! three 5 gal soda kegs and oring kits on the way...let the building begin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 They are both pretty consistant, but if you can control your temperature you can literally carb your beer to an exact volume. I would say co2 would be more consistant in that way. You are going to get a little bit of sediment in the bottom of the keg either way. You will get a little more if you use priming sugar. If you are co2 carbing you can "cold crash" your fermenter to get less sediment in the keg. You just store your fermenter at 55* or below for a day or two before you rack it to the keg and that causes all of the yeast in suspension to go dormant and fall to the bottom of the fermenter. I don't cold crash and I don't get much sediment at all. The first half pint you pull from the keg will need to be dumped out but that's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 this place in tn is dumping a lot of corny soda kegs...moving to the boxes. i got four of them for 105.50 shipped!! kegged the wheat today. i still need to get the fridge and am waiting for the assorted parts to make the kegerator. i liked the wheat and noticed there are syrup malts and dried hopped malts. which is better or is there no real difference in the taste. i went to nashua and got wheat malt syrup for the last batch. was looking at he dried hopped malt as an order on line possibility. thanks for any inputs. i should be putting the oktoberfest in the keg thursday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 DME is pretty much dehydrated wort and LME is is wort that has been "reduced" down to a thick syrup. If it's hopped malt that just means they added hops to the wort before they dehydrated or reduced it. To be honest I have never used hopped extract. I would rather add fresh hopps to the boil. Let me know how it is if you try it. As far as LME vs. DME, the taste is pretty much the same if your LME is fresh. Beyond that it's pretty much what you prefer to work with. FWIW I prefer DME. There's a lot of opinions here if you care to read them. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=51949 Congrats on the keg hookup! I was stoked to get 4 shipped for $125 recently. $105 is a steal! Now go fill 'em all up. Post a pic of the kegerator when you get it put together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Hey RC. Did you ever get up and running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Here is something pretty funny...i was going to go to bestbuy and get the sanyo sr-4912 to make a kegerator out of since it doesnt have the coiling coil ice tray. i actually found directions on how to convert this very same fridge on youtube... got the faucet taps and a video. this is going to be fun!! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oPUkIA64qw]YouTube - How to Build a Kegerator: Sanyo 4912 Twin Tap Conversion[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Here's a pic of my converted 4912. I have since added a drip tray and a small railing around the glassware in the back. This thing works like a champ! I used instructions that I found here. http://community.livejournal.com/homebrewing/413981.html I never bothered with the tower cooling fan because I didn't have any foaming issues. Good luck! http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n210/shearbiggity/Kegerator.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I just watched the video. I would use the walkthrough I linked above. It's a little more detailed. I don't think drilling a hole for the drip tray drain is necessary either. My drip tray is a Guiness bar mat. No drilling and I think it looks better. I'll get a pic of it when I get home tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 thanks...that is exactly what im building. i appreciate the help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Glad I can help. Here's how it looks with the bar mat drip tray. http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n210/shearbiggity/P1010152.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starhm Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 that kegerator is still a thing of beauty! mine is done. kegged up some beers with the help given here and am loving it. i have a wheat, oktoberfest, pilsner, and porter in the basement. my next adventure is a flavored wheat... how much fruit should go into the primary fermenter to get that good blueberry flavor. it is with a wheat. i didnt plan to use a syrup, but enlighten me. i was thinking two pounds of slightly crushed blueberries. i know this will take a secondary fermenter after about 5 days. any tips or insight welcome, thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc0032 Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 Hey RC. Did you ever get up and running? Not yet. I need to find the time to start and the gf thinks its a great gift idea and I shouldn't purchase the stuff myself. Whenever that happens I end up disappointed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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