Backstory: my step F-I-L gave me homebrewing supplies to add to my own. So now I have two glass carboys and blow-off tube to go along with my own stuff. I would like to get back into making my own beer but transferring hot wort (solved with a fluidics pump from a clinical chemistry analyzer) and bottling the beer have made it less appealing. I’d like to switch to corney kegs, a tap and a CO[sub]2[/sub] tank, but I’m not familiar with all of the hoses and fittings I’d need. Does anyone have experience with using such a system that could give me a shopping list?
Contact any homebrew supply store for a complete list. Depending on what style of keg you get, you will have to get different fittings. They are either pin or ball-snap. Other than that difference, the rest is standard: tank, regulator, hoses, tap set-up. Best to get several tap hoses, or better yet just buy several yards of tubing, both high and low pressure and cut to fit. You will also likely need a couple of new brushes to clean your kegs and their tubing.
As a side-note, never use a keg that once held root beer. You can sterilize it all you want, and replace every fitting…your beer will still taste like root beer!
What Silenus said. I’ve been using a keggerator set up for about two years now and I rarely bottle my home brew anymore, as it’s just a nuisance to me. I just wanted to add that it’s important to flush out the tubing as soon as you finish your keg, since you can get some nasties growing in there pretty quickly. A couple of times I’ve been lazy and waited a week or so to flush in between kegs and then after having a new keg hooked up for a couple days I get a nice little round surprise in the form of a plug of mold or something. Blech. Also, you’ll need to get your CO2 tank filled, so look around for a gas company(I get mine filled at a welding supply place).
I totally agree with getting several tap hoses as well, since I alternate between my home brew in corny kegs that use ball fittings and commercial kegs from BevMo that use standard sankey keg fittings. Having multiple hoses with the correct hardware keeps me from having to switch out the fittings every time.
The most important thing you’ll have to figure out is where you want to store your keg. Do you have a fridge with enough space or do you need to get one. The kegging hardware is easy to figure out at your LHBS.