Just make a keg system purchase!

[Gatorchip]

No more bottles. I'm psyched!

Also I decided to go with new kegs since they were had for a pretty good price.

2 Keg Basic Keg Kit, Premium Kit, w/ NEW 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Ball Lock Kegs

 

[Gatorchip]

*made

 

[Sleepy T]

You lucky dog. I'm jealous. Soon. Very soon.

I just bottled 9-10 gallons (approx 100 bottles) of beer a couple weeks ago. Not fun.

That looks like a nice rig for a decent price.

 

[757Hokie83]

awesome, congrats

in case you havent decided on your kegerator yet, here is the site i went off to build mine. very simple build, easy to follow directions

MikeBeer - Homebrewing

 

[powerchord86]

 

[Gatorchip]

awesome, congrats

in case you havent decided on your kegerator yet, here is the site i went off to build mine. very simple build, easy to follow directions

MikeBeer - Homebrewing

I have a small freezer that will hold 3 and a CO2. All cleaned out and ready! I purchased a temperature controller last night as well.

So where do you go to get CO2 refills? It ships empty.

 

[wartyOne]

No more bottles. I'm psyched!

Also I decided to go with new kegs since they were had for a pretty good price.

2 Keg Basic Keg Kit, Premium Kit, w/ NEW 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Ball Lock Kegs

That is a pretty good price. First piece of advice, get a regulator cage. You'll thank me later.

 

[wartyOne]

I have a small freezer that will hold 3 and a CO2. All cleaned out and ready! I purchased a temperature controller last night as well.

So where do you go to get CO2 refills? It ships empty.

Just do a google search on welding supply shops in your area. Any should be able to fill your CO2 tank. Also, paintball supply shops may carry CO2. A 5# charge should be in the neighborhood of 12-15 bucks.

Don't worry about refrigerating the gas if you have a top open freezer (unless you can't fit another keg in there). CO2 under pressure is going to stay fairly cold. No brewery I've ever seen stores their gasses in the cold room.

This assumes you are putting a wood collar around the top of the freezer and lifting up the door. This allows you to drill through wood (insulate appropriately) instead of the side of your freezer. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT drill through the side of your freezer unless you have the exact specs of where to drill to miss the element.

Kegs are a great next step. You can get brighter beer, transfer under CO2 pressure (if you have a stainless conical with appropriate fittings), and bottling becomes a dinosaur practice. Kegging takes five minutes, with cleanup. Bottling...

...well, you know.

Pro tip. When you are going to fill your keg, pressurize it up with CO2 through the beverage line (not the gas line), and blow it down. If you do this three times, you will completely remove all oxygen from the keg. If you can transfer under pressure, great. If not, you can still blow down your keg to relieve pressure, and you've got an oxygen negative environment. Even with the keg open, you are still minimizing O2 pickup while transferring out of your carboy/fermenter. In the latter case, make sure you run your transfer tube to the bottom of the keg to avoid splashing your beer.

 

[Gatorchip]

Thanks for the tips. Right now I didn't modify the freezer other than the temp controller. I have a keg of a porter and the CO2 inside there now. It fits on that shelf above the compressor without having to modify the top to the freezer.

I had trouble with the CO2 in the headspace leaking by the gasket into my beer line. After fixing the leak, I'm in heaven.

Beer turned out great. I love kegging