Sick of bottling - considering barrels

[simco999]

Any suggestions guys - Cornys are the obvious route - how about KK's???

[musojohn]

I've used my KK twice and not had much luck.
Pressure hasnt held. Refilled several times but that hasnt held either.
The shop i bought it from said you cant keep it in the fridge as the pressure dropped and i dont like stuff much above 11, at least to start with.
Also i like a bit of carbonation on all my beers to i'll be doing more bottling before i can afford the leap up to Cornies.
With KK's they say 'don't over tighten' but that's as long as a piece of string.

The washing is easier though !!

[simco999]

Thanks musojohn - that doesn't sound too hopeful on the KK front. Anyone have any positive KK experiences??

[Fil]

cornys are part of a system that you can throw hundreds of pounds at and get a perfect pint out each time.

Pressure barrels are pretty self contained, and there is an art to pouring a pint which differs with the pressure in the barrel which is topped up in an uncontrolled blast ad hoc.. but at worst it will take 2 barrels to sus.

you can do more with cornys serve beers at higher pressures, pressure condition and forget priming, and are great when the system works, but you need to consider a tap a gas supply and keeping the keg at serving temps or using something to chill the beer to the correct serving temp for the pressure your using in order to be successful with them. I ignored temperature control and spent months pouring foam, but i didnt have the forsight to ask the question before i jumped in.

also cornys are limited to 19l so either you adjust your brewlength or still fill half a dozen bottles.


my set up cost £50 for taps £200 for hop and grape corny starter kit with a useless attach to keg sample tap, not to be confused with the cheaper party tap which can be modded for pressure restriction,
£20 for a gas refill £70 for 2 ebay shelf chillers( one was a bad punt the second a good un) and at least £50 on jg fittings and pipes. and ive invested in a further 6 kegs since.. all to servivce 4 taps.....
plus at least 2 full tanks of diesel driving out to pick up the various ebay bargains.

4 pressure barrels would have been a hell of a lot cheaper..but i am Very happy with the cornys (Finally)..
Not my intention to put you off but welcome you to the shiny side with your eyes wide open...

[Geezah]

KK's are fine if you follow the guidelines offered here, infact this weekend I have kegged a Coopers stout in a KK and an IPA in a corny.

Cornies are ideal once you have a good understanding on how to manage a cellar set up, for new/average users KK's are the best option.

Dont over tighten, add a light smear of vaseline to the cap seal so it slides rather than buckles as it compresses with tightening.


Personally, I use both for different brews with good results from both.

[Naich]

Another vote for KKs here. As long as you don't mess up the seals they will hold pressure for weeks and are pretty easy to clean.

[liquidman]

Have moved from bottling, to king kegs, then on to mini kegs and finally on to cornies.

Cornies are ace! Mini kegs I think are rubbish (but others seem to get on well with them) and I still use my three pressure barrels as and when I need a bit of extra capacity.

If you can find a second hand one locally its worth giving a KK a try, but you may end up moving on to cornies any way.

Personally I wish I'd just taken the hit and gone straight to cornies but then all my stuff lives in a big shed in the garden, my wife is very understanding and tends to stay out of it!

A

[Dennis King]

I love my polypins, cheap no extra expense and great "real ale" style beers.

[orlando]

There is a bit of art to successfuly using KK's but once mastered they are a very reasonable entry to cask beer with little to go wrong once mastered. A few things you need to do to get the most out of them are:

1) Petroleum jelly smeared on the cap's "O" ring and not too tight is the first thing to master.

2) Changing the tap to a Dalex one is not optional it is essential. Anyone who has done this will confirm it transforms a fiddly PITA to a pleasure to pour a pint.

3) Drill the cap and fit a tyre valve (free from a local tyre company). Simple to do and gives you greater precision over carbonation levels and no more worries about risking damage.

4) Avoiding oxidation is one thing I have had to learn to do using S30 cylinders, to purge air both before filling and after filling is important. Tyre valves particularly useful for the latter task.

5) Careful injection of CO2 so you don't overstress the cap inlet and safety valve seals are something else to be wary of. Very short squirts with rests to allow injection parts to warm back up again - putting the tip of the CO2 bottle in hot water between squirts helps - particularly the caps valve.

Easy to clean and sanitise, and can contain a 5.5 gallon brew. Cornies maybe better once you have all the things mentioned by Fil but that is quite a leap technically, practically and economically. And you still can't get an average brew length in them.

[TonySan]

+1 to the Dalex tap. I put a flow control one on my KKTT using a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer and some o rings to stop leaks. Bonus is the sparkler I can fit to get a really good pint from the relatively low carbonated beer.

Also, although Cornies are shorter than a brew length, it does mean you can put a few bottles aside for when the KK runs out.

[simco999]

I think I may try a KK for a few brews. Then I'll decide if I want to take the corny plunge. (no it s not a euphemism!!)

[gnutz2]

I just dont like the taste of a beer out of kegs, give me a bottle any day.

People say beer matures better in bigger volumes but in my side by side tests the beer in the bottle allways tasted better than the keg'd stuff (especially if it was a hoppy beer)

I've never used cornys so cant comment on them.

[boingy]

I think it's harder to get hop good aroma from a barrel/keg but the time savings are huge, especially if you get through lots of beer.

I'm 100% cornies now but for years I used plastic pressure barrels and they are fine. You should avoid the budget type with the 2" cap because you can't get your arm inside then to clean and, yes, you do need to take care of the lid seal but you can serve beer in nice condition from them. Despite the name, they won't actually take much pressure so you can't force carbonate or serve fizzy beer and it does take a bit of practice to master the gas injection.

In addition to this, cornies have two big advantages for me:

1. A small footprint, so they take up less storage space.
2. They look more "pro" than a KK. This is important if you are trying to educate your mates that home brewed beer really has moved on. Show 'em a pressure barrel and they will immediately think of those kits from Boots that their dad used to brew in the 70's...

But there is no denying that cornie systems are expensive, especially if you only want one or two kegs.

Also, don't discount the polypin/bag-in-a-box route. They are probably the cheapest way to serve traditional ale . Bulk storage and no gas needed. They may even be CAMRA approved!

[Fil]

I think I may try a KK for a few brews. Then I'll decide if I want to take the corny plunge. (no it s not a euphemism!!)

if your taste is for low conditioned english beers then you will probably get many happy years of use from them

If you keg your bitters and bottle the lagers and other high conditioned beers you will still be bottling less.
and in the meanwhile troll ebay and the for sale in here for a bargain complete corny system being retired.

[lovelldr]

@orlando...

I noticed you saying about changing the tap to a dalex tap. From when I looked (a while back admittedly), dales taps need to be fitted in to a kk by drilling/alterations etc. I was wondering if anyone knows of a better, simply swap over, tap to use?!

Thanks all guys. Hopefully make a nice birthday gift from the missus...