Upgrading to cornies - confused to say the least!

Bazz · Post by **Bazz** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 10:54 am

Hi, i'm hoping to upgrade from pressure barrels to cornies soon and i'm pretty confused about the how to set them up and use them. I've found this set up:

http://www.kegkingdom.co.uk/collections ... et-and-co2

Is this going to give me every thing i need? Also i won't be able to store them permanently in a fridge, i can re-purpose my brew fridge for a time but will have to take them out next time i want to ferment a brew.

Also obtaining CO2, i have yet been able to find anywhere near me (via Google) that supplies CO2, i'm near Crawley in West Sussex, so this could be a problem.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

btd1975 · Post by **btd1975** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:04 am

Try Adams gas, that's were I got mine from (Worthing, West Sussex). Not too expensive after you've put your deposit down and they deliver if you don't have a satellite location close by - http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/

btd1975 · Post by **btd1975** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:06 am

I'd try and get the kit without the CO2 bottle as most gas refill places will only want to fill their own bottles and not others they haven't supplied. Set up looks good as a starter. You can upgrade to better tap with longer tubing later if it works for you? A Party tap with a meter or so of tubing is about £10-15, the tap straight off the corny might be the only weak link in the set up.

Might be worth giving Rob at the Malt Miller a call as he does good reconditioned Cornies for £50, and can talk you through the full set up for one and prob quote a similar or lower price for a slightly better set up? Definitely get your gas separately though as I mentioned before.

Wrongway · Post by **Wrongway** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:30 pm

I agree with sourcing the gas separately. I have had a hell of a time recently trying to get a gas bottle filled, one of the dumpy ones from a pub. Everywhere I tried would only fill it if they had supplied it. One car spares place would sell me a welding one for £125 plus VAT and charge £45 plus vat to fill it. In the end I have been very lucky with a local pub I frequent more often than I should. He is getting me a bottle for £25 refundable deposit and said refills will be about £6. It's worth a good scout around your area. Even better if you have a friendly local you can ask.

Bazz · Post by **Bazz** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:35 pm

Thanks for the replies, i see your point with the gas, and as it happens another forum member who lives close to me is going to drop me the details of where he gets his gas, so plenty to look around at.

Pinto · Post by **Pinto** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 7:24 pm

If you're travels bring you down this way, SellerGas in Hastings, East Sussex will supply you a gas cylinder for a lot less than most suppliers, and are happy to deal with home brewers.

Bazz · Post by **Bazz** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:37 am

Thanks for the tip pinto, if a cylinder last for a good few months or even a couple of years then the odd trip down could probably be arranged.

Pinto · Post by **Pinto** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:49 am

Bazz wrote:Thanks for the tip pinto, if a cylinder last for a good few months or even a couple of years then the odd trip down could probably be arranged.

Mine has lasted 2 years but it's not been too heavily used. Mind you, to counter that - I use an identical cylinder on my MIG welder and the last one lasted for (according to my records) 91 hours of welding... thats a lot of seam !

Dads_Ale · Post by **Dads_Ale** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:56 am

You can use one of these to keep the kegs cool
http://www.geterbrewed.com/cool-brewing-bag/
They are designed for fermenters but I am using one to store the cornies that won't fit in the fridge. You can easily get 2 cornies in (possibly 3) and you just need to freeze a few water bottles and keep them rotated to manage the cooling. Works a treat and fold down when not in use.

Wonkydonkey · Post by **Wonkydonkey** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 12:37 pm

Bit late adding my 2p to this, g p Barnes at shoreham sells the liquide air type Co2 bottles, last time I went 6months ago, it was £18.50 for a big 6kg of gas bottle and no deposit....

so really worth a trip and getting two. For less than the price one that you have to pay a deposit on
Edit.
http://www.gpbarnes.co.uk
The web page don't say anything, but give them a call. Ask about pub gas co2 cylinders, It should make your day

btd1975 · Post by **btd1975** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 12:42 pm

Wonkydonkey wrote:Bit late adding my 2p to this, g p Barnes at shoreham sells the liquide air type Co2 bottles, last time I went 6months ago, it was £18.50 for a big 6kg of gas bottle and no deposit.... so really worth a trip and getting two. For less than the price one that you have to pay a deposit on

That's worth knowing!! Thanks for the heads up!

Bazz · Post by **Bazz** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 8:25 pm

Loads of great help, that's why i come here

bobsbeer · Post by **bobsbeer** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:11 pm

Again late in this, but if you haven't got your cornies, I would seriously look at getting sankey type kegs. Way less hassle in the long run. Stronger than cornies, so less dings, and way less problems in terms of failed seals. Brew UK seem to be the only outlet for Crusader kegs, but you will not want to change having used sankey keg.

Bazz · Post by **Bazz** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:01 am

Bob, thanks for that, though i fear you have only added to my confusion! How do sankey kegs differ from cornies in use/set up and are crusader kegs the same thing?

rpt · Post by **rpt** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 1:06 pm

I also use Sankey kegs. Crusader are just one supplier of Sankey kegs. Sankey actually refers to the keg connector type. If you look in a pub cellar you will see kegs with several different types of connector depending on the brewery. For some reason the home brew market has standardised on Sankey but they all work in the same way.

I've never used Cornies but, as I understand it, they have separate connections for gas and beer. With a Sankey keg you have a keg connector (readily available from eBay etc) to which you connect your beer and gas lines. The connector contains non-return valves to prevent beer getting back into the keg or beer getting into the gas regulator. Cornies don't have these. The other issue with Cornies is they don't seal at low pressures so if you want to serve with a beer engine you may have trouble with a Corny. Cornies were originally used for soft drinks so many on the market are secondhand although there are now manufacturers again.

The different types of kegs work in much the same way in terms of gas pressures and avoiding foaming issues. So which you choose is really down to what you can get and pricing. I'm definitely happy with my choice of Sankey kegs. I started with plastic Polykegs and an Ecokeg but am now upgrading to shiny Crusader kegs, which should last a lifetime.

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