Barrels or bottles; which is best?

[adm]

Bill,

Norm is a bloke that trades on eBay as "normannumpa"

Have a look at eBay item number: 220294990319

He doesn't seem to have any 19L coornys on eBay at the minute - but I'm sure if you send him a message he will have some available.

[BodgerBill]

Cheers!

I'll have a look. Thanks for the swift reply

BB

[sib67]

Personally, I would just go straight down the Corny route and forget about budget barrels - you can get a Corny for less than £30, and a full sized gas cylinder for about £13 - one cylinder lasts me over a year. Add to that a cheap regulator, and a cheap plastic tap, and you're up and running, with a setup that can be expanded on in the future. Pressure guages are very nice, but not essential - I made do without them for a couple of years before getting my triple regulator / guage set from Norm.

[jdt199]

Personally, I would just go straight down the Corny route and forget about budget barrels - you can get a Corny for less than £30, and a full sized gas cylinder for about £13 - one cylinder lasts me over a year. Add to that a cheap regulator, and a cheap plastic tap, and you're up and running, with a setup that can be expanded on in the future. Pressure guages are very nice, but not essential - I made do without them for a couple of years before getting my triple regulator / guage set from Norm.

Can you post links to examples of these taps and cheap regulators you talk of. this would be a great help. Also I would say you are probably one of the very 'lucky' ones to get a cylinder for £13 locally, I may be wrong.

Thanks

[adm]

To find cheap CO2, try ringing your local calor (or whatever) gas supplier - the ones that do camping gas and bigger gas bottles for houses etc...rather than looking for specialist gas suppliers. You might find them very accomodating. I called mine and they just said "sure". No deposit, £14 for a refill, 7kg? cylinder (about 1 metre high, probably weighs about 25Kg full). I just asked if they did CO2, they asked me what I wanted it for, I told them it was for beer dispensing and they sorted me out.

[sib67]

Personally, I would just go straight down the Corny route and forget about budget barrels - you can get a Corny for less than £30, and a full sized gas cylinder for about £13 - one cylinder lasts me over a year. Add to that a cheap regulator, and a cheap plastic tap, and you're up and running, with a setup that can be expanded on in the future. Pressure guages are very nice, but not essential - I made do without them for a couple of years before getting my triple regulator / guage set from Norm.

Can you post links to examples of these taps and cheap regulators you talk of. this would be a great help. Also I would say you are probably one of the very 'lucky' ones to get a cylinder for £13 locally, I may be wrong.

Thanks

Fexible dispensing tap Here for £7.99.

As far as gas goes, it's well worth trying to source pub gas IMHO. I've been down the Hambleton Bard & Widget World route, and the gas just works out so much more expensive in the long run. My LHBS gave me very bad advice on this, suggesting that it was nigh on inpossible to source pub gas - but then he would, wouldn't he? Having an almost endless supply of gas available means you can also use it freely when cleaning etc, without having to worry about the cost.

There was a link to a supplier of cheap regulators on here several months ago - I can't find it at the moment, but I'll keep looking - unless anybody else can help.

[Damfoose]

Cheers adm, that sounds like an impressive setup. Well I'll go one step at a time I think. I actually have a bid in for a reg from norm at present so will see how that goes, and I have a supplier I can pick gas up from at the weekend so its just the, fittings, line and tap I need to get hold of. I have to say its not easy at all trying to get a cornie setup up and running. Gas was the hardest thing to source and there doesn't seem to be a supllier anywhere in the UK that sells ALL the gear you need to get started. Its a case of various internet shops and then ebay to get everything toghether.

I did indded get my keg and pinlock fittings from Greenman, Damfoose why should I need to change the keg over to ball fittings as opposed to pinlock btw whats the advantage?

Cheers

The main advantage is the push fittings are easier to get hold of rather than trying to find the fittings for the pin lock posts. Here are 2 examples of why Keg tap and Quick Disconnect the quick disconect on the left has a John Guest adaptor which screws onto the liquid out it is the same for the gas in so it makes life much easier.
My personal opinion but I think you will find most people use the quick disconects due to the ease of use.

[Blinky]

You forget some of your earlier science lessons. The pressure barrel is sealed so as the liquid inside it is reduced a vacum is formed. Atmospheric pressure will then prevent any more beer from escaping no matter where the tap is. The only way to let it out will be by letting air in to fill the vacum (Wrecking your beer) or injecting more C02. This will always be the case no matter where the tap is. Gravity cannot overcome atmospheric pressure. You may get about half a barrel before you can get no more, depending on how quicky the remaing priming sugers & yeast can provide more gas and recarbonating.

/gentle snip.

only just read this thread- sorry for going backwards!

This reminds me of a leaking 18 gallon keg about 20 years ago when I was learning about trad beer.

Once I had tapped the barrel, and the keystone split - I didnt hit the tap in too far, it was 'just one of those things'
Beer was pissing everywhere!
I remember being told to put the peg back in the barrel, take the keystone out and fit and new one and you will be fine.
the emphasis was on remember to put a hard peg back in, as you shouldnt tap with the top peg in - so it was out at the time.

Anyway, I did what I was told, stuck the peg back in, beer was still going everywhere at this time, so I couldnt see if it had stopped.
I thought, well, take the old one out and put the new one back in as fast as possible.
I got everything ready, wipped the tap out and then noticed the leak had stopped.
I thought they must be blockage.
so, I took the old keystone out-
now a gaping hole in the barrel!
nothing! not a drop!
I thought a bit of the keystone must be stuck in there so I stuck something in ( I cant remember)and it was clear.
Then I realized a vaccum must have been formed as the beer was gushing out and put the peg back in.
Jobs a good un!

I remember a while back I had a leaking tap on my FVs after I had filled it!
after about ten seconds of panic, I thought once I had pitched, put the lid on and put some water in the airlock the leak would stop.
and it did!