Cornie kegs

[paulbrrtt]

Hi all was wondering how much roughly these cornie kegs are to buy, I know theres a link on here but for some reason it dont work for me i just want a rough price thats all
cheers
Paul

[Garth]

they range from about £20 up to £45 depending on where you get the from

a few crop up on eBay, mainly from normannumpa, most cornie owners on here have dealt with him, he is a top bloke

you'll also need a few extras to go with it, such as a tap, a black outlet (beer) disconnect, a grey inlet (gas) disconnect, some beer/gas line.

then there's the gas you'll need, either a pub cylinder that you can buy a regulator for, or what some folk have done is used soda stream and widget world cannisters and made an adaptor to get the gas to the grey disconnect and into the cornie

[paulbrrtt]

thanks very much for the quick reply Garth, is it possible to buy the complete set up? obviously not the gas but the taps etc

[Garth]

do a search for normannumpa on eBay, send him a message and ask him for a cornie, a tap, both disconnects, some beer/gas line and a single twin-gauge regulator, should be around the £80 - £100 mark

[paulbrrtt]

Cheers Garth you have been a great help, got to get myself one I just put 40 pints of bitter in the wilko barrel but I think the keg will do a more professional job. The prob I get with the barrell is the first 15-20 pints there is plenty of pressure and a good head but as it gets emptier the last 10 or so pints are flat I have primed with 100gms of sugar 150ml water zapped in the microwave, incidently how long is a zapp lol so far I have been zapping it for about 2 mins and all the sugar is dissolved , to long? or not enough or just about right ? thanks once again
Paul

[Garth]

Yeah I would have thought two mins was ok, not many bugs would be able to survive that

[burgo]

Spoke to Norm today he has asked me to tell anyone interested in Kegs/taps etc that the best way to contact him is DIRECTLY at normansplace@hotmail.com rather than trying to track him down and contact him on the ebay email system. He will then send you over pictures and prices, like he has done with me a couple of times.

[adchesney]

Dear Folks,

I contacted Norman, and have just ordered 3 kegs, CO2, Regulator and party tap

Can I seek advice as to how to use the kegs? Do I put the beer after initial fermentation into the keg? Or do I rack after initial fermentation into a carboy (under airlock) and allow to clear...then keg?

Finally, do I need to add priming sugar to keg?

I am new to all this stuff - but as per my signature have four kits waiting!!

Regards

ADC

[Parva]

There's no looking back when you go the shiney route. As regards kegging, you can go direct from primary FV to the cornie keg (I do this after 10 days or so) or go to secondary to lose as much yeast as possible then keg it, entirely your preference. There's no need to prime it with any sugar whatsoever, all you would be doing is adding more sediment again. The beauty of cornie kegs is that you can force carbonate the beer with C02 rather than creating the carbonation with priming sugar.

Basically, fill the keg with your beer (the clearer it is at this point the better), hit it with about 30PSI of C02 (this gives the lid a good seal) then set the regulator to 10-15PSI (depending how fizzy you want it) and leave it with the gas on for a few days or alternatively turn the gas on for a minute and back off as you pass it several times a day (if you're worried about a potential leak of C02) and then you can remove it from the gas and store it somewhere until you're ready to drink it. The first couple of pints may be a bit cloudy as cornies pickup beer from the bottom of the keg but it should run clear after that. And that's basically it.

[Parva]

Err, either it's 30 psi or its 15psi unless the keg is leaking or you are suggesting releasing the pressure pressure from the keg which would be rather pointless. With 30 psi set the regulator can be backed right off and the pressure will drop (very) slowly as the gas is absorbed into the beer (assuming no leaks). 15 psi can be set on the gauge once it has dropped below this level.

Yes, this is what I was basically suggesting, hit it with 30PSI to seal. No need to release the pressure as the beer will of course absorb the C02 and the regulator can then be set to maintain 10-15PSI depending on preference / temperature of the beer. We could jump through hoops and suggest 101 ways to get the ideal carbonation etc etc but I suggested the hit of 30PSI to ensure a good seal and then just maintain 10-15PSI. There's no need to over-complicate the use of cornies when they are in essence very easy to use.

[Parva]

We could argue the toss all night but if I were looking in on this thread now I think I'd have seen enough to go and buy a King Keg and forget cornies when in actual fact a decent cornie setup will easily outlast and outperform any plastic keg and additionally, they tend to hold their value.

Yes, there are carbonation charts and temperatures etc etc to consider but for the average new user the advice is simplicity itself, hit it with 30PSI to seal then set the regulator at 10-15PSI and leave connected for a few days, job done. As we are both aware, foamy beer can be as a result of temperature, carbonation, beer line dimensions / length or tap, all of which can be tackled once the problem becomes evident. Why make problems without actually tackling the basics first...

[Parva]

I'm not getting upset, I manage to run my cornie keg collection with simplicity itself. No need for me to repeat the basic procedure that will suit anyone new to kegging with Cornelius kegs, it's all documented in this thread. Whilst your points and concerns are perfectly valid, the way they come across would put anyone off of going the cornie route when it's actually very simple and problems such as 'I get a pint of foam' are easily overcome.

[Stevesmit]

Can't believe you two stayed up till 4-odd in the morning trying to out ‘keg info’ each other. I hope you were both sufficiently lubricated with your homebrew finest so you at least got some enjoyment out of it!

[chris_reboot]

handbags at dawn!

[adchesney]

Thanks Guys,

I am happy with this advice - just can't wait to receive deivery from Norman!

Just contempleting which to brew first (see my signature)

Cheers

ADC