Corny kegs lid replacement, float dispensers, beer line, Carbonator self build,pressure level,CO2 alarms?

[Wozboy]

Hi,

I have six kegs and I have always just added gas as required to my kegs to keep them pressurised as I've never trusted the seals as I seem to remember leaving one connected and it just draining all my gas. My question is should I replace all my lids? The lids I have seem OK but there's a bit of movement around the seal but I'm guessing that if the pressure is high enough internally them the lid should make its own seal am I correct in this assumption? I've got new seals for each keg and in time I am going to build a kegerator but I'm not keen to leave the gas connected as I'm worried about the gas. Do people have gas alarms in case there is a leak? Does the keg pressurise and form a seal at a particular pressure? What pressure do most people work to when storing beer? Does a narrower beer line really help to slow down serving speed? Do I need several gas regulators for each keg or will one do for the lot? Do different beers need different pressures? Do people use the float dispensers and which is best? Finally do all beers need some carbonation and has anyone built a Carbonator as I'm thinking of doing this as a matter of course will this help to get a good head on my beer?

Sorry for all the questions but I just want to be safe and produce the best beer I possibly can! I'm also keen to get beer engines so what type of storage system do I need for these to work as I understand that corny kegs aren't ideal or should I store in corny and then dispense to another keg to hand pull as required?

Any help, advice, suggestions,gratefully received.

Cheers

[Jocky]

A corny keg is only as good as it’s seals, and that means every seal - lid, posts, dip tube and poppers. That’s 7 seals on every keg. I tear down the keg after I’ve emptied it (almost every time...) and check all the seals. Any signs of damage and the seal gets replaced. You also need to lubricate them (silicone grease) to protect them and make sure they seat properly - distortion can also cause leaks.

Do all of that and by the time there’s 5psi in the keg even the ones with wonky lids seal.

I don’t think you’ll need to replace all your lids, but it’s possible that one fits so bad it won’t seal even under pressure. If you get that try swapping it around with some other kegs until you find it fits one better. Good seals are more important.

I don’t leave my gas connected at the moment, and I don’t intend to change that with a larger keezer build. There’s just too many things that could go wrong and drain my gas.

Different beers don’t have to have different pressures, but if you want different levels of carbonation (i.e. lower for a bitter, higher for a lager) then it is necessary. You can achieve different pressures with secondary regulators (about £20 each second hand). If you don’t want to buy them and intend to disconnect your gas between drinks then you can simply dial your primary reg to the right setting for your intended beer, attach it to the keg, serve and detach again.

For serving I use floats if I’m trying to get a beer ready fast, or have a heavily dry hopped beer that might have carried some particles over into the keg. Honestly they’re not necessary otherwise though.

Finally, a carbonator will just speed up carbonation to half an hour. It won’t enhance head on your beer. You can instead stick a beer on at high pressure for a few hours and get the same thing. Agitate the keg too and you can get it down to minutes.

[vacant]

I ran five grade B kegs for several years with the old seals they came with. I bought a spare set of seals but never needed them. All the kegs would seal after pouring in a kettle of boiling water - enough to poke the "out" post with a skewer covered with a cloth and get a strong spurt of liquid through to clean. When pressurised, squirting with soap or starsan solution (that foams) showed up any slight leaks such as if I hadn't seated a poppet valve correctly. I always turned the gas off at the cylinder while I wasn't there but never had any leaks as far as I could tell.

I found thin beer line much easier.

I had a couple of king keg floats from Ballihoo, used with short dip tubes from China which worked very well.

[Wozboy]

Thanks for the replies, I've bought a load of new o-rings for all of the kegs so I'm just going to see how I get on as I'm just getting back into brewing having left it for a few years and just getting back up to speed. I really appreciate your responses.

[Trefoyl]

Keg lube on the posts is a very good idea and something I only just saw recommended and never occurred to me to do. I’ll do that next week when I connect my next keg.

[Jocky]

Thanks for the replies, I've bought a load of new o-rings for all of the kegs so I'm just going to see how I get on as I'm just getting back into brewing having left it for a few years and just getting back up to speed. I really appreciate your responses.

If they've not been used for a few years (or you're not sure) then definitely check all the seals, which requires taking the posts off. If there's any sign of wear or cracking on any seal then replace, otherwise lubricate them. Per keg there are 8 seals:

Lid (1)
Gas and liquid post o-rings (1 each, total 2)
Gas and liquid dip tube o-rings (1 each, total 2)
Gas and liquid post poppets (1 each, total 2)
Pressure relief valve (1)

There's also seals inside the grey and black disconnects, so if those are old then check them too.

It's worth having spares of everything - keg seals, poppets, pressure relief valve and disconnects too as they will only ever fail when you're using the keg (which is obviously the worst time possible).
This kit is pretty good value seeing as you have a few kegs: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cornelius-Ke ... 3864426414
I'd also buy spare black and grey disconnects.

[Trefoyl]

Apparently CM Becker, initials CMB, is the brand of disconnect you want. They claim to be better made than no name brands. I never actually checked the brands of my disconnects and only recently saw their advert.