Help with a "home Bar". About to start, but haven't a clue !

[Stu The Brew 2]

Hi all.

About to start my latest project "The Home Bar"

The only problem is I don't have much of an idea when it comes to "Kegging".

Here's what I have so far;

2x 50l kegs (from a legitimate source obviously)
1x s type connector
1x beer cooler with 2 connections (don't know too much else about it yet as it will be delivered this afternoon( E-bay spesh)

Still looking out for a nice chrome (unbranded) tap

If anyone would like to help me out I need help with the following.

Cleaning
I have been brewing for 18 months or so and feel I have the basics down. I usually just use diluted bleach to sterilise with and have never had a problem, is it now time to move on to "Star-san"?
Will there be much benefit ?(bearing in mind I can get 1litre of cheap bleach for about 20p in the local supermarket which will last for 4-5 brews).
Also when it comes to cleaning the lines can I use the same stuff? I have seen caustic cleaning products and wonder if I should be going to these extremes or not. I am happy to dismantle the kegs when they need cleaning as this has already been done once when I first got the kegs (I removed the safety catches at the same time to make it easier the next time), even to the point of dismantling the spears. I will probably fill the kegs up this way anyway.

Other equipment needed
What else do I still need to think about getting?
Obviously I need some lines, gas isn't a problem acquiring as I have a friend with a metal fabricating company that can get that for me, I am a tad confused on the regulator situation though. I have seen primary and secondary regulators, what is the difference? do I need both?

Any help on the problems so far would be great.

Stu

[Frothy]

Wow this is from a while ago.
Caustic nackers plastic beer lines so avoid it like the plague. To clean the kegs if they are heavily soiled it might help dissolve any nasty protein deposits in a hot solution but I wouldn't go any further than using it for that.

Personally recommend using purple "beer-line cleaner" to clean / sanitize the whole setup from connectors to the taps. You'l have a consistent method following the instructions where-as I think the cheap bleach these days has been made more and more dilute by the supermarkets. Make up a solution in one of the kegs or a corny with an S-type cleaning adapter (for the connectors to twist into.) Pull the solution right through and close off the taps - leaving the system full and pressurised for several minutes. Keep pulling it though and then rinse & fill the same container with water to rinse through the lines thoroughly, you will be able to visibly see when all the line-cleaner has been flushed out & infact it changes colour to brown when the lines are dirty. This method should kill two birds with one stone and leave you with a nicely sanitized keg at the same time for the next brew - although I've found it best not to leave any of the purple line-cleaning solution in a keg overnight or longer as the purple leaves stains / deposits on the bottom of the keg.

Most pubs as a matter of course will clean the lines after each barrel of ale is pulled off.
Personally I found my bar/ cooler a real novelty but it's a PITA to clean regularly and the beer will go off in the lines as they are not cooled (unlike a keggerator.)
Great for parties however

Gas - be careful of using welding gas as it is not "food-grade." It will be written on the cylinder if it is food grade or not as these have been heat treated and are usually lined as well. You could contaminate your beer & rust has a habit of being associated with some really nasty anaerobes i.e. Clostridia

A primary regulator is the one that connects first to the cylinder i.e. it will step down the pressure from thousands of Psi to the 0-100Psi range that you are looking for.
You may need a secondary regulator to adjust lower tighter pressure range or some regulators will do both for you in one compact unit. Pubs add on daisy-chains of the secondary regulators to control the pressure to multiple different kegs but be aware that the pressure of each regulator down the chain can only be the same or lower than the regulator between it and the bottle i.e. if one is set at 30Psi, the next one in the chain will never be able to get higher than that pressure.

hope this is useful, I notice this thread has had quite a few hits