KK or CK

[mark4newman]

Hi

I’ve been using king kegs for a number of years now, but I am thinking of moving to Cornie’s

Now, what I want to achieve buy this is to be able to pour a better pint. At the moment KK seem either to be spewing forth beer and a large head, or nothing much coming out. It all settles after a while, but it is a bit of a pain drinking ½ pints from “festival” pint glasses.

I tend to only drink/brew IPA/APA or Porters, therefore I am really not after the “gassy lager “ type beers.

Also if I am going to go down the CK route, then in future I would think about a flash cooler, however these seem to cool the beer to about 2-4C which is far to cold (10-12C is what I think beer should be served at). So are there any flash coolers that allow you to adjust them temp.

So the questions.

So do you get a better head of a CK, and is the pint more easily pourable? If so any special taps etc do I need?

If I go KC do I need anything apart from pub gas supply (I’m pretty sure I have one), regulator (does this allow you just to set a pressure), inflow lead, keg, and tap?

Any flash coolers that you can control the output temp (I don’t really want to go down the Kegorator method)?

Do you think it is sensible to go CK , for real ales and porters?

Many thanks

Mark

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I use King Keg Top Taps, and budget kegs, and don't experience the problems you are having with the massive head, are you over priming by any chance.

The Drum Taps on King Kegs can be a bit awkward if they are a bit sticky as you have little control over them so it may be worth just replacing the taps on the King Kegs you have with the Deluxe Sparkler Taps, they apparently give you a lot more control, although I haven't tried it them yet.

I haven't gone down the cornie route, and am not sure I will bother as I do have 7 plastic kegs at the moment, and they seem to work fine to me.

[david r]

Change the drum tap on the kk, that is the cause of the massive head.
I have just ordered and received a lever type tap (like on budget kegs) but with the same thread and backnut as the drum tap.

[mark4newman]

Hi

I changed from the drums a long time ago. They aren't very controllable

These are the taps I changed to.

http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item2101.htm

The flip action sparker.

If anything I underprime, (max I cup of DME), and I do this so I don't such a force coming out. However this means by about 50% full I'm putting more gas put in, to get the beer out.

Having a constant pressure with a CK, should make things more controlable.

[Kev888]

I tend to agree that KKs shouldn't pour like that - okay they can be a bit enthusiastic when full but not for long, and the standard taps can be a bit crude to adjust gently but that sounds excessive. It does seem like they may be over gassed 'somehow'. The only times I had trouble were when kegging prematurely, priming too much or with top taps when gas got into the float system along with the beer.

That said I moved to cornies about a year ago and whilst i prefer them they aren't always without their own issues; in my experience they seem more sensitive to pressure and temperature - they were fine initially early in the year but I got lots of foam during dispensing in the summer. I now regulate the pressure more carefully and have kept them cooler so all is well but there's no denying the whole setup is quite a bit more involved and complex to ballance.

Cheers
kev

[Blue Brew]

Hi

I have just started using king kegs with a pub gas set up exactly like this one:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3386&p=362072&hilit ... o2#p362072

I pour from a dalex tap with a flow control I got off flea bay for less than a fiver. I've mounted the tap through a shelf with about six feet of beer line. All of the JG fittings were from Paul at the Harmony Hut and the Widget World Universal Barrel hose (to fit the S30 Valve) was from my local brew shop.

Every pint has poured perfectly from this setup so far, there was no need to prime in the keg as you can force carbonate at about 10 PSI for a week or so and the carbonation is perfect for Ales.

The only issue is how to cool the keg during the summer, but it should fit in a fridge if I can source one.

I am considering cornys so I can serve lager with a bit more fizz but to be honest the KK's have been great, and you can get a full 40 pints in them.

[Timmo]

Hi,
I am relatively new to Home Brewing and found the Standard Drum Tap on the KKTT quite annoying. As mentioned by someone else, I also use a Dalex Flow Control tap but mounted straight to my KK. Its not quite a drop in replacement due to the thread size and I did a post here about how I fitted mine: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=39078
Its working very well and is so easy to pour and control a pint with the Dalex Tap, even better than the Deluxe Sparkler Tap that I tried. I got the Dalex from Leyland Home Brew and they did used to stock the Brewgas Sparkler tap aswell but Joe from LHB told me they no longer stock them and recommended the Dalex instead. They are expensive but worth the money in my opinion or even better if you can pick one up cheap. I am planning on replacing my Brewgas sparkler tap with another Dalex Flow Control as they really are very good.
Cheers
Timmo