Kegs arrived, 30l

[gnutz2]

Two 30l kegs were deliverd from crusader yesterday. They're a really professional company and great to deal with.

I've got 50l of pale ale just finished fermenting so hopefully a crash cool, fine with polyclar and I can get on force carbonating and have sediment free bottles.




Cheers Baz.

[Belter]

How much did they set you back?

[barneey]

They look the biz Baz, did they give you any advice on keeping them clean / filling etc, or is it just spear removal time?

I`m waiting for an email back from them regarding a couple of questions before I buy a 50ltr to try out.

The prices I got were:-

Prices
30L including Micromatic S-type safety spear. £57.50 + VAT.
50L including Micromatic S-type safety spear. £62.50 + VAT. Lead time is 5-7 days.
Delivery is free to UK mainland.

We do supply 20 litre kegs but not from stock so a minimum of 36 units would apply.

EDIT do they have the embossed name on them or just the plaque?

[gnutz2]

I paid the same prices as above.

As far as cleaning goes, i was thinking of removing the spear, swilling some soda crystal solution around then rinsing out and applying some starsan before filling.

I can see 2 ways of filling them, you could remove the spear and syphon the beer in, or, fit the (sankey) keg coupler, purge any oxygen out and syphon into the beer out post.

Clive, its just an embossed plaque spot welded on, if you want the top chime embossed its a special order.

Cheers.

[jonnyt]

How do you remove the Spears?
Special Tool?
Also can you remove the Sankey Coupler when the Keg is pressurised?

[gnutz2]

I made a socket with 2 slots to unscrew them, one of them pulls straight out, the other one has safety clips but if you insert a 5 pence coin in the top and connect the coupler you can pull them out.

Yes, the keg stays pressurized when the coupler is disconnected

[Matt12398]

I love the idea of some of these for a handpull but have nowhere to set one up at the moment. Maybe in the next house.

[Kev888]

Very nice!

I realise you're using them before bottling, but in many ways I'd like to use them instead of cornies, they look the business to me. Unfortunately I can't get many in the keggerator at once, which was about all that really stopped me.

Good luck with them!

Cheers
Kev

[gnutz2]

I've made a tool that unscrews the spears but also had a centre bearing to press the centre valve to release the safety clips, works a treat

[Kev888]

ingenious!

Cheers
Kev

[barneey]

Having done a little more research today on the other options I`ve finally taken the plunge and have ordered a 50ltr keg from Crusader

Whether I`ll use it direct to serve beer or to condition and fill the remaining corny kegs i`ve yet to decide.

Cheers for the link, only one slight niggle I had to pay by cheque something I havnt done for years.

[Kev888]

Good stuff!

TBH I think I'd prefer to use these rather than cornies, the only thing that really puts me off is fitting them in my keggerator (larder fridges) - I can get six types of beer in a tall fridge with cornies, but I calculate only two or maybe three with these. I'm not sure I'd like to be lifting 50L+keg in and out of a chest freezer, either. That said, I hate using the corny disconnects in the confined space of the fridge anyway, possibly some sort of heavily insulated cooling jacket system or a bespoke insulated box rather than fridges may be an answer to both issues.

Cheers
Kev

[barneey]

Couldnt you link them in with your fermenter cooling project?

[Kev888]

Yes probably - although I'd have to check the cooling capacity vs heat losses. But I invested quite a lot in the cornie's keggerators just last year...

I guess another thing to consider (aside from the space they take up) is the turnover of kegs; curently a 40L batch results in a free corny when I've finished half of it, but a single 50L keg would be tied up until the last pint. Of given the current price of cornies theres no reason why one should be able to afford fewer kegs even if they're much bigger, but the storage space needed could be significantly greater...

Cheers
Kev

[barneey]

What Ive decided this afternoon was to still keep the kegerator with space for 4 usable kegs, I can get 6 in there but that involves a lot of stacking and messing around, so that means I only need 4 corny kegs. I will however get a 9 litre keg to go in the insulation rucksac dispenser system I was given

When I come to brew either a 40 or 100ltr batch I will transfer directly into keg (s) mature and then transfer into the cornys as and when required so basically exactly the same as gnuts but using cornys instead of bottling. Still need a way of kepping them cool though.

I have a homemade spanner etc for the spear removal or can use the cask funnel fill method for filling / cleaning the kegs.

I`m also hoping though as another option that a single keg and two cornys might fit in the kegerator?