Need schooling on kegs

[clay5769]

Hi
I'm looking to try kegs instead of bottles for 2.5 gallons without a ton of new equipment just a basic keg and whatever I need to make it work no bells and whistles

I'm still a rookie at all this stuff so sorry if these are dumb questions



1. Do they have kegs that you can do carbonation in with sugar and a hand pump to get the beer out?


2. Do you have to use CO2 for the beer to make it come out the keg?

3. What's the best starter keg kits?


4. What all is needed besides the actual keg basic equipment to make it work


Thanks Clayton

[John Sand]

There are small patented kits that carb and serve beer on the counter top, I've never used one.
You can carb kegs with sugar, like bottles. There are small CO2 cartridge attachments that can provide serving pressure. I don't know about hand pumps.
When I first started kegging, I bought two 2.5gal kegs and put them in the 4.4 cu.ft. fridge with picnic taps. After carbing I would just hit them with enough gas to serve, topping off as necessary. Later I built out the kegerator. 2.5 and 3 gallon kegs cost more than fives, probably because more fives are made and reused.

[clay5769]

[clay5769]

Would this be everything I need? Also would I be able to do carbonation in this keg.


https://beveragelements.com/beverage_el ... jaEALw_wcB

[clay5769]

I just bought this.


https://beveragelements.com/beverage_el ... party-kit/

I contacted them and they are saying the Co2 bottle that comes with it does the carbonation



This website says that the Co2 only moves the beer and does zero carbonation

https://www.northernbrewer.com/products ... em-new-keg

[bpgreen]

I just bought this.


https://beveragelements.com/beverage_el ... party-kit/

I contacted them and they are saying the Co2 bottle that comes with it does the carbonation



This website says that the Co2 only moves the beer and does zero carbonation

https://www.northernbrewer.com/products ... em-new-keg

Whether you're using a kegerator or a system like you bought, you can "force carbonate" using co2 canisters or you can naturally carbonate with sugar.

I have 5 gallon kegs. I purge them with my co2 canisters, then add sugar and naturally carbonate (it's cheaper that way).

[MadBrewer]

I just bought this.


https://beveragelements.com/beverage_el ... party-kit/

I contacted them and they are saying the Co2 bottle that comes with it does the carbonation



This website says that the Co2 only moves the beer and does zero carbonation

https://www.northernbrewer.com/products ... em-new-keg

The small co2 cartridges are meant to dispense the beer (once it's already carbonated) for the most part. The smaller like 5L mini kegs could probably carb up using a few of those. I would imagine if you had enough of them you could carbonate 2.5 gals but there's no telling how many of the cartridges it would take to do that though and it would probably get expensive and perhaps wasteful. Going this route you probably need to carbonate in the keg with priming sugar like you do with bottling...the keg is nothing more than a giant bottle at that point.

[John Sand]

I think you made a good purchase. You can carb using sugar and serve with the small cartridge. Later you can add to your system as you like.

[clay5769]

Thanks all I just couldn't get a straight answer from the company selling the keg. They kept insisting that the CO2 was what carbonates the beer with the tiny bottle.

I thought you could carbonate the keg like a giant bottle with sugar but wasn't sure worry that I would screw up and blow up the keg or something. I found another site with same setup and they say for 2 gallons of beer add 3 oz corn sugar carbonate 2 to 3 weeks

Off topic just had my first baby mini zebu see how small next to the chicken

[John Sand]

Wow! Very cool!

[clay5769]

Ty it my first baby tiny like the size of a small dog.

[Kealia]

I had (have somewhere) one of those charger/dispensing CO2 handles. I bought it when I first started kegging and wanted to take a batch to a party. It is absolutely for dispensing, but be aware that you can pour without touching it for a while.
After the keg is carbed, you can pour until the CO2 in solution runs out - which means you'll have flat beer at that point.

So...pour, hit it with a quick charge to replace the CO2 lost, and repeat.

Sharing this just so you know that if you keep pouring without charging the beer will get flatter and flatter.
Make sense?

[clay5769]

I had (have somewhere) one of those charger/dispensing CO2 handles. I bought it when I first started kegging and wanted to take a batch to a party. It is absolutely for dispensing, but be aware that you can pour without touching it for a while.
After the keg is carbed, you can pour until the CO2 in solution runs out - which means you'll have flat beer at that point.

So...pour, hit it with a quick charge to replace the CO2 lost, and repeat.

Sharing this just so you know that if you keep pouring without charging the beer will get flatter and flatter.
Make sense?

Perfect in other words you'd be using the carbonation in the beer for dispensing the beer and it will go flat as your using it without charging each time..

Thanks for the heads-up I wouldn't have known that ...

[clay5769]

Will one of the little CO2 Cylinders do all 2 gallons of beer?
Clayton

[John Sand]

To carb it? I never tried.
I don't remember if I ever used one to pour all two gallons either, sorry.