Kegging

Many homebrewers choose to keg their beer rather than bottle it. Kegging offers several advantages to bottling, such as reduced packaging time, faster carbonation time, more control over carbonation levels, and the ability to dispense just the right amount of beer. Kegging does require a greater up-front cost as well as additional equipment and space.

This article details some of the basics of kegging.

Equipment Needed

Several pieces of additional equipment are required to keg beer. At a minimum you will need some kegs (most home brewers use cornelius kegs), Beverage Lines, Quick Disconnects, and Picnic Taps or other means of dispensing your beer, and some way of keeping the kegs cold, typically a refrigerator or chest freezer (see kegerators).

Many home brewers choose to have more advanced kegging set-ups including a CO2 tank for force carbonating, gas lines, and a draft tower and faucets for dispensing.

Types of Kegs

There are several different types of kegs; however, most home brewers use cornelius kegs as they are easy to use and hold 5 gallons:

Other types of kegs include Sankey Kegs, Mini Kegs, and 1/2 barrel Commercial Kegs.

Buying kegs

Kegging Process

Force Carbonating

Storing Kegs

Kegerators

Building Your Kegerator

Check out Orpheus' instructions for converting a Sanyo 4912 mini-frige or Bobby M's video for converting a chest freezer into a kegerator:

Part 1a

Part 1b

Serving From a Keg

Keg Maintenance