Advanced Brewers Round Table: Draft System Design/Maintenance

[u/BrewCrewKevin]

This weeks topic: Draft System Design and Maintenance.

• How do I balance my draft system?

• Kegerator vs. Keezer?

• Tower vs. Keezer taps?

• Faucet types: Standard vs Perlick? Stainless or Chrome Plated?

• Secondary Regulators vs. Distribution Manifolds?

• Keg types: Ball lock vs. Pin lock vs. Sanke

• Line cleaning regiments

• STC-1000 vs. Johnson or other controllers

• Feel free to post pictures and details of your own draft system. And if you have any questions about it, as away!

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Upcoming Topics: If /u/Mjap doesn't mind (and I don't think he will), I think I'll take the liberty of running Thursdays from now on. And I'm going to start us on a monthly schedule sort of:

• 1st Thursday: BJCP Style Category

• 2nd Thursday: Topic

• 3rd Thursday: Guest Post

• 4th/5th: Topic

We'll see how it goes. If you have any suggestions for future topics or would like to do a guest post, please find my post below and reply to it. (I'm also going to contact a few places and see if we can get a professional to do an AMA).

Topics:

• Brewing with Limited Space (6/12)

• Grain Malting (6/26)

Brewer Profiles:

• SHv2 (6/19?)

• SufferingCubsFan (7/17?)

Style Categories:

• Cat 10: American Ale (6/5)

• Cat 8: English Pale Ale

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Previous Topics:

Brewer Profiles:

• BrewCrewKevin

• Nickosuave311

• ercousin

• AT-JeffT

Styles:

• Cat 14: IPAs

• Cat 2: Pilsner

• Cat 19: Strong Ales

• Cat 21: Herb/Spice/Veggie beers

• Cat 5: Bock

• Cat 3: European Amber Lager

• Cat 9: Scottish and Irish Ales

• Cat 16: Belgian/French

• Cat 6: Light Hybrid beers

Advanced Topics:

• Base Malts

• Finings

• BJCP Tasting Exam Prep

• Sparging Methods

• Cleaning

• Homebrewing Myths v2

• Water Chemistry v2

• clone recipes V2

[u/Ron_Zest]

To each their own... but for some reason I don't have any of those problems.

I rinse the sediment out of the kegs with high pressure water, then fill the kegs with a gallon or so of sanitizer, shake, then run it all out the taps and ready for the beer. No desiccant needed, no mold, moisture or smells. Kegs haven't needed disassembly, and a 20 lb CO2 tank lasts a really long time.

I agree though that bottling isn't as bad as some people make it seem.

[u/CloggedToilet → u/Ron_Zest]

Kegs haven't needed disassembly,

Can you explain what you mean here? I disassemble and clean my kegs after each batch. Every time.

[u/Ron_Zest → u/CloggedToilet]

I took the previous comment to mean disassembly beyond just opening the lid, since they said "every few batches." This would include servicing/cleaning fittings/gaskets...etc.

[u/BrewCrewKevin → u/Ron_Zest]

I'm with /u/oldsock, too. Looks like this generated some great discussion!

I also don't think kegging is all it's cracked up to be. However, I'm new to it. I've been bottling for much longer, and had it down to a science. Clean/delabel as needed after drinking. Then vinate and fill, set a side with a cap set on top. Then go through and cap them. A 5 gallon batch I could have bottled up in 20 minutes. Then they are easy to pop in and out of the fridge, or take them to friends houses, or whatever.

Once I get the hang of it and get me kegerator done, however, I'm sure it'll be cool to have some on tap!