I cannot wait to start the process of kegging!!! Heres the issue Im running into. When I told her I was going to convert the dorm fridge we have in the garage into a kegerator and put it in the kitchen she about killed me. She wants everything to look pretty and she has little faith in my building expertise. So, she said she would be glad to go 1/2 on a new kegerator as long as it was pretty. My question is it seems that all of the kegerators that I have looked at seem to already have regulators and lines that come with it. Am I better off returning the starter keg kit, buying a keg, and buying the kegerator? Or am I going to need the stuff that came with the present she got me?
Also, any other advice for someone just getting into kegging? any sort of other equipment I might forget to purchase that I need? Cleaning supplies, etc?
Given the constraints put on you by SWMBO, I recommend you return the NB stuff and go with the store-bought kegerator. Will make life much easier. Later when you want to expand, sell the kegerator to some college kids. They’ll be grateful.
Or, keep the NB stuff, make your own, and leave it in the garage.
Dorm fridges are simple to convert to kegerators. Maybe if you show some examples of the potential, then she will come around. You can make it look very classy.
Check out the “Show us your kegerators” thread on HomeBrewTalk if you want to build one. You could build one from a chest freezer and make it look pretty. But if you don’t have much for woodworking skill, just go to Beverage Factory or something and check those out. There’s a nice one with a mount for the co2 on the back of the fridge that is nice. They aren’t cheap, and shipping is expensive.
But I’d definitely keep the stuff for now. You might want to use it again if you ever get a lagering fridge set up! You can have kegs lagering and carbonating, waiting to be put on tap in the main kegerator. I really wish I had one…
$225 for a keg, regulator, and lines? That’s ridiculous. For that price, you could find a used kegorator on craigslist, buy a few used kegs, new line, etc and be on your way.
When I switched to kegging 2 years ago, I found a used single tap kegorator, bought a new 2 tap tower, 3 kegs (used), lines, connects, etc and I think I spent a total of $300-$350.
Send that setup back and by used. Convert what you buy to what you want and save a ton of cash. Keep an eye on homebrewfinds.com for used keg deals or better yet, find a local brew club and setup your on bulk used keg buy. You should be able to get the price down under $30/keg. I’m in a pretty big brew club and we buy a lot of kegs when we do group buys (100-200 at a time) and we’ve gotten the price down as low as $24/keg. This way may take a little more time, but it will save you money in the end.
So, she said she would be glad to go 1/2 on a new kegerator as long as it was pretty. My question is it seems that all of the kegerators that I have looked at seem to already have regulators and lines that come with it. Am I better off returning the starter keg kit, buying a keg, and buying the kegerator? Or am I going to need the stuff that came with the present she got me?