Purchasing a Kegerator

Kegging
1

Due to time restraints with having two little ones, I’m looking to purchase a complete kegerator. Would anyone have any advice or opinions on this Kegerator I’ve found with a homebrew conversion kit:

http://www.kegerator.com/edgestar-full- ... Kegerators

I would be open to any other kegerators that someone might have experience with or recommendations.

2

I also see this model that includes a keg as well:

http://www.kegerator.com/edgestar-ultra ... Kegerators

From what I’ve read, it sounds like it might be worthwhile to swap out the faucet for a Perlick as well:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/perl ... aucet.html

Finally, has anyone had experience with the Draft Brewer Single Keg System:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brew ... ystem.html
3

I have an Edgestar kegerator myself, and I like it. Here’s another option, one set up for two kegs in case you’re interested. This one is like mine, except I bought the basic cooling unit and added my own tower and keg plumbing:

http://www.compactappliance.com/KC2000T ... Kegerators

And here’s the same one, only with two kegs included:

http://www.compactappliance.com/Edgesta ... Kegerators

And yeah, the Perlicks are a definite upgrade from the ones usually supplied with these units. :cheers:

4

Is swapping out for the Perlick’s pretty easy?

5

It was a direct swap. Just loosen the collar on the old faucet, remove the old faucet and the tensioning spring, and reverse the process with the new faucet (the Perlick I used didn’t use a spring behind the faucet).

6

I don’t have any experience with these units, but in general I would recommend going with one that allows you to have more than one beer on tap (assuming you’ll be using cornie kegs). I’ve seen people selling their keezers/kegerators on Craigslist and even on homebrew club Facebook pages. That might be worth a shot.

7

In addition I have perlick faucets and highly recommend them. With that said, if money is an issue they don’t have to be changed right away. To me its more important to get your kegerator and system in tune before you buy better faucets. Yep, even perlicks suck if the lines are too short, or the tower is warm etc…

8

I bought this one last summer for an outdoor kitchen thing we did.

http://www.kegerator.com/edgestar-full- ... Kegerators

Pricey, but I really like the forced air design. I switched out the crappy taps it came with for Perlicks.

9

I believe kegerator.com will swap the faucets for perlicks for you for an uncharged.

10

[quote=“pkrone”]I bought this one last summer for an outdoor kitchen thing we did.

http://www.kegerator.com/edgestar-full- ... Kegerators

Pricey, but I really like the forced air design. I switched out the crappy taps it came with for Perlicks.[/quote]

These kegerators hold a commercial keg, what does that equate to for cornie kegs? How many and what size cornies will they hold?

11

[quote=“SlickRick”][quote=“pkrone”]I bought this one last summer for an outdoor kitchen thing we did.

http://www.kegerator.com/edgestar-full- ... Kegerators

Pricey, but I really like the forced air design. I switched out the crappy taps it came with for Perlicks.[/quote]

These kegerators hold a commercial keg, what does that equate to for cornie kegs? How many and what size cornies will they hold?[/quote]

It’ll hold three 5 gallon cornies.

12

I purchased This one

from http://www.kegerator.com on black Friday of 2013 when they were running a nice sale. It has worked out very well for me. I just decided to upgrade my taps to Perlicks right after Christmas this year. It comes with everything you need and it is definitely nice to have two options instead of just the one. The conversion kits work well although I got a commercial keg of Fireside chat last year before I caught up on my kegging and it seemed that with the adaptor kits installed it was a very snug fit at the top of the kegerator for the hose coming out of the keg although it still fit and poured fine. No issues at all with my ball lock kegs.

The other thing I would say is that I set this to it’s lowest setting and it got down to about 45. I contacted the manufacturer and they showed me how to tweak the settings but mentioned this would void the warranty. I did it anyway and now it holds right around 40 which is great for my tastes. If and when I upgrade I will probably go to a full sized kegerator but that’s down the road a ways.

:cheers:
Rad

13

I don’t have much to add except I think two kegs is the minimum. One carbonate conditions while drinking the other or else you will have down time waiting for beer to be ready.

14

[quote=“Radagast”]
The other thing I would say is that I set this to it’s lowest setting and it got down to about 45. I contacted the manufacturer and they showed me how to tweak the settings but mentioned this would void the warranty. I did it anyway and now it holds right around 40 which is great for my tastes. If and when I upgrade I will probably go to a full sized kegerator but that’s down the road a ways.

:cheers:
Rad[/quote]

That doesn’t make sense. The webpage for that unit says “low 30s”, and wouldn’t go below 45F?

15

Not according to the fermometer strip I have stuck to the wall inside the kegerator. It was a fairly simple fix to adjust. I bet I could play with it some more and get it down to the low 30’s, I didn’t tweak the screw all the way to adjust it, just a 1/4 turn at a time until I could hold the temp I was looking for as recommended by the Edgestar tech.

:cheers:
Rad