First Kegerator

[wgb113]

Read through some similar posts along with the FAQs but still have some questions.

I'm finishing our basement and putting in a bar. The kegerator we chose was the Edgestar KC7000SSTWIN as it will be installed under the counter.

As far as temperature control - do you mount the liquid thermometers in the fridge/to the keg/or in a glass of water?

When it comes to regulators, with a 2-keg setup what would be ideal?

For the gap between the top of the kegerator and the underside of the counter, will the 2-1/2" PVC pipe be sufficient? Can normal caulk be used to seal the gaps?

Does anyone else have experience with this particular unit? I also ordered their CBR1501SG beverage fridge to put next to it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bill

[KillianBoy]

Bill,
Welcome, I'll try to help answers your questions as best as I can.
About water/air liquid thermometer, the only temperature you should be worried about is the beer, so liquid thermometer with 2nd+ glass is what you need to look at, if you want to look at or wonder about temperature inside unit, buy a wireless thermometer, as posted before here, air temperature will fluctuate fairly wildly so really not accurate view of what the temperature of keg of beer is, same as a glass of water, 6 ounces vs. 15 gallons will react differently, if you want to check what a glass water reads, fine but by opening door you mess up interior cooling, a unit out of the box should work adequately for "government work", set thermostat, then check beer temperature.
The regulator listed to a two tap will have a manifold to split CO2 to 2 kegs, if you serve say Budweiser and Bud Light you should be fine, but if you serve 2 different beers that have 2 different v/v, then you need a different type of regulator, so I guess depends on what beers you plan on dispensing.
This is from resource tab (section) regarding mounting on counter top:
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You are the 2nd person to post about this model of Edgestar, check the other post about one problem that might effect you.
I'm not sure if you have an inside fan, but if you don't, it is best to buy a tower cooler from eBay to circulate air. If you have temperature problems I'd look at the Danby sticky, most of what is posted should help you. The main problem is if you want to bypass the control board, if you need help post pictures of the board so someone can help you figure out what is what. If you have a connector on the thermostat sensor, the resistor trick might help get colder, but again post pictures so others can help.
KB

[djc]

This is a $2k set up, it doesn't need any wires cut and comes with a tower cooler. Plug and play. Or plug and learn about foam, then play.

[psychodad]

This is a $2k set up, it doesn't need any wires cut and comes with a tower cooler. Plug and play. Or plug and learn about foam, then play.

djc's reply is the best reply you are going to get in this thread. Disregard anything about resistors and cutting wires. That is for a totally different big box store type of kegerator that someone keeps regurgitating what he has read on the forums and has no experience with.

[wgb113]

Thanks for the responses.

So as far as temps go, I should buy an instant-read thermometer and take the temperature of a freshly poured pint?

As for the regulator, we'll likely have two varying styles of craft on tap at a time. First two kegs lined up are Victory's Festbier and Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron. Where do I get info on CO2 pressures and temps for both beers?

Bill

[djc]

To properly take the temperature of the beer start with a room temperature glass, draw a pint and immediately chug or pour off, then draw a second pint into that glass and take the temperature of the beer (not foam). This method clears the line of beer that has been sitting and gets you a full pour of beer from the keg which is the beer temp you want to know. Serving temperature is up to you, most target 38. From there you need to know the volumes of CO2 (or v/v) for the particular beer. There is a resource here - a sticky for carbonation levels, or you can contact the brewery. I don't believe I have seen either of those beers discussed here, so contacting the brewery would be best. You are looking for a number generally in the 2.4-2.7 range. With the temperature and the v/v, you then refer to a force carbonation chart (google it) and you will be able to determine the correct pressure. The danger of not doing it this way is foamy pours, beer going flat, or beer getting over carbonated.

BTW those are expensive kegs to start with.

[pvs6]

Interest beer Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron All I could find on a quick search was 12% ABV and recommendations to serve this one warm, most said the flavor explodes at 50F. I'd really like to try this one but alas I haven't run across it locally. I assume it's kegged in a sixtel?

[spdbump]

Palo Santo is availible in 1/6ths never seen it in a 1/2

[wgb113]

Yep sixtels...and it's a sipper for sure. Just checked with my local distributor though and they're out of it. Might have to go with their Festina Peche.

Or to djc's point...do I start with something cheap that the masses will drink like Yuengling Lager?

[djc]

I've had logs of Festina and barrels of Vitamin Y (slim quarter). If it were me, I'd go Vitamin Y to start (2.6 volumes of CO2). A lot of times breweries will tell you the 'majority of our beers are at xx volumes of CO2', which is what I got from Dogfish when I put 60 minute on tap, and they gave me 2.7 which I believe I used on the Festina as well.

[psychodad]

Or to djc's point...do I start with something cheap that the masses will drink like Yuengling Lager?

I used to try to keep one tap available for something I thought other people would drink. I found that people would tend to try my IPA or Porters and leave the yellow fizzy beer alone. It's your kegerator, serve what floats your boat.

[wgb113]

The wife and I are splitting the taps. She's not quite as adventurous - it'll either be Victory's Summer Love or Festbier most of the time for her. I'll likely go after seasonals as much as possible. Most of the people we hang with are into craft beer and we'll have 3-4 cases of varying bottles along with the 750mL cellar I've started. Then there's always the case of Coors Light for my mother-in-law that someone else will rarely raid.

The build is going well. The counter tops go in tomorrow and flooring gets laid in two weeks so the plan is to grab a keg asap and get the learning curve down before our first big bash Labor Day weekend.

I got to talking with my local distributor this past weekend and they keep a chart for the sixtels they carry with regards to ideal temps and CO2 pressures.

Bill

[wgb113]

So the basement's done, the kegerator's installed, and I'm looking to get our fist keg (Victory's Summer Love - sixtel). All of the bigger local beer distributors will do tank exchanges but I'd hate to turn in my nice shiny new 5-lb tank for some beat up one. I found a place about 40 minutes away that will do fills of CO2, 75/25 CO2/Nitro mix, or a proper 60/40 nitro blend.

Is there anything to be gained by going with the 75/25 mix over straight CO2?

Bill

[PointPleasantNJBeerguy]

No for kegerator you only need mix gas when doing a stout like guinness. Those other mixes are for long draw systems and will serve you no purpose but problems. Straight Co2 is what you want.

[wgb113]

So I went with Victory Festbier for my first sixtel, connected everything up, set the CO2 to 12 per the beer distributor I got the keg from, and 4 pints in it's still a solid 2-3 fingers of foam. Temp is set to 38 degrees. Any ideas?