23 litre cornie kegs, now sensibly priced??

[soupdragon]

I got caught out yesterday though as I usually brew to 25 litres and find that with racking off avoiding trub etc, I end up with a full cornie and not much left over, but I obviously got a bit more and it started to spill over. Noticed it quickly, there are holes in the brew shoes , and stopped. I put the lid in place quickly and only later wondered whether the beer was above the gas in dip tube. Will it make a difference or cause a problem?

I read there's a possibility that once your beer has carbed up that you could get beer flowing back up your gas line if you drop the pressure to dispense. Could damage your reg If you've got a non return thing inline or leave the pressure as is you should be ok

Cheers Tom

[LeeH]

Only if the liquid is on or above the gas tube.

Cannot see how it can unless your keg is upside down.

[orlando]

I got caught out yesterday though as I usually brew to 25 litres and find that with racking off avoiding trub etc, I end up with a full cornie and not much left over, but I obviously got a bit more and it started to spill over. Noticed it quickly, there are holes in the brew shoes , and stopped. I put the lid in place quickly and only later wondered whether the beer was above the gas in dip tube. Will it make a difference or cause a problem?

I read there's a possibility that once your beer has carbed up that you could get beer flowing back up your gas line if you drop the pressure to dispense. Could damage your reg If you've got a non return thing inline or leave the pressure as is you should be ok

Cheers Tom

OK, suggests if I dispense a 1/2 litre or so before switching to dispense pressure it will drop it below the gas in tube and avoid the problem, is that correct?

[soupdragon]

OK, suggests if I dispense a 1/2 litre or so before switching to dispense pressure it will drop it below the gas in tube and avoid the problem, is that correct?

As I understand it, yes

Cheers Tom

[orlando]

OK, suggests if I dispense a 1/2 litre or so before switching to dispense pressure it will drop it below the gas in tube and avoid the problem, is that correct?

As I understand it, yes

Cheers Tom

Thanks Tom.

[Brighteyebeer]

They seal with the minimum of pressure, I run them at no more than about 5 or 6 psi and they therefore give me a cask conditioned style of beer.

Hi Orlando
I'm using 23 litre kegs too. I've found that mine don't need any pressure to seal them. I just add priming sugar when I rack beer into them, smear the lid seal with a little vaseline, and close it. Next day, it's pressurised purely from secondary fermentation, just like a PB My kegs must be slightly different - they're 60 psi max, not 40. Not that I need it - I too dispense at low 'blanket' pressure, for that cask ale experience!

Cheers, Chris

[orlando]

They seal with the minimum of pressure, I run them at no more than about 5 or 6 psi and they therefore give me a cask conditioned style of beer.

Hi Orlando
I'm using 23 litre kegs too. I've found that mine don't need any pressure to seal them. I just add priming sugar when I rack beer into them, smear the lid seal with a little vaseline, and close it. Next day, it's pressurised purely from secondary fermentation, just like a PB My kegs must be slightly different - they're 60 psi max, not 40. Not that I need it - I too dispense at low 'blanket' pressure, for that cask ale experience!

Cheers, Chris

Where did you get yours from?

I haven't tried secondary fermentation in them but thought if you did you might have to squirt a bit of gas in them first. Have to say it always seems to be a good seal just from how tight it is when closing the lid. The only improvement I can think of is making them 25 litres, they're obviously made for the US market .

[tim_n]

[quote="orlando"]Having been trawling all the usual places to try to find used 19l cornies at a reasonable price has forced my hand. eBay has proved to be the most frustrating as I have seen s/hand kegs going for £60 +. Germany had dried up, even Norm didn't have any and Hop & Grape's prices kept going up and they only had 18l versions. So I have gone and recruited the 23 litre versions made in China, which cost just under £100, but they are able to take a full brew, are brand new, bought from the Home Brew shop and so come with some guarantee so I feel they represent reasonable value. New 19l cornies are £120 + and probably won't remain like that with the $ gaining 8% on the £ this year already. It used to be the gap between new and reused was really quite large but not anymore.
[/quote]

These sound pretty good - I've asked the question about when they're back in stock. Whilst I've been on JBK before, first time I've registered to say thanks for allaying my concerns - bit confused about this replacement seal m'larky - have you done it yet and was it difficult?

I'm building an eBIAB kit to brew for these, so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. Cheers!

[orlando]

Hi Tim, the replacement seals seem to be a traditional cornie "problem" The Chinese 23 l jobbies seal perfectly at hardly any pressure at all. When I store them I replace the lid and give them the briefest of squirts and it seals completely. I am not surprised they are out of stock, at less than £90 delivered they are astonishing value for a new product and I can confirm they have performed flawlessly since I've had them and I will be buying more. I would not by a second hand cornie of the traditional kind if only because they are too small. I would be much more interested in getting hold of Sankey style kegs before buying the ordinary cornie, anyone starting to keg I would advise staying away from them

[DeUltima]

Hi Orlando,

I've just decided to move into kegging, so I went down to my homebrew shop and picked everything up to get going. On that day he had no used kegs in stock, but had one of these new 23 liter kegs left for $125 and I went for it after he sold me on the idea of fitting a full batch into the keg. I guess only time will tell if we truly made a good investment here.

From my own research they appear to be 304 SS with a recommended carbonation level of 30-40 PSI (Max 60 psi with 45 psi release valve). This works for me as I plan to force carbonate at 30 psi for a day or two, then dial her down to about 2-3 psi for serving.

I'm happy enough that I plan on getting good use out of her, but the one area I'm left with a bit of confusion over is the O-rings and I was wondering if you have had any experience with the them yet? Would they take a standard set of corny keg ball-lock O-rings, or do I need to find something special for them, and if so could you point me in the right direction?

I've also noticed that there is two O-rings on each of the dip tubes, but I believe there is only one in a standard O-ring replacement set. Do you think that it's necessary to replace both of them each time, or is that second one just extra?

[orlando]

Hi Orlando,

I've just decided to move into kegging, so I went down to my homebrew shop and picked everything up to get going. On that day he had no used kegs in stock, but had one of these new 23 liter kegs left for $125 and I went for it after he sold me on the idea of fitting a full batch into the keg. I guess only time will tell if we truly made a good investment here.

From my own research they appear to be 304 SS with a recommended carbonation level of 30-40 PSI (Max 60 psi with 45 psi release valve). This works for me as I plan to force carbonate at 30 psi for a day or two, then dial her down to about 2-3 psi for serving.

I'm happy enough that I plan on getting good use out of her, but the one area I'm left with a bit of confusion over is the O-rings and I was wondering if you have had any experience with the them yet? Would they take a standard set of corny keg ball-lock O-rings, or do I need to find something special for them, and if so could you point me in the right direction?

I've also noticed that there is two O-rings on each of the dip tubes, but I believe there is only one in a standard O-ring replacement set. Do you think that it's necessary to replace both of them each time, or is that second one just extra?

Well mine are only 10 months old so I hope I don't have to worry about replacements for many years to come . There are two "O" rings on the dip tube but I've used one and that appears to be OK but I am having fobbing problems with a beer that I've not experienced before so need to check the seal as part of the fault finding, reasonably sure that it can't be that or I would be getting leaks of beer or CO2, you assume that there are two for a reason and my only explanation is that the second ring lifts the dip tube just a little further off the convex base, begs the question why not just make the dip tube shorter. I assume the $125 means you're in the USA, sounds a little expensive if it is, as usually you guys pay in $ what we pay in £'s and these are designed for the US market hence the slightly annoying 23 instead of 25 litres capacity, way better than the usual 18/19 though .

[DeUltima]

Close, I'm in Canada (Vancouver, BC). At the current exchange rate, $125 Canadian dollars is about £72 British pounds. Most recipes out of the USA are normally for 19 litres in my experience. Personally I just started brewing with those Copper's kits, so I got use to making 23 litre batches. As I transitioned to partial extracts, then all-grain I just kept with it, so these kegs just made sense from that point of view.

Have you never compared the o-ring sizes on these kegs to standard ones? I ask because when I bought it I just kind of assumed it would, but then I noticed you mentioned something about the lid being bigger than a standard one. Unless I read that wrong... Is the lid a different size? Because that's what got me to thinking that it might not use standard o-rings in the first place.

[orlando]

Well mine are only 10 months old so I hope I don't have to worry about replacements for many years to come . There are two "O" rings on the dip tube but I've used one and that appears to be OK but I am having fobbing problems with a beer that I've not experienced before so need to check the seal as part of the fault finding, reasonably sure that it can't be that or I would be getting leaks of beer or CO2, you assume that there are two for a reason and my only explanation is that the second ring lifts the dip tube just a little further off the convex base, begs the question why not just make the dip tube shorter. I assume the $125 means you're in the USA, sounds a little expensive if it is, as usually you guys pay in $ what we pay in £'s and these are designed for the US market hence the slightly annoying 23 instead of 25 litres capacity, way better than the usual 18/19 though .

Close, I'm in Canada (Vancouver, BC). At the current exchange rate, $125 Canadian dollars is about £72 British pounds. Most recipes out of the USA are normally for 19 litres in my experience. Personally I just started brewing with those Copper's kits, so I got use to making 23 litre batches. As I transitioned to partial extracts, then all-grain I just kept with it, so these kegs just made sense from that point of view.

Have you never compared the o-ring sizes on these kegs to standard ones? I ask because when i bought it I just kind of assumed it would, but then I noticed you mentioned something about the lid being bigger than a standard one. Unless I read that wrong... Is the lid a different size? Because that's what got me to thinking that it might not use standard o-rings in the first place.

I don't have any other cornies, decided to go for these as the traditional ones seemed to have various issues that these don't and these are brand new. S/H cornies over here are becoming ridiculous, costing not much short of the Chinese ones. As far as the lid is concerned I am quoting the seller of these, I don't have a direct comparison, all I can say is that the seal is superb and seals with the merest puff of CO2 and would bet it would do so without. I use a bit of food safe keg lube to be really certain.

[DeUltima]

Okay, thanks for the help and quick responses too. S/H Cornelius kegs are becoming hard to find here too and the prices are starting to catch up with new units. This is part of the reason I went with the new 23 litre keg as well. My only worry with these kegs is finding replacement parts, but honestly the o-rings are my only true concern on the short-term as I've been told you should replace them every year or two. In theory you would hope the other parts wont need to be replaced for years if ever.

PS - I just ordered a pack of standard ball-lock o-rings, once they arrive in the mail I will let you know how they compare to the ones that come with the keg.

[orlando]

PS - I just ordered a pack of standard ball-lock o-rings, once they arrive in the mail I will let you know how they compare to the ones that come with the keg.

Thanks that will be useful. If they are correct let me know your source.