Beer

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by USAF_Vol

Vercing, I have looked into buying one of the those. My wife has already given the stamp of approval due to me showing cost comparisons and savings.

My only concern is how long it will last, trouble to keep clean (I read that there are alot of cleaning requirements for them) and dealing with the nitro.

My brother in law are thinking about buying a fridge and converting one into a kegerator.

If your wife has already given her approval, then you MUST make it happen. Quick, before she changes her mind...

I looked into going the cheaper route by buying an old fridge and converting it, but I finally decided that I wasn't going to save enough money to justify it. By getting one new I got a new fridge (which ought to be less of a crapshoot than buying one out of somebody's back yard), I didn't have to spend X number of hours pouring through Craigslist and driving to people's houses, I didn't have to modify it myself, and it probably has a higher Wife Acceptance Factor because it doesn't look like something I did myself. I decided all of that was worth paying extra. If you have the time to devote to a small project, modifying an old fridge would probably be a lot of fun.

Mine's about two years old now and I haven't had any trouble yet. I clean the lines about every two or three kegs, which takes about 20 minutes. I usually take that as a nice opportunity to enjoy some kind of non-Guinness beer out of a bottle.

You would definitely want to address the nitrogen issue before you bought anything, as it is much more difficult to find a place that will sell it to you than straight CO2. Call around and find a vendor first; if the Airgas corporation has a store in your area, they're almost certain to have it. They refer to the mixture as "beer gas." It works like propane for your grill; you buy an empty nitrogen tank (for ~$90), and then they swap it out for a full one every time yours runs out. It costs about $15 and lasts for 7 or 8 kegs.

There are only two things which I wish I had done differently. I should have just gone ahead and splurged for one of the dual-keg models; it would be nice to have a rotating IPA along with Guinness. There are times when I'd like to serve something else, but I think I'd regret taking Guinness off for the three weeks or so that a keg usually lasts. The other thing is that I should have gone ahead immediately and purchased one of those handtrucks with the scooped-out back that the liquor store uses. I finally bought one a couple of months ago and it was 150 of the best dollars I've ever spent. Carrying full kegs of beer around is no fun. If you do this, get a keg handtruck from the start.

My cost for a pint of Guinness is right at $2. We've served something like 2600 pints out of this thing, so this thing has paid for itself several times over already. I honestly don't know why I waited so long.

[hohenfelsvol]

Man I would love to be in Munich next month.

[vader]

Originally Posted by hohenfelsvol

Man I would love to be in Munich next month.

[TennNC]

Originally Posted by kiddiedoc

Have you had the Rogue Shakespeare Stout? FYI (in K-town): on draft at the Mellow Mushroom (at least in Farragut).

A few other rec's:

Murphy's Stout
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

Samuel Smith beers are excellent.

Duck Rabbit makes a great porter, so I'd guess their Milk Stout is worth a try. Don't know where to find it in your neck of the woods.

The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery - Dark Beer Specialist

[USAF_Vol]

Thanks for the advice Vercing. How much is your keg of Guinness?

I would probably buy a kegerator (Like your picture) but somehow like the make your own version too.

A bigger fridge and would have a freezer, for mugs and stuff. I probably won't be buying one or making one in the near future. Probably next summer, so I will keep the advice in mind.

[Fine Vol]

Originally Posted by USAF_Vol

Thanks for the advice Vercing. How much is your keg of Guinness?

I would probably buy a kegerator (Like your picture) but somehow like the make your own version too.

A bigger fridge and would have a freezer, for mugs and stuff. I probably won't be buying one or making one in the near future. Probably next summer, so I will keep the advice in mind.

sweet avatar

[USAF_Vol]

Originally Posted by Fine Vol

sweet avatar

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by USAF_Vol

Thanks for the advice Vercing. How much is your keg of Guinness?

I would probably buy a kegerator (Like your picture) but somehow like the make your own version too.

A bigger fridge and would have a freezer, for mugs and stuff. I probably won't be buying one or making one in the near future. Probably next summer, so I will keep the advice in mind.

A keg of Guinness costs me $145 plus tax. It's high, but when you divide it out by the roughly 92 20-ounce pints each one contains, it comes out to about $1.75 per pint. Even when you add in the cost of beer gas, line cleaner, etc., it comes out to under two bucks apiece. Considering that my local Irish pub charges $5.75 now, it's a bargain.

(And considering that I see people wheeling out a keg of Bud Light for sixty bucks, it really is hard to believe that the kegerator phenomenon hasn't taken off. If you're willing to drink that stuff, it's practically free.)

I've seen do-it-yourself kegerators that looked great, and others that looked like something my wife would want out in the garage. I think a lot of it comes down to how charming an old fridge you can find. The old timey ones with the latch handle look great, if you can find one. (You could paint it orange, but I'd be tempted to paint it black with a cream-colored stripe around the top.) Whatever you do, avoid the temptation to do one of these top-loading chest-freezer conversions -- lifting a full keg of beer up and into that every two or three weeks would suck.

By all means PM me or something when the time comes around. I had about 100 questions when I was getting my own setup going, so I'd be happy to share what I learned during the process. There is nothing finer than sitting on your own deck with a fresh pint of draft Guinness as nice as you could get in any Irish pub in North America.

[SWIL]

Originally Posted by hohenfelsvol

Man I would love to be in Munich next month.

The blonde at the bottom is an absolute angel.

[USAF_Vol]

Thanks Vercing. On another note....payday today, time to go to the liquor store and find my weekend experiments.

[GVF]

Domestics:
-Sam Adams Boston Lager and Summer Wheat and SA Light. A very good and drinkable wheat.

-Mich light, Ultra, Dark, and Lime Cactus. All good.
{That's pretty much all I can think of Domestic I really buy}

Imports
-Lowenbrau was pretty good.
-Smithwick's
-Heiny
-Amstel/Becks
-Dos XX (amber only)
-Corona and C-Light. Good and clean just for throwing some easy drinkers back.
-Red Stripe
-Have tried other various imports and like most to some degree. Can't think of all. Fosters is iffy. Moosehead brings back old memories. Wasn't high on Newcastle. There are many much better English/Irish Ales.

_For just getting hammered, Mickies Malt Liquor in the short wide mouth bottle. Good stuff for drinking with a smashed state in mind.

One of my favorite drinking quotes from the now defunct Eddie Murhy ghetto cartoon...

The Super..."Hey, where's my 40"?...
The crackhead holding it behind his back... "Looks bout like a 16 to me".

[superdave1984]

Michelob Light, Amber Bock or Killian's

[USAF_Vol]

Boycott killians until coors brings back Caffrey's

[USAF_Vol]

Anyone have Sam Adams Cream Stout? I want to give it a try but don't want a whole six pack.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by USAF_Vol

Anyone have Sam Adams Cream Stout? I want to give it a try but don't want a whole six pack.

It's been awhile, but I found it fairly ordinary. Drinkable, certainly, but nothing spectacular.