Kegerator Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Do get a kegerator. If you drink beer regularly, then it’s worth it. The beer is cheaper when you buy it by the keg, and it’s more convenient to just take your glass to the tap.
• If your wife or girlfriend objects to the kegerator, then tell her you are doing it to save the environment. After all, re-usable kegs are much more eco-friendly than all that glass for the bottles.
• Do clean your beer lines each time you switch out your keg(s). The beer in those lines is the perfect growth medium for bacteria and yeast that will make your beer taste like crap. Your lines should be cleaned once per month at the least.
• Do everything you can to convince SWMBO to approve putting the kegerator right in the living room. It’s more convenient there. If you can’t get approval, then just put it there anyway – she probably can’t move it out to the garage by herself.
• Do set your regulator to about 10-12 psi for proper carbonation and to drive your beer faucet. If you accidentally over-carbonate your beer because you set your regulator higher, you can always unhook the gas line for a day or two. The carbonation in the keg will push the beer out even without the gas line, and it will help to relieve some of the pressure.

Don’ts

• Don’t buy your own CO2 tank. You can get a tank for less money by just putting the deposit down on a tank at the welding supply store. If you buy a brand new steel tank, then the first time you try to get it filled, they are just going to switch it out for some old banged up aluminum tank anyway – so why “donate” a new tank to the supply company?
• Don’t enclose your kegerator into a bar without proper ventilation. Refrigerators (and kegerators) need airflow around them to operate efficiently. If you are going to put it under a bar, then make sure you have ventilation grates or fans to blow air around it..
• Don’t allow beer to back up into your regulator. The best way to avoid this is to make sure your tank is open all the way before you attach it to a carbonated keg. If you homebrew, then it is also a good idea to suppress the temptation to hook your gas line up to your “out” port in an effort to force carbonate faster.
• If you are a homebrewer, then don’t buy your kegs new. You can buy a used keg on eBay for about 1/5th the cost of buying new. Or, alternatively, you can buy 5 kegs for the price of one!