Keg Sizes

 

 

Sounds like you are ready to begin kegging your beer, but may not have an idea of which keg to use. Well you have come to the right article! We are going to cover the different types of kegs and couplers needed. Not all kegs below are for homebrew use, but you will be armed with uber keg knowledge to impress your friends.

 

So, you have been brewing 5 gallons of homebrew and bottling close to 53 twelve-ounce beers or 29 twenty-two ounce beers. Are you ready to pour 53 twelve-ounce beers or 40 pints from your kegerator? It is a great move to make, having fresh beer on tap and not worrying about conditioning in bottles or making space in a packed refrigerator.

 

 

Homebrewers typically choose between three styles to keg their beer: Ball Lock, Pin Lock, and Sankey kegs. Ball and Pin lock are “brothers” as they are similar but there are subtle differences between them. Commercial brewers usually use Sankey kegs, but homebrewers can use them as well.

 

The Pin and Ball Lock kegs are both considered Cornelius (“Corny”) kegs. The Ball Lock kegs are the more popular (based on availability to homrebrewers) of the two that homebrewers use. They use a “ball lock” to connect the gas and liquid lines to the keg. When shopping for disconnects, you just need to look for the word “ball lock” in the description. The Ball Lock kegs are taller and usually slimmer than the Pin Lock Keg. Pin Lock kegs are alike to the Ball Lock Kegs, but have subtle differences: 1. Their lids do not have a manual pressure release relief valve (PRV). 2. They use different connections for gas and liquid where you won’t be confused on which connect goes where, gas or liquid. 

 

The Sankey Kegs are different altogether from the Ball and Pin Lock Kegs. Sankey Kegs only have one port (center of the keg), where the connection will have gas coming in and liquid going out all in the same unit, ie: coupler. A small downside to the Sankey Keg is it takes time to dismantle to clean, but the upside is they are less prone for gas leaks due to less escape points. The Sankey Keg is also larger, as in 1/7 barrel and half barrel, a major reason why commercial brewers use the Sankey keg.

 

If you do decide to use a Pin or Ball Lock Keg, then you will want to purchase a C02 tank, which would be connected to a regulator. Regulators manage the amount of pressure inside the keg, which will sustain carbonation in the beer, push the beer out of the keg, into the lines, through the tap when pulled. You will run a gas line from the regulator to the gas disconnect  (specific style is needed for the Pin and Ball Lock Kegs) to your keg’s “in” post. On the other side of your keg, you will have a liquid (beer) disconnect. You will have a liquid line connected to the “out” post either connected to your tap, or to a picnic tap.

 

 

As you can imagine, in order for beer to be dispensed from any key you will need C02, no exception with the Sankey keg. You will need a gas line and a liquid line, this is a different set up then above. Remember, with a Sankey; you will need a coupler, which contains the gas in line (located on the side of the coupler) and the beer out line (located on top of the coupler) all in one unit. The coupler aligns with the spear or dip-tube, allowing gas to enter into the keg. Using a Sankey keg also requires having the right coupler. The majority of Sankey kegs in the U.S. require the D-Coupler. The only hassle of the Sankey keg is disassembly, as it can be a hassle compared to the Corny kegs. One keynote to remember; make sure to remove the metal ring to get the spear out of the keg for cleaning. You will need a keg wrench to remove the ring.

 

Below, the chart shows eight "common" types of kegs, including how much beer they hold, their overall size, shape, dimensions, as well as their most common uses and nicknames you may hear them referred too as.