Building the Collar:

Well after getting all the parts from simgo it was finally time to start building the collar for the taps/shanks. I got the idea from a beer forum I visit frequently and set out to homedepot in an attempt to find some wood…you may have no idea what I’m talking about but please look at the pictures below and you will understand what the collar is for….I pre-measured the lengths that I would need from my freezers lid and had buddy at home depot cut the wood out for me..

I found out later that where I though I was going to mount the collar and where I ended up mounting it where two different places.

Good thing my old man is a carpenter at trade with a couple of cuts and some swearing the wood was cut and mounted to the lid….oh what fun…

I was even able to get the stock gasket back on to the wood so it would make a seal. Need to add some silicon but for now it’s all good

Was trying to impress the SWMBO so I attached one of the three faucets

The Other Equipment:

I had the kegs/freezer but now it was time to figure out what else I needed so I hit up www.kegworks.com and looked at a bunch other their kits the one I liked the most was

Single Tap Refrigerator Conversion Kit for Homebrew

I knew I would need extra faucets/shanks/tubing and such but I really didn’t want to order from the states. Shipping plus border issues are always a pain. So I started looking for canadian websites which there was none to be found. I found a wholesaler but they were not interested in making any money. But after some more looking I found a company called simgo out of BC. There website is terrible and you pretty much have to call them to make a purchase. I was worried that they wouldn’t want to deal with me because I was a home owner but the guy I called didn’t ask any questions and after 30 minutes on the phone I had submitted my order. Simgo didn’t take that long to ship out my supplies which insisted of:

• 1 – Faucet Wrench
• 1 – Co2 Cylinder
• 1 – Co2 Regulator
• 3- Shanks
• 3 – Chrome Faucets (I will regret not going with perlicks)
• 3 – Gas Connects (Pepsi Keg Connectors)
• 3 – Liquid Connects (Pepsi Keg Connectors)
• 3- Black Handles (For The Faucets)
• 1 -Co2 Manifold
• Other Various junk for connecting everything together

Now the fun of putting everything together…..

Temperature:

Well I tested the stock temp on the highest setting on that beast and it wouldn’t stay above 32 F. I didn’t want to spend money on a Ranco ETC or a Johnson Controls A-19 so off I went to find a cheaper solution. I found a Ranco A10-4909 and thought I was in business picked it up from a friend that was a refrigeration technician in his early days and still had old thermostats kicking around. As of right now though I can only get it to hold at 36 – 38f so unless he has more kicking around I might have to invest in a digital one.

The Freezer:

After getting my corny’s the next step was to get a freezer to hold them. So I went to Future Shope, The Brick, Costco and many others looking for a steal of deal on a damaged of discontinued one. Was I sadly disappointed there was nothing and the cheapest one was around $180 and that was for 3.3cu freezer which would probably only fit 2 of my kegs. So I started looking in the newspaper and it was like my luck changed instantly in the $0-$100 items there was an ad for and old chest freezer $30 bucks. Man was I happy…I called the lady up that Saturday and asked if I could come take a look at it…man was it awesome the thing was beaten up good and would hold atleast 3 kegs…I bought it on the spot and with some help from the old man I brought it home. Man was the SWMBO ( Someone Who Must Be Obeyed AKA The Wife) not impressed =)

Red Ale (Left), IPA (Right)

Corny Kegs:

Well after bottling 4 batches of beer (120 bottles) I was tired of bottling…..Most people say it takes them more before they get into kegging but after 4 batches I was no longer interested in bottling. So I looked at the alternative (Kegging). Started looking at pricing at figured it would cost me only a couple hundred bucks. Man was I wrong as you’ll see later. So I did what all homebrewers do when they’re looking for gear….(Ebay). I must have been my lucky day because 3 corny kegs where up for sale in canada…I thought wow and for only $60 bucks that’s a hell of deal. So I did the buy it now and a week later I had corny’s.

Wheat Ale:

Well this was my 1st crack at making beer…I dunno what made me make a wheat ale but I thought what the heck why not…So I went down to a LHBS (Local HomeBrew Store) and the newb that I was at the time probably looked like a dear in the headlights. I probably asked the worst questions but oh well here I’m looking back on that occasion (maybe I should have done this blog as my journey began?). So I asked buddy what I needed and he took me over and said you need a brew pail, brew kit (Coopers Wheat Ale), siphon hose, and a siphon. My father makes wine so luckily he gave me a carboy for a secondary. So there I was 40 dollars later with all my gear. I setup shop when I got home and read the directions dump goo into bucket add water and packet of yeast and let site for 5-7 days. After 7 days I transfered my beer into the glass carboy and let it sit for another week not knowing you should let is sit in the secondary for two weeks I decided it was time to bottle. So luckily after finding another LHBS where I lived I picked up 3 cases of bottles, bottle caps and a cheap $2 bottle filler. So now I’m down $100 and still no beer, so I get home and start bottling this beer. I must have thought I was John Molson himself filling up my new 12oz bottles of beers. I used cane sugar to carbonate and let the beer sit a week. I then tasted it knowing you supposed to wait at least 2 weeks. Man was it horrible it tasted like fleichmans yeast the stuff you use for making bread. But I had then learned about a website www.homebrewtalk.com got an account and started asking questions. Most people said wait two weeks at least before it might be good. So that’s what I did and while I waited for my 56 bottles of wheat beer that costed me at least $100 to turn out I started on my next beer………

.

Well I got into brewing beer about 3 months ago…would have to look at my debit account to see for sure. In that time I have learned a lot about the craft. I have brewed just from kits but hope to get in AG soon…(In the Spring). So far I have brewed some pretty good beers from The BrewHouse Kits. Which I will elaborate on later. This is my blog about beer, never done a blog before so we’ll so well this goes…Toad