New to Kegging and Kegerators Question

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Hello, and thanks ahead for any assistance. I brewed 10 gallons and kegged it into two 5 gallon kegs, sealed them up and set them in a cool (72 degrees) closet for about 14 days. Then I bought a kegerator, because I am backwards I suppose.

I tapped the first keg today, first applying the ball lock on the gas side. Something was amiss and it started leaking beer everywhere. Repeat this process three times before I thought to put plumber's tape around the threads before screwing on the barbed end. This stopped that leak. I then proceeded to make the same mistake on the beer side once before fixing that leak.

Fast forward everything is working, there's 12psi coming from the tank.

My question, after all of that nonsense, is did I hurt any part of the beer with the early leaks or should I be OK? I know it's a general-ish question, and again thanks for any help.
 
As a fellow learner, I feel your pain :) Again, as a learner, I'm working with kegs often and so long as stuff is coming out rather than going in I'm not too worried. A gas leak is no biggie and a bit of spilled beer, whilst tragic, is also no biggie.

Personally, I'm always relaxed once I get some gas on top of the beer; I feel that it's beyond harm then and my clumsiness can't do any more damage.

I'm sure there will be someone who knows their stuff along soon to give a proper answer. Good luck with the beer :)
 
Sounds about right nothing more than the bumbling along I've done when it comes to kegging. Congrats on the keg upgrade it'll make packaging your beer a lot quicker and as you've found you can carb and enjoy it quicker!
 
Thanks to all!

I poured my first glass about 20 minutes ago and it is exactly what I was shooting for. It's a SMaSH (otter and citra), so nothing complicated, but it held up. I was worried the citra hops would betray me and give me a "grass" taste, but they served me well and I've got a nice, simple, citrusy IPA.
 
Grass from Citra? Never heard of that. I get loads of hoppy/zingy citrus from Citra, a real favourite for me. Glad the beer turned out for you :)
 
The beer should be fine, if you were leaking around the threads I would take the posts apart when you empty the kegs and make sure the o-rings are healthy, or even present. There should be an o-ring on the tubes going into the keg as well as the one for the post connect and the main opening. I've had a bad o-ring before cause similar problems to what you described and I fixed it the same way you did temporarily.

The beer should be fine, though in general if you can pressurize and blurp any O2 out of your kegs right away it's better for the beer. Not a major issue though.
 
So a kegerator is a fridge/keg right? For the guys with keezers, do they have an inkbird sort of thing going on with it going on and off, and if so, would that not burn out the motor? Thanks, sorry if stupid questions.
 
I've had my keezer for 6 years without a problem. The remote temp. controller has a delay that keeps the compressor from short cycling. That's what kills fridges and freezers.
 
I've had my keezer for 6 years without a problem. The remote temp. controller has a delay that keeps the compressor from short cycling. That's what kills fridges and freezers.

What is short cycling?I have an inkbird, what sort of delay do you put on it? 10 mins or so?
 
What is short cycling?I have an inkbird, what sort of delay do you put on it? 10 mins or so?

Short cycling is when the controller cuts power to the fridge/freezer and then restores it too quickly. This would normally happen only if the cooling differential was set to a very low value. Most controllers have a compressor delay pre-programmed. As an example, the default setting for the Inkbird ITC-308 is 0. The range is from 0 to 10 minutes. I would set it to a minimum of 5 minutes to be safe, and set the cooling differential to a minimum of 2 degrees F.
 
Short cycling is when the controller cuts power to the fridge/freezer and then restores it too quickly. This would normally happen only if the cooling differential was set to a very low value. Most controllers have a compressor delay pre-programmed. As an example, the default setting for the Inkbird ITC-308 is 0. The range is from 0 to 10 minutes. I would set it to a minimum of 5 minutes to be safe, and set the cooling differential to a minimum of 2 degrees F.

Great thanks. Useful to know, I will increase the temp range like you said, took me a while to find a good second hand fridge!
 
What @BOB357 said. I set my inkbird to 40. I have it set to go down two degrees (38) and up 3 (43) with a ten minute delay.
I've also got an old computer fan inserted into some dryer duct and run that 24/7. It helps maintain the temperature throughout the keezer top and bottom.
20190609_125517.jpg


No need to use a controller on a kegerator/refrigerator unless running it as a fermentation chamber.
 
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Nice. I have a fan that will do nicely for that purpose I should reuse too.
 

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