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Running beertaps.com has been an interesting ride that was more involved than I thought it would be. But, it has been fun. Each new challenge has presented an interesting and useful solution.
For instance, when I was asked about the kegerator a customer just purchased, I realized that there probably are more people out there who have the same questions. So, I wrote a report and published it on the site. Then, I wrote an article to let everyone know that I wrote the report.
That’s about the time the second question came in about keeping beer lines clean. Then, about home brew recipes. So, I kept writing reports to help people and I kept writing articles to make people more aware.
It started out as a big gaggle of reports that I finally organized into a Learning Center that is now populated with great stuff. From Home Brew Tips and Tricks to DIY Home Bar Projects, I keep adding to the learning center. But, I’m always willing to hear what you want to know. I have a form for questions at http://www.beertaps.com/contact.html
But, the recent interactive is the forum I created. It’s easier than a report to write a simple answer. Some answers aren’t as involved as putting an entire article together with pictures and everything. So, I populated the forum with a few items. But, it’s new.
I’d love to see some people on there soon. Start some topics and get some feedback. How else do you expect a forum to get started?
http://brewdrinker.com/thepub/
Hope to see you there!
You can’t just go in blindly when you are converting your old refrigerator into a kegerator. I’ve seen some horrible mistakes. I’ve seen mistakes that have caused the refrigerator to be no longer usable in any capacity. You don’t want your refrigerator conversion to turn into any of these catastrophes:
One day, a few friends of mine were enjoying their draft beers out of their freshly converted kegerator when all of a sudden they heard a pop. They didn’t think anything of it because they had been hearing different sounds all day. One of the beer enthusiasts decided to pour another drink and got a half glass with a lot of foam. After closer observation, the beer line had popped off the regulator and was damaged. The beer drinking fun was over until the beer line was replaced. A good bit of beer was on the bottom of the refrigerator too. A nice mess to clean up when you have a CO2 tank pumping air through a line to make sure the beer keeps flowing.
I have actually witnessed the next mistake go both ways. The CO2 regulator needs to be set to the right psi. Not over and not under. Can you imagine walking up to the kegerator and not getting anything out of it? Or worse yet, can you imagine damaging a beer line because you had the psi too high? Great ways to ruin a party.
But, the one that takes the cake is the amateur who decided to just drill the hole through the door without knowing what he was doing. The hole was too big for the shank because this guy wanted to drill the hole as big as the nuts. Enough said about that! Scrap the refrigerator and go find another one.
So before you make any of these mistakes, make sure that you know everything you need to know before you get started:
Converting a Refrigerator into a Kegerator
This year when we’re drinking your home brew for Thanksgiving…
What? You’re not making beer or wine for Thanksgiving? You don’t have a home brew that you make special for Thanksgiving?
Well, how weird is that?
It must not be a tradition everyone shares. But, see if you can relate to any of these:
- Sitting on the couch and eating Thanksgiving while watching football.
- Same thing…sitting on the recliner with a food tray.
- Saying, “It’s not worth it. We’re going to a restaurant.”
- I ordered Pizza and Wings one year…
That was the year I had just finished my home bar and I made my first home brew for our New Happy Thanksgiving Tradition.
I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoys their own traditions, whatever they may be!
Posted November 25th, 2009. Add a comment
Introducing: Home Beer Brewing Secrets
If the idea of being able to craft delicious homemade beer is something that appeals to you – regardless of how much money you have, you’re educational background, your skills or the amount of equipment you own, then you will love this…
But one quick thing before I continue: I have $89.90 in free bonuses reserved in your name. To discover how easy it is to get all of them for FREE, follow the link below.
If you are just starting to brew, if you are curious, or if you are a brewer looking for an A-Z guide, this is the one to get. Home Beer Brewing Secrets gives you a solid foundation of knowledge that will serve you well in your brewing pursuits. Everything is presented in a simple-to-understand format that answers all your questions from the most basic, to as technical as you could possibly want!
Home Beer Brewing Secrets is jam-packed with simple, sure-fire instructions for making your very first beer… accurately, clearly, and simply.
All You Need to Know to Start From Square-Zero
to Being an Expert at Making Delicious, Hearty, Home-Crafted Beer!
Here’s just some of what you’ll discover:
- - Learn the 10 crucial steps to an irresistibly refreshing home brew
- - Learn about the ingredients of all forms of beer
- - How to prevent your precious brew from getting spoiled… using one simple, inexpensive tool
- - Which beer bottle you must use to prevent beer being spoiled during storage
- - Simple formula that lets you adjust alcohol content up or down (I suggest UP!)
- - 4 tips for beer storage
Home Beer Brewing Secrets
Posted October 23rd, 2009. Add a comment
When you have your bar and your cabinets built, you’ll want to get to drinking in it…Now. But, I’ve seen some make shit jobs that aren’t really all that great. Then, I’ve seen some expensive setups that are way out of the reach of most of us.
So, here’s the home bar the easy way:
The kegerator is the first thing you put in your bar. It keeps your keg cool and it adds style in an inexpensive way.
This kegerator can actually make the entire bar. If you choose to use a kegerator like this to hold your kegs, you can make it a part of the bar’s counter top. Then, you only need counter space on each side. That’s a setup made easy, as easy as it gets.
Grab a tap handle of your favorite beer and now you’ve got something to really get you bragging. There are tap handles of all kinds, from your favorite domestic to your favorite import. As a promotional tool, every beer you can think of has a beer tap handle for commercial uses as well as the home bar enthusiast.
But, just in case you have a beer of your own or some other “unrecognizable” libation, get the beer tap handle you can write anything on that you want.
Tell people, “Try Me!” Give your concoction a name. Have fun with it and write, “Make Your Own Beer…” or whatever else you might come up with to prank your friends.
You’ve got the bar. Dress it up in style. The kegerator and a beer tap handle can turn any room into a bar. Your bedroom, your dorm room (oops), your garage, your basement, your tree house…
Anywhere!
When you are trying to create a bar in your home, of course you begin with the taps and the handles, mirrors and signs. You built a bar! It has to look right. Right?
But when the bar is in place and you think you have it all, what kind of lame bar serves draft beer in plastic cups? And I’ll be willing to bet that’s what you have. Red plastic cups that you bought at the grocery store. Hmm…all that work and then you tap out at the end.
Well, you can add some specialty glasses so that your friends are drinking in style. This is where it gets tricky, but you can manage. You don’t just want to get mugs of any kind. You need to stock up your cabinets with mugs of all kinds.
Vintage mugs from old fashioned beers add such a touch of class. Especially when you have friends asking you where you got the mugs. That’s when you realize saving money on those red plastic cups wasn’t worth it after all.
But, don’t stop there. You should have Pilsners and Pints, Dimpled Mugs and Retro Pubs. Get mugs with different logos like Coors, Molson, Blue Moon and Killian. It’s a blast to make sure that you drink out of the right glass for the right kind of draft.
Logo Beer Glasses
Posted September 29th, 2009. Add a comment
It’s been a dream for many beer drinkers around the world. But, putting a keg in an old refrigerator for your apartment, den or garage isn’t that hard to do when you have the right material.
A Kegerator Conversion Kit is all you need and there is something that you may have never thought about, but it’s a surprise and I’ll tell you in a minute. These conversion kits change any old refrigerator into a kegerator in minutes. Install the shank and faucet directly in to the door of your refrigerator and hook up the Co2 inside. You’ll be drinking from your kegerator in no time at all.
But, here’s something that not many people think about. The Kegerator Conversion Kit can also be used for other home bar designs. Wall mount it to a closet. That’s right! Turn your closet into a kegerator.
All you need to do is install the shank and faucet on the wall the way you would the door of your refrigerator. Then, grab a large trash can full of ice just like you would for a normal keg party. Hook up the Co2 inside the closet and you are ready to drink some cold beer with the keg hidden in the closet, fully functional for your party. Of course, this is really only good for keg parties when you have them. But, you can try to keep ice in the trash can as you keep swapping out kegs.
As this idea starts to spark the imagination, I want to see Kegerators everywhere! Garages, Bedrooms, Kitchens, Living Rooms, Bathrooms, through the wall to the Patio outside…etc.
Beertaps has the Kegerator Conversion Kit you need!
Posted September 25th, 2009. Add a comment
You watch people on television having a great time. Some of the reality television shows allow their contestants to be viewed while drinking. Some actors like Norm have made a career out of it. But, can you get paid to drink beer?
It would be nice to know, wouldn’t it?
I loved watching Tara Reid get drunk on the Wild On… episodes that she hosted and on the Taradise show that had a short run. You sit back and watch the show thinking, “Man, why can’t I land a gig as sweet as that?”
You get paid to roam around the world, find the best places ever and drink their alcohol to show people at home how fun it is. That’s the gig of the century. But, then the thought occurs to you that only blessed people like Tara Reid get gigs like that.
Well, not anymore. Getting paid to drink is no longer a gig for the beautiful and talented. It’s a job all of us can have.
It seems that there are plenty of beer companies starting a trend. They love to pay people to drink their beer and give them feedback.
“Just two nights ago I attended a beer & wine discussion group and for about 1 hour of my time, sampling a few different beers and wines and answering some questions I received $70.” Tim Costello, author of Make Money Drinking Beer.
It does appear that the blessings have been passed on to the rest of us. So, if you think you can participate in a drinking group where people will be drinking and talking about drinking, the learn more about how to make money drinking beer…
Posted September 10th, 2009. Add a comment
by Brad Smith in Homebrewing
…
1. Use High Quality Ingredients
The quality of brewing ingredients in the 1980s was nowhere near the quality home brewers have access to today. However, you still need to be careful when purchasing ingredients – particularly those that look like they have been on the shelf for a while. First, always use fresh malts and malt extract. Older liquid and dried malt extract in particular will ferment much more slowly than comparable all-grain wort. Yeast also has a limited shelf life. Liquid yeast is generally of higher quality than dried packets, but it must be stored under refrigeration and must be used in the recommended shelf life. Liquid yeasts are typically dated – so pay attention to the date when you purchase and use the yeast. Old, expired yeast will ferment slowly or possibly incompletely contributing to exploding bottles.
2. Allow the Beer to Ferment Completely
One of the chief causes of exploding homebrew bottles is beer that has not been fully fermented before bottling. Many home brewers are anxious to drink their newest brew and rush it into the bottle too early. The beer then completes its fermentation in the bottle, producing extra CO2 pressure that can cause bottles to fail. Malt extract based beer will ferment more slowly than a comparable all grain beer, so malt extract brewers are at higher risk. Finally, many extract brewers use plastic buckets with covers that seal poorly. As a result, gas may leak out the edge of the bucket rather than through your airlock. A beginner will interpret the lack of airlock activity as an indicator that fermentation is complete, never realizing that the CO2 from active fermentation is leaking from the cover. I usually allow a minimum of two weeks for an average beer to ferment before bottling, and wait a longer period if brewing a high gravity beer.
3. Use Good Bottles, and Inspect Them
A poor quality bottle is a recipe for disaster. Even under normal carbonation, a beer bottle at room temperature can reach 30+ psi. Never use a twist off bottle – they are too thin and your caps will not properly seal. Select the thickest bottles you can find, clean them thoroughly and inspect each of them by holding them up to a light source each time you use them. Immediately toss any cracked, chipped or thin bottles. Consider purchasing high quality reusable bottles from your homebrew store – these are generally better than disposable commercial bottles. If you use them several times, the cost is quite reasonable.
4. Calculate and Weigh the Right Amount of Priming Sugar
Sugar density varies tremendously depending on who made the sugar – one cup of corn sugar from one manufacturer weigh dramatically more than another. Weigh your priming sugar – don’t just measure it by volume. You can calculate the exact weight of priming sugar needed using a spreadsheet, online calculator or BeerSmith.
5. Store your Beer in a Cool Dark Place
Light and heat are natural enemies of finished beer. Light and heat break down critical flavor compounds, promote additional fermentation and increase the CO2 pressure in the bottle. As you heat a bottle of beer, it also dramatically increases the pressure in the bottle itself. Store your beer in a cool dark place to avoid bottle bombs and preserve its natural flavor.
