Matt RaibleMatt Raible is a Web Developer and Java Champion. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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Over 10 years ago, I wrote my first blog post. Since then, I've authored books, had kids, traveled the world, found Trish and blogged about it all.

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Tuesday August 05, 2008

Awesome Birthday Present: A Kegerator

My New Kegorator I'm proud to say I have the best parents in the world. For my birthday this year, they bought me a kegerator. It was delivered last week, but I didn't get a chance to put it together until this weekend. I've never had so much fun putting together an appliance.

Since it's summer and I'm in Colorado, I decided to get a keg of Sunshine Wheat to start things off. So far, there's issues with 1) too much head and 2) it's not quite cold enough. I think the first can be fixed by playing with the CO2 tank and settings. The 2nd might only be fixable by moving it inside. If you have a kegerator and have advice on how to fix these issues, please let me know.

Why did your parents buy you a kegerator?

There's actually a good reason for this. A few years ago, Julie and I made an agreement that I could buy a kegerator when I paid off the last of my student loans. While Julie and I aren't a couple anymore, it still seemed like a good idea. I paid off my last student loan in June. However, it wasn't my loan, it was my Mom's. When I was applying for colleges way back in the early nineties, my parents said I could go to DU, but only if I paid for it.

My Mom took out quite a few loans over the years to help with tuition, and I finally paid them all off. When I was with my parents over the 4th, I joked that they should buy me a kegerator since I was paying off their loans. Lo and behold, my subliminal messages worked and I ended up with a tap at my house. I couldn't be happier.

Update: Speaking of birthdays, this is the first post I've had to start the 7th year of this blog. My first post was on August 1, 2002.

Update 2 on Friday: I haven't had a beer from the kegerator since Sunday. This evening I poured a fresh one and I'm happy to report the head and temperature issues seem to be fixed.

Posted in General at Aug 05 2008, 09:01:20 PM MDT 6 Comments
Comments:

Congrats on paying off the student loans!! (and the kegerator)

My experience with Sunshine Wheat in my kegerator, running 1/4 barrels, I need to keep the pressure around 8 psi. Any more and it comes out with too much head. It should take around 6-7 seconds to pour a pint glass.

I haven't had any problems keeping it cold, but mine is in our basement.

It's also a good idea, both for temperature and for head, to let the keg sit overnight after you tap it. Picking it up from the liquor store, driving it home, and carrying it inside has a tendency to get the beer a little agitated.

Posted by Jeff Hubbach on August 06, 2008 at 03:42 AM MDT #

My limited experience with kegs in general is that there also might be some stabilizing of the pressure after tapping a new keg. let the keg sit and build up to the right temperature, then do an initial pour of about 1-2 pitchers. of course, drink it anyway, don't waste it by all means =) but you'll probably get the best temperature and best air flow after those 2 initial drafts

Posted by JR on August 06, 2008 at 05:20 AM MDT #

I got a used Beverage-Air kegerator while I was at my first job working at Lowe's Inc in North Wilkesboro, NC. I got it for $50 dollars from a guy who did not drink and removed it from the bar in his new house. This thing was awesome but I too could never get the co2 level right at all. It was very frustrating. I found that the keg always worked better depending on the amount of people drinking off of it. The more beer that flowed in a night, the better it worked. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine.

Posted by Mike Jennings on August 06, 2008 at 03:21 PM MDT #

If you need replacement parts or a cleaning kit for your kegerator, check out KegWorks.com

Posted by Pete on August 07, 2008 at 01:51 PM MDT #

Happy Birthday Late My Brutha! lol loving the Kegerator, you got that on wheels yet - a trailer or the bike? ;-) Hey look btw,... I'm not dead! Em wants to have a BBBQ up here. Pretty sure one of those B's is for beer. Expect her to contact you. Oh and rollin' up the sleeves and jumping back into Drupal. Hope all is super swell with you and yours and the van. -maxi

Posted by Maxi on August 08, 2008 at 09:04 PM MDT #

Great to hear from you Max! I've been reading your blog and cringing every-so-often. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Would love to do a BBQ soon.

Posted by Matt Raible on August 09, 2008 at 12:04 AM MDT #

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