Cornelius kegs
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A cornelius keg (also known as a Corney or soda keg) is a metal container formerly used by the soda industry, and now commonly used to store and dispense home-brewed beer. Cornelius kegs were originally made by the IMI Cornelius Company, however, since the arrival of new technology such us Bag-In-Box (BIB) packages Coke and Pepsi bottlers have abandoned their Cornelius kegs, and started selling them to hobbyists.
[edit] Specifications
Cornelius kegs comes in many sizes:
| Size (US gal) | Size (litres) |
|---|---|
| 3 | 11.355 |
| 5 | 18.925 |
| 10 | 37.85 |
A Cornelius keg is a stainless steel cylinder which can hold a maximum of 130 PSI. There are three openings in the keg: a large central hole which, by its design, can only be opened when the keg is not pressurized, and two ports with valves which are only opened when a hose with an appropriate fitting is attached to them. The central hole is used for filling and cleaning the keg, while the two ports are used to dispense the drink. Two metal tubes are attached to the ports on the inside of the keg. The "gas-in" port has a short tube, not reaching the fluid. The "liquid-out" port has a long tube which reaches to the bottom of the keg. When pressurized gas (usually Carbon Dioxide) is forced into the "gas-in" port, it pushes the drink from the bottom of the keg, out of the "liquid-out" port, presumably to a tap.
The connectors which attach to the ports come in two varieties: pin-lock and ball-lock, and they are not interchangeable. Historically, pin-lock kegs were used primarily by the Coca-Cola company, while ball-lock kegs were used primarily by Pepsi. On a pin-lock keg, there are metal posts (pins) extending horizontally from around the port. When the connector is attached, these pins hold it in place. The "gas-in" port has two pins, while the "liquid-out" has three, making it impossible to accidentally attach the hoses backwards (which would result in Carbon Dioxide bubbling up through the drink, but no drink being dispensed). Ball-lock kegs have ridges in the ports, which are gripped by small metal balls in the connectors. Both types of kegs are fairly easy to find, though ball-lock seem to be more common.
Cornelius kegs are most commonly used by home brewers as an alternative to bottling their beer. Many beer drinkers find that beer which is stored and conditioned in a keg has a better flavor than beer which is conditioned in a bottle. In addition to this, most home brewers must bottle their beer by hand, which can be a tedious chore for large batches of beer. Conveniently, a Cornelius keg holds five gallons of liquid, which is the size of a typical batch of home brewed beer. This means that rather than saving, cleaning, and filling approximately fifty bottles, the brewer only needs to fill one keg. Despite the simplified bottling procedure, kegged beer generally requires a kegerator, which can be difficult to set up and maintain. Furthermore, by storing beer in large kegs, rather than individual bottles, portability is lost.
According to a page on the Quality Wine and Ale Supply web site, there is a currently (as of 10/27/2006) a shortage of Cornelius kegs. The page states that the price of stainless steel is very high presently and that both used and new Cornelius kegs are "in short supply." It goes on to note that both Pepsi and Coke have abandoned the Cornelius keg in favor of "aseptic bags." This is followed by the assertion that all of Pepsi's used Cornelius kegs have been sold to the Chinese. (Confirmation of this assertion would be nice.) If that is the case, then, as the Quality Wine page asserts, there could very well be a shortage in the market for used Cornelius kegs.
See the paragraph at the top of: http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/2220 (10/27/2006)
