Setting Up A Kegerator

Of course, a set of clear instructions comes with any newly delivered kegerator that is fresh out of the box. If you get one second hand, you might have problems. If you like throwing instructions away before you give them a look, you might have problems. So, here are a few tips to help you get your homebar and keg drinking fun up and running in no time.

First of all, don’t throw the instructions away. Haven’t you learned this one already when you were building your daughter’s new kitchen set that you bought her for Christmas? Ok, then. What’s up with people still throwing away the instructions? Important note, exchange the daughter kitchen set experience with anyone you may have had where you skipped a step and realized later how drastic of a mistake that was.

Moving on, when you open up your box, make sure you look through your parts. They should be listed close to the beginning of the instructions. Make sure you have everything. Plus, make sure you take a look at what tools you’ll need. Grab them from your garage, tool box, tool belt, trunk of your car, tool drawer, behind the dryer or anywhere else you might have the tools you need.

One final note about this particular step, look through the instructions real quick to find any item that you might need but don’t have. Normally, everything’s included. But depending on the kegerator you purchase or the purpose you have for it, you may need to take a trip to the hardware store and grab a few extra items before you get started.

Depending on the kegerator instructions and the particular person who wrote them, you’ll begin with the tower installation. You’ll have a gasket to stop the air flow and this is one of the most important steps. Make sure that you line the screw holes up and that the gasket sits flat. After you thread the beer line through the airway hole, be very careful that you screw the screws in tight but not too tight. This is where most people develop problems and it’s the first step you have to do.

We all know how ridiculous air, gaskets and beer can be when the three just aren’t getting along. So, make sure it’s right from the start. Take your time. Tighten the screws with steady pressure and make sure your gasket sits right.

The next step is probably to install the guardrails. So, have fun with that. You can’t really screw that up too much. So moving forward, you’ll most likely have to setup the regulator next. Place a hose clamp over the air line hose at the end that is going to attach to your regulator. Now, when you place your air line on the regulator valve, you’ll be able to slide the hose clamp up and tighten. Once again, be careful when you tighten the hose clamp. Tighten sturdy. But, tightening too much can damage the hose and cause a leak.

There should be a CO2 tank holder and you should use it. Once the tank is in place, put a line clamp on the air line and attach to the air line valve on the coupler. Slide the line clamp up and tighten. Put another line clamp on the beer line and with a seal in the wing connector, attach the connector to the beer line valve on the coupler. Slide the line clamp up and tighten.

Now, it’s easy. Make sure that the faucet on the tower is tight. Then, do what you were born to do. Tap the keg. If you need instructions for how to do that, ask one of your beer enthusiast friends who are sitting around thirsty and have a seat in the corner.

Of course, you will have to learn how to clean your lines and I would hope that you do that before you drink your first draft or run your first ounce of beer through the line. But, at least now you know how to setup your kegerator.