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Author Topic: Keg volume indicator  (Read 9679 times)

Offline dkfick

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2014, 07:30:32 am »
Unfortunately, those little sticker thermometer/volume meters are useless in my setup since I also have a chest freezer kegerator setup.  I'd have to lift the keg about 4 ft. read it which would disturb too much stuff.

I will lift the kegs to see how full they are if I'm not planning to have one of those beers for a day or so.  This way it gives it time to re-settle.
By the time I have a beer in a keg ready to serve I'm not concerned with letting things settle anymore...
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Offline jeremy0209

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #16 on: January 07, 2014, 10:03:21 am »
I use a white board and tally each pint.  For me, an empty keg weighs about 8 pounds.  I weigh each one after I fill it and subtract 8...the number I'm left with roughly equals the number of pints in the keg.  It's not exact, but it's better than flying totally blind.

Offline dkfick

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2014, 10:49:06 am »
I use a white board and tally each pint.  For me, an empty keg weighs about 8 pounds.  I weigh each one after I fill it and subtract 8...the number I'm left with roughly equals the number of pints in the keg.  It's not exact, but it's better than flying totally blind.
That's not a bad idea at all.. Weigh the keg empty (note down weight) and weigh it full (note down weight).  Then you can always compare and see how much is left... Though it would require pulling the keg out of the kegerator to do so.
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Offline tommymorris

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Keg volume indicator
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2014, 11:02:13 am »
I use a white board and tally each pint.  For me, an empty keg weighs about 8 pounds.  I weigh each one after I fill it and subtract 8...the number I'm left with roughly equals the number of pints in the keg.  It's not exact, but it's better than flying totally blind.
That's not a bad idea at all.. Weigh the keg empty (note down weight) and weigh it full (note down weight).  Then you can always compare and see how much is left... Though it would require pulling the keg out of the kegerator to do so.

For people with keezers you could gently pick up the keg with one of these

American Weigh Scale American Weigh H-110 Digital Hanging Scale, 110 X 0.05-Pounds
http://amzn.com/B0012TDR9E

If you know the tare weight if your keg you can use Beersmith Mobile's weight to volume calculator to derive the remaining beer volume.

Offline dkfick

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2014, 11:03:20 am »
Good call
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2014, 11:05:59 am »
Low tech - put a post it near each tap and tick off when you pull a beer. Not totally accurate, but you'll know when you're close. Might not work with friends though.
I do something similar. Different glasses make it tough, but I'm usually in the ballpark. Unless I have friends over like you mention, then all bets are off.
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Offline el_capitan

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2014, 11:31:59 am »
I've been wanting something like this too.  It seems like I get near the bottom of a keg, and then attempt to kill it, thinking there's only a couple pints left.  So I'll be hitting a keg like crazy, and that thing just seems to keep on pumping out the pints!  Honestly, I think the best way to make a keg last is to try to kill it. 

So I've resorted to bottling from the keg when I want to put another one in rotation.  Just bottle the rest of the keg to clear up space.  So once or twice I've gotten all set up for that process, start to fill a bottle, and poof.  There it goes. 

I was thinking there should be some sort of buoyant magnetic wheel that could roll down the inside wall of the keg, and a weaker magnet on the outside wall that would follow along with the wheel.  It would be pretty tricky to balance out the magnetism correctly so that both parts sink rather than hanging high.  Hmmm...

Offline jeremy0209

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #22 on: January 07, 2014, 12:21:28 pm »
I use a white board and tally each pint.  For me, an empty keg weighs about 8 pounds.  I weigh each one after I fill it and subtract 8...the number I'm left with roughly equals the number of pints in the keg.  It's not exact, but it's better than flying totally blind.
That's not a bad idea at all.. Weigh the keg empty (note down weight) and weigh it full (note down weight).  Then you can always compare and see how much is left... Though it would require pulling the keg out of the kegerator to do so.

For people with keezers you could gently pick up the keg with one of these

American Weigh Scale American Weigh H-110 Digital Hanging Scale, 110 X 0.05-Pounds
http://amzn.com/B0012TDR9E

If you know the tare weight if your keg you can use Beersmith Mobile's weight to volume calculator to derive the remaining beer volume.
I don't even think you would need a calculator.  A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds and there are 8 pints in a gallon, therefore, a pint weighs a pound.  I doubt there's any weight difference between beer and water.  Subtracting the tare weight of your keg should give you the number of pints that are in the keg.  If you want the total oz. just multiply by 16.  I just use the pint as a unit of measurement because all the numbers fit perfectly and most beer glasses are pint glasses.  Usually I get 1-3 pints more than my measurements would indicate, but I've always attributed that to pouring 13 oz of actual beer and the rest is head.

Offline weithman5

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #23 on: January 07, 2014, 12:52:30 pm »
just get a few scales and put them in the bottom of the cooler with the keg on top. 
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Offline mugwort

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #24 on: January 07, 2014, 12:59:15 pm »
I've been wanting something like this too.  It seems like I get near the bottom of a keg, and then attempt to kill it, thinking there's only a couple pints left.  So I'll be hitting a keg like crazy, and that thing just seems to keep on pumping out the pints!  Honestly, I think the best way to make a keg last is to try to kill it. 

So I've resorted to bottling from the keg when I want to put another one in rotation.  Just bottle the rest of the keg to clear up space.  So once or twice I've gotten all set up for that process, start to fill a bottle, and poof.  There it goes. 

Exactly true.  An intentional keg kill seems to provoke it to keep pouring and pouring.

Finishing off by bottling is what I do too.  Even then, when I clean two I end up needing eight and likewise.

I was thinking there should be some sort of buoyant magnetic wheel that could roll down the inside wall of the keg, and a weaker magnet on the outside wall that would follow along with the wheel.  It would be pretty tricky to balance out the magnetism correctly so that both parts sink rather than hanging high.  Hmmm...

Now this is a fun concept, two little magnetic balls making their way down the keg hull with the liquid level.
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Offline Stevie

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #25 on: January 07, 2014, 01:13:51 pm »
Intentionally killing a keg gets me unintentionally drunk.

Offline tommymorris

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Re: Keg volume indicator
« Reply #26 on: January 07, 2014, 02:17:02 pm »

just get a few scales and put them in the bottom of the cooler with the keg on top.

This seems like a good easy solution. Cheap analog scale from Amazon is about $12-13.