Even the most devoted homebrewers among us occasionally let the kegs run dry. It happens. Maybe you haven’t had enough time to brew, or perhaps it’s just been too hot or cold to do so. But just because you have no homebrew doesn’t mean you have to let your taps sit empty. Give those kegs another purpose and enjoy having drinks of all kinds on hand. Here are five ideas.
Commercial Beer
This is the obvious choice. Just head on down to your favorite craft brewery and pick up a sixtel, quarter barrel, or half barrel of beer, depending upon the size and shape of your kegerator. Commercial kegs require a Sankey coupler (pictured at top), so if you built your kegerator with homebrew kegs in mind, you’ll need to remove the liquid and gas disconnects from the beverage and gas tubing and then attach the tubing to your Sankey coupler. If you own a Sankey coupler, you can modify it with ¼" MFL fittings to make swapping out disconnects a breeze.
Soda
Soda is another obvious choice. After all, Corny kegs were originally built for soda. You can make your own soda syrup or purchase one of the many excellent, ready-made flavor concentrates available from homebrew stores. Just add the concentrate to a clean, sanitized keg, pour in the recommended amount of sugar (typically a pound of sugar per gallon of soda), and top up with enough clean water to fill the keg. Keep in mind that soda is carbonated and served at higher pressure than beer (typically about 30 psi), so you’ll want to adjust your draft lines accordingly. Also, sodas, especially root beer, have a way of permanently lending their aromas to O-rings, so plan to replace those O-rings if you plan to use the keg for beer again. And don’t forget to clean your draft lines.
Seltzer Water
Seltzer water is even easier than soda. Just fill the keg with water and hook it up to the gas. Most seltzer water will need upwards of 30 to 40 psi of pressure, and as with soda, you’ll need to use longer beverage lines to handle the pressure.
Coffee and Tea
Even coffee and tea can be served on draft. Just look for the cold-brewed coffee and tea concentrates that many stores now sell, and fill up the keg with the recommended ratio of concentrate and water! While you could serve these carbonated, most people probably prefer their coffee and tea still. If you have a nitro setup, you can simply push these with 100 percent nitrogen, or with a beer gas blend set to a very low pressure. Even a regular carbon dioxide dispense will work: Just keep the pressure to the very lowest setting that will still push liquid out of the faucet.
Pre-Mixed Cocktails
These might seem like a potentially dangerous thing to keep on tap, but it works great for Moscow mules, gin-and-tonics, and other drinks based on fizzy mixers. Non-carbonated cocktails, such as margaritas and martinis, can be served using the same low-pressure methods as for coffee and tea.
Just about any beverage you can think of can be served from your kegerator, so if life hasn’t given you time to brew, there are still plenty of ways to keep things flowing from your home draft system. Cheers!