Recently, couples baby showers have become the rage – a new type of baby shower celebration that includes both the mom and dad-to-be, along with their friends and family members of both sexes. These celebrations have become more about celebrating the couple and the new life they are bringing into the world, and in some cases, the celebration has turned into a full blown party.

So, with all of the celebrating going on, does the idea of having a kegerator at a baby shower sound enticing? Moms-to-be can’t drink beer, or at least shouldn’t drink beer, so why have a kegerator at the celebration? Well, because it is a celebration! Many baby showers, even those that are ladies-only shindigs, offer alcoholic beverages to guests, even though the soon-to-be mom can’t imbibe.

When the ladies get together, there may be champagne, wine, or other mixed drinks, although there is often also beer for those that enjoy drinking beer. Once men enter the picture, there is a natural tendency to want to include food and beverages that will appeal to the dad-to-be’s guests, so having a kegerator on hand makes sense.

Home kegerators are basically beer fridges that house and cool a keg or half keg of beer. Unless you’re having an all-out, blow-out baby shower, or you’re inviting a ton of people, chances are pretty good that you will not go through that much beer at the party. But, if you are hosting the party at someone’s house that already has a home bar kegerator, then it makes sense to offer beer from the appliance, rather than running out and buying cans or bottles of the malt beverage. {Use our Beer Calculator to see how much beer you will need for your baby shower!}

If, on the other hand, the host or hostess does not own a kegerator, someone that has a mini kegerator might want to bring it along to the celebration so that there is cold, fresh beer available to the men in the room (and ladies who like beer!), without there being a ton of beer on hand (mini kegerators hold just a small 5 liter mini keg of beer).

When you think of a baby shower, surely the first thing that comes to mind is not a keg of beer sitting front and center amidst baby clothes, strollers and car seats. But, since baby showers are about celebrating, and since many people enjoy celebrating with a celebratory drink or two, kegerators can have their place at a baby shower too.

So, as long as the mom-to-be is not hanging around the keg (or at least is not drinking around the keg!), there is almost always a place for an adult beverage or two to celebrate new life and the promise of new opportunities. Of course, as with any type of celebration, it is important to make sure that guests drink responsibly. Baby showers are certainly not the place to overindulge, but rather to enjoy time spent with family and friends while getting excited about the new baby and helping to outfit the new arrival in style.

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The “big day” is arriving soon and there’s lots to do. Of course, there’s the much coveted wedding dress to pick out by the bride, along with countless other decisions to make such as where to hold the festivities, what the invitations should look like, and who should be a part of the wedding party. Then there’s the food and drink to think about, the entertainment – and by necessity, the budget. So, with all this going on, how do kegerators fit into the picture of this blissful day?

Kegerators can be a great choice for meeting the “adult beverage” requirements for those interested in having a more informal wedding reception. Not quite for the white glove service crowd, kegerators can get the party rolling by providing great tasting, cold draft beer for the wedding guests – on a budget. The kegerator can be placed behind a bar with a paid bartender to dispense the frothy ale, or if you want to keep the party even more informal (and want to cut down on the cost of hiring a bartender!), you can simply leave the kegerator out for guests to help themselves. See how much beer you will need for your wedding using our wedding beer calculator.

Although having a kegerator at a wedding may not seem like the classiest of options, the truth is that everyone who attends a wedding is there to have a great time. Most people enjoy a party where there is some good tasting beer – and many more wedding couples are choosing to limit the alcoholic beverage selection at their weddings to beer and wine only, or even just beer, to keep costs down while still keeping the fun up. So, in fact, a kegerator can be a great way to handle the dispensing of alcoholic beverages in style at your nuptials.

For those hiring a bartender or a catering service that also handles the alcohol, a kegerator may even be something that the bartender or caterer brings or has on site. Many catering establishments already have under counter kegerators set up in their bar areas. If you are having the party at a restaurant or other dining facility that has a liquor license, they very well may have a kegerator as well and can provide you with the option of offering draft beer to your guests.

If, on the other hand, you are planning a party in a different type of venue, such as in your own backyard, in a tent outdoors, or in another non-traditional location, you may be forced to bring your own supplies – including tables, chairs, serving pieces, and even the necessities for setting up the bar area, such as a kegerator. If that is the case, and you are not using a catering company to do the work for you, you can rent a kegerator or two to supply the beer you need for the party. Very often rental companies, the same ones that will bring and set up your tables, chairs and even the tent, can rent and set up the kegerators for you, too. They may not be allowed to supply the keg that fits in the kegerator, due to laws about liquor sales in your state, but if not, you can easily ask a friend to do the honors of picking up and setting up the keg or kegs in the kegerators so they are nice and cold when it’s time to celebrate.

So, if you are looking for a way to plan a wedding to celebrate with friends and family while keeping your budget in check, consider limiting your alcoholic beverage options to only beer and wine, or beer only, rent a kegerator or two (or ask if the caterer can bring them) and get on to the fun. The expense of providing alcoholic beverages at a wedding can be one of the heftiest components of a wedding budget, but there are ways to still throw the party of a lifetime to get your new life together as a couple started without breaking the bank. Simply rely on a kegerator or two to keep the cold beer flowing!

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For adding a quick extra beer tap onto your kegerator, a stainless steel or plastic t- or cross joint will do the job of splitting the CO2 to the different kegs – but gas leakage may occur if your keg tap isn’t maintained properly.  This is the most inexpensive way of splitting your CO2 line, and all you will need is the appropriate taps for the beer you want to dispense, surgical tubing, hose clamps, and of course the kegs of beer.  Adding an inline valve will even make it so that you can minimize gas wastage when changing kegs.  The T-splitter will cost you less than $5 and the inline valve probably less, and you can find for these items online or at your local hardware store in the plumbing section.  Aquarium supply stores may also have the fittings.  You will still need beer taps – more on that later

A more refined approach to splitting CO2 lines is the use of a gas distributor.  These units have one gas in and multiple gas outs to facilitate multi tap kegerator modifications.  The gas distributor has valves for each of the line-outs, and you can use a gas distributor to split your gas out in multiple directions.  Gas distributors are available in a number of configurations.  Two way gas distributors cost roughly $40, while the larger multi tap distributors with 6-8 line-outs can cost $120 or more.

For a draft beer system that requires dedicated individual pressures for different beers, a secondary regulator panel or a dual body CO2 regulator is necessary.  This is very advanced stuff most people need not go into this much detail, but these units will cost upwards of $150 just for the regulator panel, the price depending on how many regulators you need, or $120 and up for a dual body CO2 regulator.  If you want to force carbonate your beer while dispensing beer from the same unit, a secondary regulator panel or dual body CO2 regulator may be the modification you want to make to your kegerator.

One factor to keep in mind when splitting your kegerator’s CO2 line is that your operating pressure will decrease depending on the length of tubing you use.  When long lengths of tubing are used, the tubing expands and makes it difficult to keep the CO2 pressure at a constant rate.  The same also goes for beer lines.  If you cannot avoid having a long-draw system, you will need to use certain materials for the majority of the draw in order to ensure optimum beer quality and cleanliness.  You should strive to have no longer than six feet of regular surgical tubing from CO2 canister to keg, or 12 feet of beer lines all together from between keg and faucet.

Although there are some exceptions, long-draw systems still push beer from the keg via CO2.  The standard flexible surgical tubing is used, but coupled with a special “barrier tubing” soon after leaving the keg.  Barrier tubing is thicker than regular surgical tubing and has a mesh cover, which keeps the vinyl tubing from expanding and causing CO2 pressure irregularities.  With the use of a tubing flare tool, you can create your own stainless steel tubing for your beer lines as well, which are by far the most durable and cleanest options, although they are harder to build and modify.

See related:
Modification Project: Adding Double or Triple Tap Tower
Placing CO2 Disconnect Couplers
Installing Co2 Lines Efficiently
CO2 Tank, Pressure and Regulator Questions
CO2 Tank Guide

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History shows us that the drinking of beer goes back at least 4,000 years. In that time, beer was most likely stored in clay urns and pots. But somewhere along the line, humans discovered that beer could be carbonated by sealing it in a bottle or cask and letting the yeasty “spirits” or “miracles” of fermentation go about their business. With this discovery came the first beer keg.

As far as historical records go, we can see a lot of light shed on the development of beer in Europe. Originally, European beer, i.e., beer-as-we-know-it-now, was predominantly kegged in wooden casks. These casks were usually made of oak or other hardwoods that had a reputation for being non-toxic. Beer at this time was un-pasteurized and usually unfiltered, which lent it to spoiling. This beer had an expiration date!

Most of the advances in brewing and kegging technology since then have focused on increasing the life span of beer. The most important of these was the process of pasteurization. Pasteurization is a process by which a product in a bottle or can is rapidly heated and then cooled. This process ensures that any organism that may be purposely or un-purposely left in the product (in this case, the beer keg) is killed. Through the use of pasteurization, beer kegs have been granted a much longer shelf life.

For some, the change in taste that the pasteurization process yields is too much to ask for the benefits of increased shelf life. An organization known as CAMRA, the CAMpaign for Real Ale, has taken up the cause of un-pasteurized and un-filtered beer. Through this group, folks interested in cask ales and real ales may find them in the U.K. Interest in cask ales is present in the U.S. as well, although the term real ale does not have the same weight as in the U.K., where strict guidelines have been established. Real ales are those ales that are still “alive” with living yeast. Cask ales are ales that are served from a cask, although not necessarily a traditional wooden one. These ales may be filtered, but they are usually cask-conditioned. This means that they gain their fizzy carbonation through the natural process of fermentation instead o the “force-carbonating” that is usually done by commercial beer makers.

The modern Sanke beer keg is designed to be rugged, easily cleaned (at least with the right industrial keg cleaning machines, and to hold a great amount of beer while still being light enough to be handled by one person. Unlike the cask, the progenitor of the keg, the Sanke keg requires little preparation and knowledge to operate. Sanke kegs took the Shive hole and the keystone of casks and put them into the same hole, locked in with a coil spring and valve, released with the push of the tap once attached.

Today, most cask ales are served from steel or aluminum casks, just as regular beer kegs are. They still require the care of an attentive landlord or barkeep, however. The gas must be vented and the beer prepared two to three days ahead of time. The benefit of a little extra tooling and care produces the result of an ale the likes of which might have been enjoyed 2,000 years ago! For all the modern influence of technology on brewing, it is refreshing to see that some people still like to do things the old fashioned way.

See related keg beer articles: History of the Kegerator, Beer Keg Directory, Beer Kegging Tutorial

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