Instructionals....

Today were going to learn about the keg, how it works and why its sweet.

First you need to know why:

"Beer is Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" Benjamin Franklin

Now that we have that out of the way....the parts that make the whole, or fill the glass.

First and foremost this needs to be recognized as a system.

In the center you have the keg (beer containing unit), CO2 unit on the right (pressure), and the faucet (dispensing apparatus), and the thanksgiving turkey base (soup).
You can disregard the soup for now. Before you even get a keg you need the ability to serve it. A hammer and a screwdriver might work for an evening, but that rash and inconsiderate to your guests. So a delivery system can be tight, like a CO2 tank and regulators and gauges, that start looking like space shuttle components, you know the fun is about to begin.

The gauges represent the volume in the tank and the pressure in the line to the keg. 10+ psi is sufficient to get the beer out without power spraying the drywall out. You're going to want a nice cool temp from 40 to 30 degrees F. Note: big knob is the on/off and the little flat screw is the psi to the keg line.

Now once the non volatile gases reach the keg and pressure it, it can squirt the goods out the other side. Remember the reason this is cool: Price and Longevity. At about half the price of pint at the bar, and a really long shelf life due to the inert gasses that don't spoil the goods, the potentials are endless.
This piece is called the coupler, and depending on what continent you keg is from decides the type of coupler needed to really hook into this beast. Sometimes called a sankey.

The faucet is the most recognizable part. Responsible for the beer-glass transfer. Depending on the beer and the gas, faucets determine the pour. Nitrogen gassed beers like Guinness require a spinny thing to release the gas during the pour giving that thick rich head we all love. The one pictured is a standard pour.

So to pour keg beer you need something to push it out (CO2) and a pour jobber (faucet). Simple, efficient, fun.

We can go more into detail next time