mini kegs and bottles

[gnorwebthgimi]

Part of the reason I moved to bottles was that I couldn't get the carbonation right on kegs and I hated carbonation on draught.

I still have a barrel and I was hoping to have an occasion to open a barrel to vent the C02 and serve under gravity allowing air into the barrel as the beer is drawn.
The obvious draw back is that the beer would spoil in days, so it would need to be drunk quickly. Unfortunately an occasion to drink 5 gallons of beer in a couple of days hasn't presented itself.

So I have been thinking of whether it is possible to barrel a more manageable 1 gallon keg and serve that under gravity as described above. I have found the following:

http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item2992.htm

This seems like an reasonably cheap option and it would be great to get a draught and bottled version of each beer. Has anyone got any experience of these?

Does anyone else using barrels serve under gravity rather than carbonation?

[bquiggerz]

I have these kegs, they can't hold the same level of pressure as a bottle and such won't carbonate to the same degree as a bottle can. I have one that can serve under gravity and three that need pressure. What exactly is your issue with serving under pressure in the first place? Sorry if you've already said it.

[gnorwebthgimi]

Perhaps it's the agitation of the beer being served through a tap from a keg but it doesn't seem as good under carbonation compared to bottles. I would like draught beer with the minimum of carbonation, essentially I'm looking to replicate real ale from a cask.

What is the difference between the keg that works via gravity and the kegs you have that serve under pressure?

[bquiggerz]

I think being served under minimal pressure from a minikeg has the best outcome. Best mouth feel but isn't fizzy like coke.

[pas8280]

Cracking bit of kit just under 10 pints chill able and all parts are reusable, however there are plenty of commercial breweries that use them so a better cost option is to buy a full one drink contents and re use
Hobgoblin is £15 at most supermarkets

[gnorwebthgimi]

I will be inspecting very closely the Adnams Broadside kegs when next in the supermarket