Hambleton Bard s30 dispenser

[RICAM]

Missed that one. Cheers mate. I'll ring them on Monday.

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[Scott-westy]

I pay 13 quid for refill of standard 6kg bottle.

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[RICAM]

Quick question. Do they hire cylinders ? I rang a place North of the river yesterday and it's buy only. Quoted £50 or £80 depending on size.

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[Kev888]

Quick question. Do they hire cylinders ? I rang a place North of the river yesterday and it's buy only. Quoted £50 or £80 depending on size.

Some places hire, although monthly charges can add up so it may not be the cheapest way.

Some places will just charge a deposit and with no ongoing cost (except for swaps/refills of the actual gas) that is usually cheaper - I think my 6kg cylinders (from a slightly dodgy looking hydroponics place) were £45 each and I get that back if I return them at any time. Its less common, but I've heard of some places giving back less of the deposit the longer people have had them though, or if they go past the safety re-test date, so don't just assume everywhere works the same way.

Buying can mean what it seems, you keep the cylinder and they re-fill it - in that case you may have to pay for periodic safety re-tests, so check that out. But it can also just mean a non-refundable version of a deposit where they swap your cylinder for a different full one each time, and they are obliged to give you swaps that are within the test date.

You occasionally hear of people blagging cylinders without even a deposit, but couldn't find anything like that in my neck of the woods

[Scott-westy]

Quick question. Do they hire cylinders ? I rang a place North of the river yesterday and it's buy only. Quoted £50 or £80 depending on size.

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Don't know mate. I got two of their bottles empty off eBay (for 12 quid complete with a regulator!).

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[Fil]

andover patio centre will give you a bottle without deposit and they are airliquide agents so you can exchange an empty at any other agent its £23 a refill http://www.uk.airliquide.com/en/who-we- ... de-in.html
My local agent wants a £50 bottle deposit, id rather spent 1/2 that on diesel and have an afternoon drive down the a34

[RICAM]

That's very helpful, thanks. The nearest one to me is Morpeth. If i go with that option, I'll combine with a day out as it's a nice town.

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[RICAM]

OK I've just had an answer to some of my questions regarding this unit from one of the suppliers who has been very helpful.
The unit as kev stated is simply a stainless steel pressure barrel with gauge and therefore requires no more gas than a top tap King keg.
Perhaps less as it will not be prone to leaks like the molded barrels.
I asked whether it was more suitable for ales as a plastic barrel would be.
The answer is that as this unit can take a lot more pressure than a plastic barrel, it therefore works very well with lagers, pilsners etc.
It shouldn't leak like a plastic keg and should also use much smaller amounts of gas to dispense than a corny keg, although the gas will be considerably more expensive using the s30 cylinder.
To my mind this is a bridge between the plastic barrel and the corny keg and if you live in an area with no co2 availability it would certainly be a consideration.
In addition i would assume it would outlast several plastic barrels and probably work out as decent value in the long term.
Does the above seem reasonable to the more experienced brewers out there?




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[Kev888]

To a degree. I don't immediately see how it would use smaller amounts of gas than a standard corny to dispense, as ultimately it needs to push out/displace the same amount of beer. But yes, whilst you may 'choose' to force-carbonate (and so use more gas) if you primed and then used only just enough gas to dispense then it should be similar in gas usage to a primed top tap Pressure Barrel or corny.

Its good to hear they haven't crippled the higher pressure capabilities. That would be beneficial for highly carbonated styles like lagers or if you ever wanted to fast force carbonate.

Frankly I'd say leaks are always possible, but I'd tend to agree that a new keg of this sort should be less likely to leak than a PB. Though one possible exception to consider is that standard cornies seal partly due to pressure, and so are relatively poor at maintaining a seal at very low pressures - though the new and very good used ones can just about do it, this isn't their intended use. Its unclear if they have done something to address that with this system or not, but if you intended to use it at very low pressures (for very low levels of carbonation) that may be worth more research.

Yes, its a compromise over a regular corny system, lacking the regulated pressure gas supply and with somewhat higher running costs, but at the advantage of the cylinders being more compact and easily available (even by mail order, last I looked). And a step up from PBs in that the keg is impervious to oxygen so the beer should last much longer (especially as the keg empties), and also has higher pressure capabilities which is better for lagers. Its very similar to cornies with an s30 valve in their lid and a pressure gauge on the gas post, though hopefully the inlet valve on this system is superior quality.

Its hard to see what they've done to customise the keg - theres a chance that it could be converted to a standard gas inlet in the future by buying a new gas inlet post, however it depends if they have used/retained the standard corny thread or done something different.

[gobuchul]

If I was you I would just buy a proper Corny and CO2 regulator.

It makes a lot more sense than using the smaller CO2 cylinders with these kegs. A 6.5kg cylinder last me months and I force carbonate and drink a lot of beer!

[windrider]

IMO it seems like an expensive option for what you get. You could go down the route of a second hand corny keg, CO2 regulator and something like this: http://www.co2supermarket.co.uk/sodastr ... rs-p1.html which lets you a use soda stream cylinders (easily purchasable online), with the option of making it a mobile setup or using pub gas bottles in the future without any more equipment.

Breakdown of costs:

2nd hand corny: £50.00
Co2 regulator: £30.00
Quick Disconnects: £10.00
JG Push connects: £10.00
Cylinder adapter (Linked above): £12.00
Soda stream bottle: £15?

Total: £127.00

Which leaves you with £113.00 to buy a tap or tower of your choice.

[chris246810]

i was in the brewmonkey shop earlier and saw this, in my opinion its too expensive for what it is, your better off getting a proper corny keg setup from keg kingdom a couple miles down the road.

[RICAM]

Thanks for the advice. Due to my scant knowledge of corny kegs i would definitely buy new. The premium keg set along with a gas cylinder from Sunderland and a tower tap comes to roughly the same price. I guess my main saving is on gas. The Hambleton system has a free standing tap with base. Looking at similar taps on Keg Kingdom it seems i would need to fix the tap to a surface. Not ideal for my needs. Does anyone know if i can buy a tap with base?
Thanks again for all replies. Invaluable information.

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[Brighteyebeer]

The tap tower shown in the link would be potentially unstable if it wasn't fixed to a surface. That style of tap needs to be either flush mounted to a flat vertical surface, or attached to a tower which needs to be fixed to a horizontal surface. Alternatives are a tap/OUT disconnect combo, for keg mounting, or a party tap.

Keg Mount tap example:



Party tap:



The party tap accepts 3/8 beer line on the barb, and the beer line supports it.

Cheers,

Chris

[RICAM]

Im pretty much sold on the corny keg system now and want to thank you all for the advice. Im very grateful.

http://www.kegkingdom.co.uk/collections ... ile-faucet

I like the look of this and one co2 cylinder and I'm off.

I assume this is a good choice?


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