Tap-a-draft vs Easy kegs

[colin.m.hammond]

I am after a small scale kegging system that fits in my current fridge - an every day fridge freezer. So I am looking at max 5-6L kegs. So far my options seem to be Tap-a-brew or 5L easy kegs. I have my reservations about both options so far. The Tap-a-brew system, you need the co2 and I would much prefer a gravity fed system. But it would fit in the fridge better as you can lay it down. Do they work well? Can you empty a bottle or is there quite some dead volume in them? The easy kegs look great but when stood up are too big for the fridge. On their side they would be ok but then I would have to taken them out of the fridge to serve due to their design and that would disturb the yeast. I don't understand why the tap a brew system doesn't have a square box that has the tap at the bottom? That would be perfect. More suitable for a gravity fed system (naturally carbonated), like a box of wine but for beer - that takes a bit of pressure.

I currently bottle in a mixture of 1L swing top IKEA bottles and normal bottles with a crown cap. I also have a 10L pressure barrel. There is quite a difference in mouth feel between the keg and the bottle. But the keg doesn't fit in our fridge unless I remove all the shelves (tempting but not feasible).

Is there any good alternatives out there?

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[aamcle]

I have used both and have just dumped the Tap a Draft bottles, the fancy tap/head developed a leak and the are no spares for them in the UK. The big tins work I never took to them for the reason you gave, you mentioned fitting a TAD into a fridge they do fit in but only sideways obliterating a complete shelf and so aren't swimbo friendly.

Normal bottles are great they fit n so on but you can go bigger. If you get a small gas supply then 1 litre bottles with a stainless car tyre valve in the cap you enable you to store, carbonate and fridge the beer.

Atb. Aamcle

[VANDEEN]

I'm currently using 2l "pop bottles", bottle conditioned.

I pour the first pint by gentle tipping and squeezing of bottle, swap the standard cap for one of my stainless valve types, purge headspace by loosening slightly & squeezing out the air.
Then tighten & re gass from my CO2 cylinder, pint two works the same, Pint 3 & 3.5 I tend to have in one session pouring off the sediment.

Sterilise the stainless adapted valve cap ready for next bottle use

Simples

[Fil]

If you go mini keg route check ebay for keg machines basically they are peltier chilled minikeg boxes with an intergrated hi quality party tap, while new they can cost upto £200 or more??? 2nd use and they generally have very little use unless owned by a homebrewer and they can go for £30-40 +pnp in auctions.. pnp isnt cheap due to the size.. i ebayed a Morphy Richards version, pop a keg in at room temp, and tap it turn on the chiller and leave overnight to settle (sediment) and chill
The downside of minikegs is the priming limit and subsequent low level of condition limit when naturally conditioning And being lacquered steel they can soon rust. I never used a tool on mine removing bungs with string only and after 4-5 brews some started rusting on the bung lip??

SO.... Best option imho ... you can buy for about a tenner a pet bottlecap/corny post, which would let you pressure condition in 500ml-2l pet bottles as they can take upto 50psi easily. you would also need a co2 bottle and regulator while you could use co2 bulbs or a s30 bottle they too would incur set up costs and a welders reg for circa 25-£30 and a 6-7kg bottle of co2 for circa £15-25 +bottle deposit would last about 5-10years (keg users use at least 1/2 their co2 cleaning and sanitising kegs line chillers and taps.. ) and i get 18-30months from a co2 bottle with upto 4 kegs serving and a lot more kept clean....
so just let the beer clear in primary and bottle without a priming charge and blast with co2 to condition:) while you can condition very quickly this way your beers may still require a lil time to mature still..


a lot more faf conditioning 12x or more upto 2l containers than just a single keg with one conditioning cap shared amongst them, but you will also be able to recondition any carbonated drink that comes in a pet bottle too

http://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carba ... B01039C0Z0

they have Stainless steel versions on www.alibaba.com tho i cant find em atm...

[rpt]

If you want gravity fed then how about polypins? They come in various sizes and come with a box. The only downside is you need to drink them within about 6 weeks of filling as they are oxygen permeable.

[colin.m.hammond]

So, in the end, the decision was taken out of my hands. I got the 5L mini keg with party star delux tap starter kit from Brewferm as a present for my birthday. I have tried the setup already and am pretty pleased with the results. I am not convinced that I saved anytime vs bottling though. But I have the cask style I was aiming for. Thanks for your help

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