Mini Keg Question

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chiefbrewer

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One of my wish list items for X-mas is Tap-a-Draft or some other mini-keg system. I am sick of bottling. The Tap-a-draft is cheap and seems easy to use...but I have heard bad things about it..any suggetions, reccomendations??

Thanx:D
 
There have been some proponents of the tap-a-draft on these boards, but the general consensus is going to be for you to slowly build your full-size keg setup.

To start with buy some kegs, and Ebay has some good, cheap kegs.
Try:http://cgi.ebay.com/2-5-gallon-Corn...7QQihZ008QQcategoryZ67137QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I've personally bought from this guy and you can get 4 kegs for $80, or 2 kegs for $45; he has multiple auctions going at once so you won't get into bidding wars.

Regulators can be found for cheap and Bottles can be leased from a local welding supply shop.

You can find cheap, used refrigerators on Craigslist.

With all these your foray into kegging can begin, and you will continue to use these kegs, whereas the tap-a-draft may one day be only collecting dust when you begin to keg in cornies. It may just benefit you to start kegging in cornies from the start. There are a lot of good links on this site, search a bit and you'll find more information than you can probably use on tap-a-draft or cornies.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.
 
I have put 1/2 of each of the last few batches in minis. The one part i dislike is the foaming early on. Otherwise, they work well. I recently had one really bulge out the bottom of the mini. I threw it in the fridge to calm those yeasties down. I wish good beer came in minis so I can build up a collection (though not as excessive as HB99's mini-keg fortress). :D
 
gaelone said:
I have put 1/2 of each of the last few batches in minis. The one part i dislike is the foaming early on. Otherwise, they work well. I recently had one really bulge out the bottom of the mini. I threw it in the fridge to calm those yeasties down. I wish good beer came in minis so I can build up a collection (though not as excessive as HB99's mini-keg fortress). :D
Hey, Rich, how's it hangin' in Jersey?

If you have the "gravity tap" system - the one with the red plastic in the bung on the top of the keg (the one that does not require CO2), you can eliminate most of that foaming by allowing it to "breathe" for a minute or so after you open it up to vent out the CO2 and allow air in.

I purchased most of my kegs in Germany with beer in them (8-10 Euros each) and brought them home in my suitcases. My mini-keg "collection" is up to 20 now. I got 2 more at the Class 6 last time I was at Ft. Stewart, one Kapuziner Weizen and one Kostrizer Schwarzbier.

If you know an American overseas you can purchase empty minis from a German HB shop and have the American ship tham to you. They only sell for about 4 Euros (about $7.20) each, not $11 and $15 like I see here in the States (rip-off!).

I also have 25 cornies that I am re-conditioning...and in the process of buying all the other peripheral equipment for...not to mention over 30 cases of 0,5 liter bottles (about 12 cases are flippies).
 
gaelone said:
I wish good beer came in minis so I can build up a collection (though not as excessive as HB99's mini-keg fortress). :D

Depending on what state you live in Beer Geek can send you quality beer in 5L kegs. Of course, I don't know what you consider good beer.

I thought that the Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen that I bought in a 5L minikeg at my local liquor store was quite good.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
If you know an American overseas you can purchase empty minis from a German HB shop and have the American ship tham to you. They only sell for about 4 Euros (about $7.20) each, not $11 and $15 like I see here in the States (rip-off!).

$8.95 at Beer-Wine.com.

$9.95 at Midwest Homebrewing Supplies

I don't see how you'd save by having them shipped from Germany.
 
Exchange rate today was .7497 Euro to the dollar. That makes it $5.33 Today, anyway.
 
beer4breakfast said:
Exchange rate today was .7497 Euro to the dollar. That makes it $5.33 Today, anyway.
Yes, my mental exchange rate was off...sorry.

I believe even at $5.33 and getting them shipped from Germany they are still cheaper than $8.85...if you know someone over there who can ship from an APO where postage is only to NY.:D
 
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