Put local brew in a mini keg?

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I have a mini kegerator and just finished a 5L mini keg of Spaten.

Can I sanitize the Spaten mini keg and fill with beer from a local brewery? Do I need to prime the mini keg with sugar? Is the co2 enough to keep the beer carbed?

I really don't know anything about brewing so any help is appreciated.

Thanks
 
Can you clean the inside?

If you can, then you may be able to. Then after cleaning, you would want to sanitize it also.

What kind of cap or seal does it have?
 
Priming won't work. The brewery most likely filters the yeast. Your best bet is just to start brewing your own.

Do those kegs need a CO2 cartridge? If they do, just put the beer in there and charge it. The beer's already carbed up.
 
Pretty sure Spaten uses the regular 5l mini keg with the replaceable bung, not the single use ones like Heineken, right?

I actually forced carbed both beer and apfelwein in cornies and then filled those little steel kegs, simply raised the carbonation slightly to amount for any possible loss and filled like I might a growler. I took the extra precaution to keep them cool (especially the apfelwein as I backsweetened without pastreurizing) but I think both precautions of higher co2 volume and cold were ultimately unnecessary for the beer, even pouring from the bottom tap it had PLENTY of co2 on the first day (and one open keg still had a reasonable head on it the next evening, despite having the gray open vent bung on the top)
This is after more than a week and travelling 1100 miles in a cooler in the trunk.

If you're pouring from one of those countertop kegerators on co2, I'm very sure you'll be happy with the carb level if you have it filled like a growler. Just make sure to wash it first!

BTW, considering buying a countertop dispenser for a gift, would you recommend the one you have, and what is it?
 
Dynachrome said:
Can you clean the inside?

If you can, then you may be able to. Then after cleaning, you would want to sanitize it also.

What kind of cap or seal does it have?

The mini keg had a vented plug. In order to serve the beer in my mini kegerator I had to remove the vented plug and replace with a plug that fit my tap. I can easily sanitize the keg.
 
itsme6582 said:
Priming won't work. The brewery most likely filters the yeast. Your best bet is just to start brewing your own.

Do those kegs need a CO2 cartridge? If they do, just put the beer in there and charge it. The beer's already carbed up.

Yes, I have a mini regulator that attaches to 16g CO2 cartridges to pressurize the keg and keep the beer flowing through the mini kegerator.

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if a brewery would be willing to fill my mini keg with their beer.
 
Raenon said:
Pretty sure Spaten uses the regular 5l mini keg with the replaceable bung, not the single use ones like Heineken, right?

I actually forced carbed both beer and apfelwein in cornies and then filled those little steel kegs, simply raised the carbonation slightly to amount for any possible loss and filled like I might a growler. I took the extra precaution to keep them cool (especially the apfelwein as I backsweetened without pastreurizing) but I think both precautions of higher co2 volume and cold were ultimately unnecessary for the beer, even pouring from the bottom tap it had PLENTY of co2 on the first day (and one open keg still had a reasonable head on it the next evening, despite having the gray open vent bung on the top)
This is after more than a week and travelling 1100 miles in a cooler in the trunk.

If you're pouring from one of those countertop kegerators on co2, I'm very sure you'll be happy with the carb level if you have it filled like a growler. Just make sure to wash it first!

BTW, considering buying a countertop dispenser for a gift, would you recommend the one you have, and what is it?

Thanks for the guidance. maybe a dumb question - but what is the process for filling a growler? Do you just pour the beer in or is there a special process?

I was actually gifted a Krupps Beertender. I love it since modding it with CO2. Out of the box it only supports Heineken and New Castle mini kegs. These mini kegs have a proprietary design with a built in CO2 widget. To get my dispenser to support non-pressurized/non-proprietary mini kegs I purchased an EdgeStar Tap Conversion kit online for $60. The conversion kit is designed for the EdgeStar countertop dispenser, but I found a video on YouTube where a guy shows how to use the EdgeStar kit with the Krupps Beertender. It's actually very easy, requires you to drill a small hole. You could save yourself the added effort by buying the EdgeStar dispenser but I think it's quite a bit more expensive than the Krupps Beertender. If you are interested I'm happy to share more details on my experience modding the Beertender.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if a brewery would be willing to fill my mini keg with their beer.

If they won't fill it. You might be able to buy growers and pour them in the keg when you get home. Make sure everything is very cold if you do this. This will help keep the head down while you transfer.
 
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