mini-kegs

i was wondering if anyone uses thees http://www.midwestsupplies.com/mini-keg.html and if so how well do they work and are they worth looking at?

Check this out: Party Star Deluxe Tap System - the system that hooks up to those kegs. It mentions that you need to naturally carb the beer in those kegs, so immediately you've lost one of the advantages of kegging - forced carbing.

Also, "Each mini keg will last for 6 - 8 uses before needing to be replaced." At 10 bucks a mini keg that's not too shabby, but my 40 dollar Corny kegs will, with a little love, last a lifetime.

Final point: the taps are out of stock

I don't know if you are into kegging yet but you should check these 3 gal kegs out. if you not kegging yet youll have to but a little extra equipment, but itll all go towards everything if your wanting to keg. They'll even fit in your regular fridge. I wouldn't buy them new, thats too expensive. i have a few and love them.
http://www.amazon.com/Cornelius-Keg-Gallon-Ball-Lock/dp/B003V5HXVK

There also up on ebay all the time.

I have been using these 5l kegs (link below) for 2 years and have not replaced anything yet, and it works just fine.
Replacing it every 6-8 uses is just a marketing statement, like I said, have used my dozens of time, no need to replace as long as you wash/clean then after each use.
If you decide to go for these metal kegs, check this link
http://www.thebeeressentials.com/kegging/keg-parts.shtml

I however suggest a different keg, actually a 6l PET bottle I recently started using. Much easier to clean and takes the same CO2 head as the metal kegs.
Check this system at
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-starter-kit.html

Midwest also have the twist caps for these bottles.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-bottle-cap.html

Note that each keg would need about two 8g CO2 cartridges to completely dispense the beer.

Naturally carbonating for me doesn't mean any extra work or disadvantage, seriously.
The good thing about these small draft systems is that you have a small bottle/keg that you can easily carry to a friend's house or party and share you beer away from you house.

You can also make one of these, whenever you get more people.
https://picasaweb.google.com/113519419739471547060/Draft_Beer#

A guy near me was selling 4 of the 3gallon cornys for $20 each. I was a dummy and waited a day to call. The guy who bought them is now selling them for $60 each.

i have a 4 pack of them and i have found them to be more annoying than helpful. they didn't hold the pressure and over carbonated. sticking to bottles for now.

nilo said:

I have been using these 5l kegs (link below) for 2 years and have not replaced anything yet, and it works just fine.
Replacing it every 6-8 uses is just a marketing statement, like I said, have used my dozens of time, no need to replace as long as you wash/clean then after each use.
If you decide to go for these metal kegs, check this link
http://www.thebeeressentials.com/kegging/keg-parts.shtml

I however suggest a different keg, actually a 6l PET bottle I recently started using. Much easier to clean and takes the same CO2 head as the metal kegs.
Check this system at
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-starter-kit.html

Midwest also have the twist caps for these bottles.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-bottle-cap.html

Note that each keg would need about two 8g CO2 cartridges to completely dispense the beer.

Naturally carbonating for me doesn't mean any extra work or disadvantage, seriously.
The good thing about these small draft systems is that you have a small bottle/keg that you can easily carry to a friend's house or party and share you beer away from you house.

You can also make one of these, whenever you get more people.
https://picasaweb.google.com/113519419739471547060/Draft_Beer#

Click to expand...

Nilo, I've been using the TAD for a while now and just saw these 5L kegs. What makes them harder to clean than the TAD bottles? I was tempted to switch over to the kegs to get away from using plastic. Any other thoughts upon comparing the two since you've got both?

I really like the 5l kegs I have. I keg and force carb in regular cornies for home and use these 5l kegs to take to gatherings. I just counter pressure fill with my bottle filler and they work great. They hold pressure well enough that the one I took south last spring to 80F temps collapsed on itself once I got back up here to 40F temps. I should of left the plug out...

I did buy a tap system similar to the Party Star system, but I found it on some German website. It was about $40 after all was said and done, but I have a buddy over there that shipped it to me as a favor.

I have six of the 5l mini kegs and really like them other than the fact that they do tend to over Carb.
I just got a 3gal keg and love it.

Time to hop off of the fence and quick lurking...

I just recently took an interest in small-batch brewing as a low-cost way to get into and experiment with AG brewing (inspired by posts from DRoyLenz and Revvy - thanks guys!!) Anyway, I decided to go with 5l mini kegs rather than bottling.

I'd say that for my purposes (~2.5 gal batches) the minikegs have worked out quite well, although to be honest, I'm guessing that the tap-a-draft system would probably have worked equally well.

I bought 4 new minikegs online and built my own tap according to the design by SiouxerBrewer on the Northern Brewer Forums. I modified the tap with fittings to take advantage of the ball lock 5-gal corny setup I already owned. (bought off of a friend many years ago, and gathering dust until my recently renewed interest in brewing)

A few weeks ago, I transferred my first batch (Biermuncher's Wit recipe) into two minikegs, crossed my fingers and force carbed at about 20 psi for several days. I had to loop a strap around the top and bottom of the minikeg to hold the tap in place, but I didn't seem to have any trouble holding pressure otherwise. The keg fits nicely on the bottom shelf of my kitchen fridge, which is more than I can say for a 5 gal corny keg. (I'm looking to put together a keezer in the near future if I can find a good deal on CL.)

Since I just started, I have yet to reuse a keg. We'll see how that goes. Once empty, I wash the keg with oxiclean, and fill it with StarSan, capping the top with a cleaned replaceable bung. Batch #2 (an SNPA clone recipe) went into kegs 3 and 4. When it's ready batch #3 (Yuri Rage's Thunderstruck pumpkin ale) will go into kegs 1 and 2. We'll see how many reuses I can get out of these. I expect that sooner or later I'll end up moving into 3 gallon corny kegs, but these seem pretty good for now.

nilo said:

I have been using these 5l kegs (link below) for 2 years and have not replaced anything yet, and it works just fine.
Replacing it every 6-8 uses is just a marketing statement, like I said, have used my dozens of time, no need to replace as long as you wash/clean then after each use.
If you decide to go for these metal kegs, check this link
http://www.thebeeressentials.com/kegging/keg-parts.shtml

I however suggest a different keg, actually a 6l PET bottle I recently started using. Much easier to clean and takes the same CO2 head as the metal kegs.
Check this system at
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-starter-kit.html

Midwest also have the twist caps for these bottles.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-bottle-cap.html

Note that each keg would need about two 8g CO2 cartridges to completely dispense the beer.

Naturally carbonating for me doesn't mean any extra work or disadvantage, seriously.
The good thing about these small draft systems is that you have a small bottle/keg that you can easily carry to a friend's house or party and share you beer away from you house.

You can also make one of these, whenever you get more people.
https://picasaweb.google.com/113519419739471547060/Draft_Beer#

Click to expand...

Man the icebox keg system looks cool. do you have part list ?

:rockin: