3 Gallon Mini Draft System

Midwest sells these 3 gallon Mini Draft Systems.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=7373

You prime carb in the corny and use a CO2 cartridge only to dispense the beer. So far I have only bottled. With a fall party at my daughter’s house coming up, I thought this would be a good way to bring some homebrew and get into kegging at the same time. For an old guy with a bad back, the three gallon size is sounding good.

Any thoughts, opinions or experience with these?

You could do the same thing with a Tap-A-Draft system as well and alot cheaper. Search for it and see what you think. I bought this system before I built my full kegging system and it really works well.

I scored a whole bunch of 3g cornies and built myself one of these. Of course, I already keg with 5g cornies and have a 20lb CO2 tank so this is just my portable rig. One of the reasons I like kegging is for force carbonation. It results in less of a yeasty taste in my opinion. I'll fill my 5g kegs and force carb. From there, I use a beer to beer jumper hose and transfer some into the 3g keg. I top up the pressure using my big bottle, then I attach the charger. I get about 3 pints out on the initial charge, then I get about 6 pints per 12 gram cartridge from there.

It does seem a bit expensive. But I was able to find a couple of Firestones for $30 each and created something similar to this but with wheels. I also used a 35 gallon LME container with the top cut off along with a luggage hauler for use with 5-gallon corny and the same dispensing equipment. One last idea, I saw HD had their 10-gallon water cooler for $16 I think.

Wild

The sad thing is, their price isn't all that outrageous when you consider the market price for a used 3g. I sold a bunch at $50-60 and I've found that was a bit low. I think the mean price is about $65. Add a pair of disconnects $12, the charger $13, and the picnic faucet/hose $5 and you're at $95 in parts.

If I didn't get my cornies at $dirtcheap, I wouldn't buy it.

Well, after checking into other mini systems I broke down and ordered the Mini Draft System from Midwest. Space and weight were my main concerns.

Bobby M. I’ve never kegged, but am hoping that by using these small corny’s I’ll still have the option of getting a CO2 tank and regulator and force carbonate. Is this true? What will be required and what will I need to know? Also, we’re not that far apart. Do you have any more of the small corny’s that you are willing to part with?

I don't think those mini disposable CO2 chargers are worth it, the cost adds up quite fast.

I'm pretty sure the 3g cornies have the same ball lock disconnects as 5 gallon, so you would be able to carb and dispense with a CO2 tank just like a 5 gallon.

Absolutely able to use a CO2 tank. You'd just unscrew the charger and get yourself a flared hose barb fitting to connect to that ball lock connector.

If I were you, I'd start scouring craiglist for a deal on a 5,10, or 20lb CO2 tank and regulator. Having the charger is always awesome for portability but you could never force carb with them due to the cost and imprecise pressure.

As far as the co2 carts being expensive, go to Walmart. They're probably 70 cents each. I'd gladly pay $2-3 for the convenience of not exposing my tank/regs to damage at a party.

I found a used 5 lb steel tank, but it has an old test date and will have to be retested. Is there much involved with this? Is it worth the risk?

Find a fire safety company, should be 10-15 bucks for recert.

Bobby. I took your advice and did some searching for the tank. In used tanks I couldn’t find any real deals. Especially considering that I’d still have to get the gages, hoses and other fittings. That and the uncertainty involved with “used” had me look at other options and I found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130147935317&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=003
I took this deal to other stores, both on-line and local, and no one could come close to matching the price. What do you think?

Just a heads-up. The LHBS that I use is the Montgomeryville, PA location of Keystone Homebrew. They have a limited supply of the 3 gallon corny’s for $70 and have a lot more supplies that don't show up on their website.

That is a pretty good price but the downside is that except for the tank, the parts are on the low end.

I know you can get a 5lb tank for $58 at co2-canisters.com but I don't know the shipping. A really nice regulator is the premium micromatic: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-pid-641.html for $44 (don't worry about the single gauge, a tank gauge is useless). To finish up the premium setup, call www.superprod.com and order a nipple shank ($13) and a Perlick forward sealing faucet ($29) and tubing.

You might spend a few bucks more, but you'll have parts that you won't end up replacing in the short term (and they'll hold resale value if you ever want out).

Bobby_M said:

I scored a whole bunch of 3g cornies and built myself one of these. Of course, I already keg with 5g cornies and have a 20lb CO2 tank so this is just my portable rig. One of the reasons I like kegging is for force carbonation. It results in less of a yeasty taste in my opinion. I'll fill my 5g kegs and force carb. From there, I use a beer to beer jumper hose and transfer some into the 3g keg. I top up the pressure using my big bottle, then I attach the charger. I get about 3 pints out on the initial charge, then I get about 6 pints per 12 gram cartridge from there.

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I'm able to float a 3 gallon keg with 3 cartridges at a party. Are you talking about long term use?

I was suggesting that if he really wants to force carb in that 3g keg, the charger is not the solution. I like it for portable dispensing but not for an in-house system.

Look at a paint ball set up, it's my portable option.

Bringing this one back from the dead..

I am into paintball, I have 20, and 32oz co2 tanks, I can also get a nitrogen/compressed air tank..

I don't want to build a kegerator, I will be brewing 5gal batches..

Can one of these mini-draft systems work for me? I would like to get carbonation from the co2, what would I need to do?

They sell the kits to tap the cornies on ebay, with or without the charger.. I get air/c02 cheap cheap cheap all day every day really..

I figured, buy two cornies fill them both up with 2.5 gallons, keep one in my fridge, the other on standby?