Party Star Mini Kegs

Does anybody have any experience using the Party star mini kegs like these at Midwest http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=4897 I'm really new to homebrewing but I already know that I don't want to bottle for long, but don't have the room for a Corny keg setup. Are there better mini keg system out there? What are the ups and downs to mini kegs? Any other advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Cheers All!

Hello hello hello! I use the Party star tap and the mini kegs. I have never had a problem with them. Cleaning can be a small hassel but not that bad. A cool thing, you can reuse many of the 5l mini kegs you buy in the store. I just bought a mini keg of warstiner, that came with a 2 piece bung and i just tapped it with my party star, and vaula, draft beerin my fridge, then i washed it out and its ready to fill with homebrew. if you are worried about hight then look into the phil tap, that one allows you to have the keg on its side, of the Tap-a-draft. i head good thingsabout that. if you have anyother questions let me know. Godd luck and have fun!!!

Do you think it'd be possible to force carbonate with these guys? I wonder how many 16g cartridges it'd take to put enough gas in.

No, you cannot force carbonate mini-kegs.

The keg has a seam which is an inherrent weak spot.

I had 1 keg burst on me last year and that was with 2 tsp of priming sugar.

Ed Wort is selling a system in the classifieds:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14692

He can probably answer all kinds of questions concerning these.

Thanks for the help! This system just seems so appealing because of its price and easy to store in the fridge.

Compact007 do you happen to know just how tall these are with the tapper on top? Better double check things before I go off and buy something I can't use. Thanks!

Cheers All!

I'm also curious. I live in an apartment and aren't allowed any other 'major appliances' so a mini-fridge is out. If this would fit in my fridge (condo size) I would be extremely happy.

You want about 15 inches to make sure you have enough room, I lowered the top rack in my fridge and have no problem, i'll try to get a pic up so you can take a gander at the easy set up.

heres the pic http://public.fotki.com/Kopera06/homebrew/1000321.html

hope that worked Notice the wine bottle to compair height.

Too bad, I've already got the shelves moved as much as they'll go. I've only got 12" from shelf to shelf. I need to move, though not just for this reason. Thanks for taking the time to take the picture!

If your still interested in the mini kegs, the phil tap style uses the mini kegs on their sides and thats only about 7 inches at most! That might be a better idea, for height restricted homebrewers.

That's a good idea, I'll look into that. Thank you!

The tap a draft setup also needs a lot less height, since it uses pet bottles laying on the side. Another advantage there is you can use 3L soda bottles with it, which makes replacements cheap. With mini kegs and tap a draft bottles, you only get so many batches out of them... I've never found a concrete answer but it seems most people say 6-8 uses out of either. Of course you get people who say they've used mini kegs for years, and people who say they only lasted a few beers... Who knows...

With the mini kegs, one problem seems to be that they aren't very strong and aren't designed for multiple uses. They are thin metal lined with a plastic lining on the inside. If the plastic lining breaks down or tears, they aren't any good any more. With the tap a draft bottles, they are apparently very thin too and once they crinkle too much they'll crack or become too weak.

I was looking a while back and was leaning towards the tap a draft system, since the cost was lower and it looked easier to fit in a fridge. I stumbled upon a fridge though so now I'm awaiting the arrival of kegs...

I have the Tap-A-Draft system and it works very well. I think you would be happy with either system.

I use the party star mini keg system and I'm very happy with it. I did manage to bulge a mini keg because I over primed it, but that was my first batch with the system and I haven't had any problems since.

The beer usually ends up with light carbonation, (which I prefer) and the wonderful flavor and character of a cask conditioned beer. Tapping the keg is simple enough, but you can also use the spigot to gravity feed your beer if you're going to be drinking the whole keg in an evening. Either way works well.

The hardest part is the cleanup. First you have to get the small part of the reusable bung out of the keg. Then you rinse and clean the keg. But there's a lip on the opening that makes it difficult to get all the water out. I've resorted to sticking a paper towel or clean rag in the opening and sopping up the excess water. Then I let it airdry.

I've heard people complain that the tapper sometimes leaks out CO2, so people use excessive amounts of the CO2 bulbs to keep a keg carbonated over a longer period of time. If you're like me, the keg will be gone in one evening... Maybe two. We're only talking 1.3 gallons here. That's like a 12 pack. No big deal for a few people to knock that back. If you have leaking problems, a little dab of keg lube on the tapper seems to fix that problem right up.

Good luck, I highly recommend the setup. and if you don't like it, maybe I'll buy it off you. I could use some more mini kegs (I only have 6) and another tapper.

My son just aquired (blessed with) a couple hundred bucks worth of equipment for free..
One of the items is the mini tap system in this thread.We loaded a proper #16 cartdridge and all the Co2 blew out the blowout tube in the co2 holder.I don't want to waste any more cartridges with this tap untill we can figure out what is wrong.
If any one out there with a scanner could scan the complete directions and a parts list and email them to me,I would appreciate it alot.

Thanks
Mo

My son just aquired (blessed with) a couple hundred bucks worth of equipment for free..
One of the items is the mini tap system in this thread.We loaded a proper #16 cartdridge and all the Co2 blew out the blowout tube in the co2 holder.I don't want to waste any more cartridges with this tap untill we can figure out what is wrong.
If any one out there with a scanner could scan the complete directions and a parts list and email them to me,I would appreciate it alot.

Thanks
Mo
__________________
I bumped this to the top,,reason for the double post

I got this system coming in the mail... How much priming sugar do you use for one mini keg?? or do you just add the 3/4 cups to the 5 gallon batch and then fill the mini kegs.
thanks,
Dan

Interesting... how convenient to take "kegged" beer to dinner with the inlaws... hrmmm

The Pol

The add sayes that a CO2 cylinder will dispense for 5-6 weeks, who needs that anyway, but is that really true? It is very interesting to me, it would be so convenient since most of my beer is not consumed at home.

The Pol

Okay, I read another ad that said that the kegs in this system can be filled about 6-7 times, why so few? It also said that a tapped keg would be OK for 2 weeks. What is the real story on this thing?

I've had one of these kegs tapped for about a week (give or take a couple days) and the last beer was as fresh as the first. I also only used one CO2 cartridge. I have my second one tapped right now and it's working very well so far. One nice thing is that I haven't had any yeast sediment come out into the beer.

My main complaint is that there is no pressure relief valve. This makes it very easy to over pressurize the keg and get some very foamy pours. Also, the amount of pressure built up in the keg from priming is so high that all you get is foam at first. I get around this by pushing the center of the bung in and then pulling the tap out so that the pressure can be relieved and I can then set the pressure with CO2 from the cartridge.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with them. I wish I had the space/$$ for a full kegging system. However, I think that the mini system will remain useful when I have a full kegging system for bringing beer to parties/camping/etc.

ahsndpro... how long have you had this system, do you know of anyone, or did you ever look into the Party Pig System? It doesnt use CO2, so that would solve the foaming issue...

The Pol

I've only had the system for about a month and a half. I just tapped my second keg.

I thought about the party pig but I decided on the mini keg system due to the size. The mini kegs are smaller and it will be easier to "rotate" through different types of beers if I ever get a stockpile.

I will have to research them more... I have a thread going for the Party Pig too...

The Pol

i hav two of those that i have kept that i bought in the store. i dont kno if i can use them. there is no tap it is one of those that twist out of the bottom. are those useable? can i just buy the tap peice?

dan244 said:

I got this system coming in the mail... How much priming sugar do you use for one mini keg?? or do you just add the 3/4 cups to the 5 gallon batch and then fill the mini kegs.
thanks,
Dan

Click to expand...

I haven't seen Dan's question answered yet.....Anybody?

The instructions online said to use LESS priming sugar, because the CO2 cartrige will carbonate it slightly. The instructions should tell you specifically. I have talked to alot of ppl now that really like the party pigs too, if you are into small kegging systems.


The Pol

We don't have the directions for this system ...so am getting educated here (as previously posted sometime back).We have about 3 or 4 of these kegs that I really want to start to use.One of these kegs had beer that was reportedly 2-3 yrs old, so I taped it.My method was to push in on the center plug thingy ( in the sink of course) with a screwdriver letting the center plug fall to the bottom of the barrel to beretrived at washing time.What is the correct way and I would still like to know how much priming sugar is reccomended .Maybe a teaspoon???
Thanks
MO

Mozongo said:

I would still like to know how much priming sugar is reccomended .
MO

Click to expand...

Looks like 1.5 - 3 tablespoons per keg.

http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18448&highlight=mini

Thanks guys... I finaly got it in the mail and will keg here in few days. I'll keep you guys updated.

I know it's been a while, but this is the best thread I have found on this topic.
Dan224, it's been a few years, how has this system worked out for you?

I am also curious as to how it turned out. So far there don't seem to be any negative stories here about it....but there are two bad reviews on Midwest Supplies (to go with 3 good reviews - but you never know who's writing those).

I have been searching as well and I am leaning towards getting one of these as I don't have the space for a full corny set up yet and with two kids getting ready to head to college there won't be a new or used fridge for that matter any time soon.. Well I went ahead and ordered from Midwest Supply Will let you all know how it goes when it arrives, now shopping for the next brew....

Anyone try figuring out a different tap for one of those I usually brew in small batches so these would be perfect for me. So I have been considering purchasing one and making my own tap for it so I could use regular CO2 can and have a remote spout, this way I could possibly have more than one brew on tap at a time.

I see this thread is a little old but here goes.. I like beer in spurts.. But not a huge beer drinker daily. I would like to get party star and a mini keg and i make 2.5 gallon batches. I'd like to mini keg and bottle. I really thought about a full keg set up just just really can't dedicate that much space or make dinner gallons at a time..

How long will my beer stay fresh in the mini keg after I tap it with party star?

I decided to take all the complexity out of big expensive keg systems (Keg, CO2, Regulator, Tap, Lines) and turn it into a simple portable affordable system that has numerous applications. Check it out.....Tailgatetapper.com

Its a self contained portable beer (or any other refreshment) dispenser. Just fill the stainless steel keg, (currently comes in 3 sizes, 2L, 4L and 5L) screw on the special charging/dispensing cap, screw in small CO2 Cartridge, turn it on and add Ice to keep cold and you are set! The lid can be locked so no one tampers with your beer or CO2. Its portable and fairly light.

The Stainless Steel beer kegs can be used to store small batches of beer indefinitely and they also come with a stainless lid with rubber seal that can withstand the pressure of conditioning. Ditch the bottles and expensive Cornelius kegs!!!!!

Come check out the site....Im currently working on cleaning up the tubing connection with push fittings/quick connects and looking into licensing with all the big sports authorities (NFL, MLB, NCAA, etc.)

Will you be the first at the party/tailgate with the coolest portable beer keg system or just another brown bottle?!?!

Dan