Tap-a- draft system

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michaelob

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I have been brwing a little over a year and i hate bottling. I am ready to start kegging. Its in the northern brewer magazine for 66 bucks. I planned on buying a used kegerator but saw this and thought I would see what people thought.
 
They work pretty well, but your beer will inevitably be yeasty, since you naturally carbonate the beer instead of force carbonating. The systems serves the beer well, but at a standard carbonation level. It's not good if you want a light carbonation level for a British style beer.
 
Right now I naturally carbinate in bottles. So it would be the same as that?

Not really, it's more beer being carbonated, which means more yeast being produced. The problem is, the line that pulls the beer out sits on the bottom of the keg and pulls all of the yeast out. I am going to modify mine with a SS washer so it sits about that yeast layer.
 
Thanks for the advice. I think Ill go with the kegerator. Taste is important but it would be cool for the space. thanks
 
I have been using the Coors Light "Home Draft" bottles and taps. I modified several empty CO2 cartridges with quick disconnects so I can hook up my 5lb CO2 tank. I have a mini fridge that I use for a kegerator.

2011-03-09%2009.32.25.jpg


I can force carbonate this way for any style with a lower pressure than the Home Draft regulator which is set at about 18ish lbs.

I don't have and have not looked at the Tap A Draft system but have to believe something similar is possible.
 
I have been using the Coors Light "Home Draft" bottles and taps. I modified several empty CO2 cartridges with quick disconnects so I can hook up my 5lb CO2 tank. I have a mini fridge that I use for a kegerator.

2011-03-09%2009.32.25.jpg


I can force carbonate this way for any style with a lower pressure than the Home Draft regulator which is set at about 18ish lbs.

I don't have and have not looked at the Tap A Draft system but have to believe something similar is possible.

Do you have any details on this project? It looks very interesting.
 
Do you have any details on this project? It looks very interesting.

I have been thinking about adding something to the DYI section. Too many beers tonight, and brewing tomorrow so maybe I can get something up on Saturday.

This has been sort of an evolution that started with tire stems. I did this so I could force carbonate some sweet cider for SWMBO. Pictures of my original stuff can be found;

https://picasaweb.google.com/dahoov/HomeDraft#

Anyway, I will take some more pics and write up a description and point to it from here.
 
I just tapped my first beer with Tap a draft after bottling for nearly two years. After natural carbonation for a week, I don't see any noticeable yeast sediment... Maybe a tiny dusting at the bottom of the bottle. But I use gelatin to fine the beer and it really pulls the yeast out. My process is usually primary in a bucket, fining at cool temps in a carboy for 3-7 days, then bottling.

Anyway, kegging was my first choice but the cost (dollars, square footage and marriage points) was too high. So far, TAD is a great second choice. Bottling day is fun now!
 
I have been using the Coors Light "Home Draft" bottles and taps. I modified several empty CO2 cartridges with quick disconnects so I can hook up my 5lb CO2 tank. I have a mini fridge that I use for a kegerator.

2011-03-09%2009.32.25.jpg


I can force carbonate this way for any style with a lower pressure than the Home Draft regulator which is set at about 18ish lbs.

I don't have and have not looked at the Tap A Draft system but have to believe something similar is possible.

I noticed you have 3 bottles of Tiger in there. As requested earlier, any details on this modification?
 
Schia, Nice setup !!!

Belmontbrew, I just ordered my TAD, for all the same reasons you did....SWIMBO, space, dollars...etc

Sounds like you are satsified with it ??
 
I purchased one of these a few years back and have to say that I went back to bottling after using them for about 6 months. I probably didn't give it a proper chance, but I was always having carbonation issues using these things - sometimes overcarbonated, sometimes under. It was difficult, for me, to get the proper carbonation level I wanted..

I have also noticed that the TAD bottles (I have the blue ones.. I noticed earlier today that they recently upgraded to some amber bottles that can stand up on their own - great improvement) get damaged/scratched quite easily. Sometimes it's hard to tell if this is on the exterior of the bottle or the interior, but nonetheless I don't like storing my beers in scratched/nicked containers due to contamination concerns..

I also had problems with the bottles leaking from time to time during conditioning. I upgraded to the poly seal caps in the very beginning and still had this problem with a few bottles, BUT, like I said earlier it appears that they have improved the bottles to have flat-ish bottoms so they can stand on their own, so this shouldn't be a problem with the new system.

As mentioned above, I also tended to get very yeasty beer, but this could be avoided by using gelatin, secondary, etc etc. However, yeast does tend to get stirred up quite easily in these things as they will move some in your fridge if not properly secured. I don't know how the new bottles are in this respect, but they might have improved.

The TAD system DEFINITELY saves time on bottling day, but I felt that my beers were much better coming out of the bottle, so I switched back. With some patience, you could make this work, but IMHO I think you're best to save your money for a kegging system.
 
schia said:
I noticed you have 3 bottles of Tigers in there.

I spent a month in Miri Sarawak for work in 2009. I was feeling nostalgic recently so I went and found a sixer. Been nursing them since.
 
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