Some information regarding the "new" TAD (Home Draft Systems).

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bniesen

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Here is an e-mail I recieved from the people at T-A-D aka SturmanBG

The recommended way to clean the Tap would be to run warm water through the tubing, and on the outside of the tubing that has contact with your beverage. Mild liquid dishwashing soap can be used as well. Warm water and mild soap is also recommended for the bottles.


I do not know specifically how mild Star-San or Oxy-clean are as cleansers. Which ever cleanser you use, you want to make sure it does not sit too long on any of part of the products, and that it is rinsed well.


The Miller/Coors units are built as disposable (one use) units. To be able to reuse it, it requires the unit to be "broken" to replace the CO2 cartridge, which creates an unsafe situation. I believe some changes to the units have been made to make it more difficult for consumers to reuse these units as well. In general, the parts it's comprised of are of lesser quality and are not built to last as our Tap-a-Draft units are built. Miller/Coors units are also built for easier manufacturing purposes, which has compromised some of it functionality. In other words, our Tap-a-Draft units are designed to last longer and work better.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. Thank you for being a Tap-A-Draft customer. We appreciate your business.


==========================================================


I hope this is useful for those that plan on re-using the Home Draft Systems that Miller/Coors are putting out. Any and all opinions/info that pertain to the issue of buying new From T-A-D/SturmanBG, LLC or reusing said Home Draft Systems are welcome.
 
Has anyone had any issues with re-using the Miller/Coors systems?? Anyone buy one from SturmanBG that can inform us what the differences are??
 
My Coors system works great, but it definitely is cheaply made. I couldn't find any replacement cartridges that fit, (tried both common 16 g ones, 12g ones with dimes, 8 g ones with dimes and elec tape...), so I had to hard line it with the paintball tank....but that little setup kicks ass.

I'm sure TADs are way better, but for $20 including 1.5 gal of sh!tty beer, I can't complain.
 
I bought a pack of cartridges from SturmanBG to see if they are a match to those found in the Miller/Coors systems. I really want to know if the taps they sell on SturmanBG's site are exactly the same as the ones on the Miller/Coors systems because of the difference in price. It wouldn't surprise me if the bottles were better, seems the ones they use for the Miller/Coors systems are really flimsy. I just might have to bite the bullet and buy a tap assembly from them to see.
 
I have one of the older TAD systems - with the 2 8 gram cartridges. I like it for the ability to mix CO2 an N2O for dispensing stout.

I have one of the coors light systems as well. It is a pain to disassemble, and a little awkward to load the replacement CO2 cartridge, but honestly seems to be better quality than the original TAD system. I like that the tap clicks open and closed, and has a little locking pin (no more spilled beer in the fridge!)

I'm not at all surprised that they don't recommend reusing the coors bottles, as they are much cheaper than buying a real TAD, and it likely has parts that will wear out sooner rather than later, but for the $ it is a great deal.
 
16 gram, some have had better luck with the threaded cartridges making a better seal. I have tried the regular (smooth neck) 16 gram CO2 but it must leak because I need 2 cartridges to dispense the entire contents. If you hear the regulator valve snap and hiss then the regulator valve gets frosted over, you might want to toss the tap and get a new one. Happened to me and I wasted an entire new cartridge :(
 
I got the CO2 cartridges from SturmanBG, their 16 gram cartridges are exactly like the original.
 
The TAD bottles are significantly thicker and more durable than the homedraft ones. I don't own a TAD, but I've inspected one at a LHBS. The other difference I noticed was that the tap handles on my home draft are pretty flimsy feeling compared to the TAD. I do like the handle lock on the homedraft though. I'm sure there are internal parts on the home draft that aren't as durable also, but mine's holding up well so far. I think replacement TAD bottles are only ~$7-8 ea, and I've thought about buying a couple to replace my wrinkled home draft bottles.
 
I had a friend over who was enjoying the homebrew and the draft system I was using was running low on CO2 so he proceeds to pick it up and squeeze the crap out of it?!? Now he has to suffer drinking Miller Lite so I can get another system.

More than likely I will be ordering some bottles through their website. The bottles they use for the Miller/Coors are really flimsy and crease way too easily.
 
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