5l newcastle keg DIY Mini Draft system

5l Mini keg/ Newcastle keg DIY Mini Draft system, user supported step by step.
Also i hope i am following the rules of this forum Please pm me if i made any mistake!
This thread is for the most part a way to help us the community to put this 5l mini keg mystery to bed. A quick search on this forum will show u many different threads and many different types of mini kegs, even some rough ways to set them up for home brew.This is not the purpose, i would like to do a step by step photo shoot on how this is done, with tips from u folks, how it will be done is i will be posting shots of the work from comments in the forum. I have access to many of these and would like to set them up for home brew.

OK folks first of all I will hopefully, with help from u folks be dismantling and demystifying the metal Newcastle 5l mini keg. (and the look likes)

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First off Getting this bugger fully discharged! So as not to get impaled by the bung and spear inside.
Heres the view of the top of the mini:


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Heres how to fully depressurize the keg:


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And a vid if ur interested:
http://yfrog.com/mqmovieoz

"Well now, how should i go about removing the bung?"

Also i hope i am following the rules of this forum Please pm me if i made any mistake!



FAQ.
1. Newcastle kegs have no spout no air bled or anything else a normal little mini keg has they do however resemble a sanke keg and hopefully will be able to get this bugger filled with home brew and get it to work nicely.

2.They come with a 2 part tap system and with my own reaserch shows there's probably a co2 cylinder inside no problem, with help form u folks will get it out!

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3. These kegs aren't like the Heineken mini kegs, due in part to the fact of no extra co2 port or anything just a metal bung sanke style(i believe) even though they look like them however i will be positing pics of step by step dismantling with help from u folks.:rockin:

Conclusion keep sending me ideas u can pm me if u wish or just post here!
And if your wondering what the next step should be :
"Well now, how should i go about removing the bung?"

If you have access to a lot of them, why not just cut one apart to see what the internals are like? You have it depressurized, why not cut it now from top to bottom down the middle to see whats inside?

i did that lol heres some shots of whats in this freak
almost identical to the Heineken ones inside however the lining is better and the bottle that once held co2 is smaller definitely can reuse these ill post some pics from the cut,. problem is now i got to get a bung and another tap! lol

I look forward to this. Some info is so spread out over so many threads it's hard to figure out or know where to look.

nanofreak said:

If you have access to a lot of them, why not just cut one apart to see what the internals are like? You have it depressurized, why not cut it now from top to bottom down the middle to see whats inside?

Click to expand...

Man was that fun! Hears the update with the pics. For this update im going to show u the method of removing the metal bung with a sanke style removal.
(sort of)
FAQ: This is a quick way to get any beer you dont want to or have the means to bottle or keg in a regular mini or full size keg.

How to remove the bung without having to cut through the keg!:


for the first part i took a regular medium duty flat head and lifted up the sides of the metal bung so as to facilitate removal for this to come out nicely use a leather-man or small long vise grips to peel the metal inward then bend till straw inside comes lose it should come out no prob if not hit with hammer as explained later.
view of bung metal sides curled up

Ease of the screwdriver bend up using the sides of the tank for leverage:
http:
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shot of the bung with screwdriver

shot of straw

shot of the finished product inside


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If the first method doesn't work try this after using the screw driver.
Note: this method is easy but may/can make the bottle inside come lose which u do not want if ur going to refill.
take the hammer and a "all"(or a flat head) striking once, around the bung.
it should break lose and fall in if you bent the sides of the metal turn the can up side down and use ur vise grips and pull it out.
if the bottle is still inside and not lose fill with sanitizer to remove spent beer and metal shavings .
this is now ready to be fitted with a bung.
FAQ: This is a quick way to get any beer you dont want to or have the means to bottle or keg in a regular mini or full size keg.

This is another way
Quick note to remove with out breaking the bung and having it fall in u can use a dremel once u lifted up the metal sides of the bung itself so it will turn once its ready . use the dremel and cut or grind for 1 min and it will be able to pop off
now all u have to do is remove the straw and the co2 bottle.(note: u don't need to remove the bottle a quick search shows that the bottle is hollow and once depressurized is no longer a threat to your home brew.


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Now on to finding and fitting the bung and tap system any ideas would be helpful
also hears a shot of the different cans of this style
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