portable dispensing kit?

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kegeratorman1

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is anyone familiar with this portable dispensing kit for corny kegs? it has a small co2 cartridge on one end, and a tap on the other. it looks much more convenient but i'm picious. can anyone attest to its operational ability?
here's the link.

sushttp://www.kegworks.com/product.php?productid=172328&cat=414&page=1
 
What they've done, kegeratorman, is combine two products into one kit.

One is a portable CO2 charger, available at any online HBS, and most LHBSes.
Item #K096 at NORTHERN BREWER: Soda Kegs and Fittings (scroll 1/2way down)
Austin Homebrew Supply
and many other stores...

The other is a ball-lock tap unit. You don't have to use a faucet like that, if you don't want to, you can use a standard picnic tap - and probably get a better pour due to the extra line resistance
MoreBeer | Beer Line Assembly
Austin Homebrew Supply

As to operational ability... It doesn't get any simpler than what you linked to. A picnic tap, and some CO2 source is all you need to push beer out of a keg.

Note that it will be quite expensive to force-carbonate your beer using that. It's really only useful for dispensing, due to the cost of the cartridges. I personally just carry my 5# aluminum co2 tank with me to events.

Bottom line is, you can probably find all that stuff together for cheaper.
 
well thanks for the response and the useful links. I'm just browsing the hobby and all the related equipment. i'm not very savvy to the whole brewing process, i'm just shopping for homebrew kits, and i know that i wanted to have the finished product in a keg as draft beer rather than bottles.
does that mean it will require a different process? what is this force carbonation you speak of?

What they've done, kegeratorman, is combine two products into one kit.

One is a portable CO2 charger, available at any online HBS, and most LHBSes.
Item #K096 at NORTHERN BREWER: Soda Kegs and Fittings (scroll 1/2way down)
Austin Homebrew Supply
and many other stores...

The other is a ball-lock tap unit. You don't have to use a faucet like that, if you don't want to, you can use a standard picnic tap - and probably get a better pour due to the extra line resistance
MoreBeer | Beer Line Assembly
Austin Homebrew Supply

As to operational ability... It doesn't get any simpler than what you linked to. A picnic tap, and some CO2 source is all you need to push beer out of a keg.

Note that it will be quite expensive to force-carbonate your beer using that. It's really only useful for dispensing, due to the cost of the cartridges. I personally just carry my 5# aluminum co2 tank with me to events.

Bottom line is, you can probably find all that stuff together for cheaper.
 
Right. Basically, to carbonate yr beer, you have two options.

1) Given a set temperature and a set volume you add x oz priming sugar. The yeast eat the sugar, and poop the co2, and over time, the co2 absorbs back into the beer.

2) Given a set temperature and a desired carbonation level, you apply forced CO2 (from a tank) to your keg of beer over time. The CO2 absorbs into the beer over the course of 1-2 weeks, and your beer is carb'ed.

Brewing software helps dramatically with both of these - I use BeerSmith, and would be incompetent without it - but there are DIY calculators (Excel spreadsheets and web-based calcs and the like) that are avail. for free to help, too.

That's it in a nutshell - I would go into more detail, but I've been at the bars this eve, and so I should keep my post short so I don't start saying wrong info. :)

Oh. And the "Major" online HBS'es are... Northern Brewer... Austin Homebrew... Midwest Homebrewing Supplies ... MoreBeer (also called B3, from when they were "Beer, Beer, and More Beer"), and Williams Brewing. KegKits is also a great link to have handy.

Generally, whenever I pick up new gear, I check the price on all of the above before pulling "the trigger", unless I need other stuff that I know is cheapest from a certain source.

Cheers, and please feel free to ask whatever else may be on your mind, I'll try to keep an eye out for your ?'s! Welcome to the hobby, hope you love it!
 
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