Future of 5L Draft Beer Kegerators

Here's a question for you all: What do you see as the future of 5L beer dispensers/kegerators? Will more microbreweries supply beer in this fashion for draft beer at home?

Greg

These 5l kegs are a pretty European thing. While I see them here every now and then, I'm not really sure if it really catches on. I have had Warsteiner, Becks, Rothaus, etc. before and they are usually a foam show, even if you cool them down for 2-3 weeks and don't touch them before tapping. ... at least that is my experience with them.

I love these little guys. I've had 3 of them so far and all have worked well. I think the main reason they haven't caught on here in the US is that they have a limited shelf life once opened (save the heineken one).

They are great for a small party, and worth the money if you can find something good in it. But that's part of the problem too. I'm unwilling to buy a 5L of something I've not tried before. If I don't like it, I'm screwed.

That said, I'd really like to see some more companies start using them. I wonder if they actually save any money on production costs by using these instead of the equivalent number of bottles.

Dagatris said:

I'm unwilling to buy a 5L of something I've not tried before. If I don't like it, I'm screwed.

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I'm unwilling too. The trick is to buy something you like. I bought a minikeg of Spaten Premium for a party because I had tried it on draft (excellent) and in green bottles (tragic).

A minikeg is only about $20. I'm thinking about buying 5L of Spaten Premium and putting it into a (purged) corny. Yes, it will get a little oxidized, but at least it won't be skunked.

If you are having foam problems with these it is operator error... sorry. They are a great way to serve and I have only seen good beers in them so have not been worried about not liking the contents.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

If you are having foam problems with these it is operator error... sorry. They are a great way to serve and I have only seen good beers in them so have not been worried about not liking the contents.

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Oh really?



I saw these in Wal-Mart the other day and became immediately sad.

OH SNAP!
there's more flavor in a pint of Spaten than in that whole mini-keg of Coors!

wow.... I stand sadly corrected

Jif said:

Oh really?

I saw these in Wal-Mart the other day and became immediately sad.

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Well, if you fish it out of the trash to re-use, at least it will be easy to clean out.

It's not like there is any taste or smell left in the keg...

One local rents out Party Pigs, in addition to filling cornies. Haven't seen any of the locals using 5Ls. Bear Republic sells 1 gallon boxes, but they don't hold pressure very well.

I saw some Bell's beer in those for $2.00 more
I'd get one for a party

I still have about 15-16 of these that I brought back from Germany.

The thing is I used to get them FULL at a local gasthaus for 8 Euros...$10 at the time...

I still reuse mine. I have about 6 of them full at the moment. :rockin:

Can you re-fill the off the shelf mini-kegs like the Warsteiner ones? That'd be all kinds of neato. I know you can buy other ones new, but I wasn't aware they were reusable.

I believe all of them are reusable except for the Heineken ones.

If you have the ones with the built in gravity tap and the bung on top that has a "key" that you turn to allow air in then you won't need to buy a tap.

yes you can reuse these. the top bung pulls out and can then be cleaned easily with a jet washer. be careful the coating on the inside does have a tendency to wear off and leave your beer in contact with bare metal.

oh yeah bells sells two hearted and oberon in these

944play said:

I'm thinking about buying 5L of Spaten Premium and putting it into a (purged) corny.

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Well, I did it. Sanitized and purged a keg and gravity poured a minikeg of Spaten into it. The foam went more than halfway up, so head formation is probably going to suffer. We'll see how this goes.

Interestingly, I pulled the bung out of the top and poured the last few ounces into a glass. UGH, terrible metallic taste and smell! The stuff in the corny seems ok....