ALL-IN-ONE Keg System!!!

[McLovinBeast57]

Hey guys,
I'm an entrepreneur and today I was thinking about much of a hassle it is to have to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of equipment plus a kegerator just to be able to keg a beer! This got me thinking about how to offer a user-friendly, space-conscious, and affordable way to make the switch from bottles to kegging. This was my rough and very basic idea for an All-In-One keg:

INTERNALLY:
A tank design that is just a bit larger than the actual keg. It is able to hold a custom fitted keg as well as a custom fitted co2 tank.

There is a center slot that holds both the keg and co2 tank with enough room for all the necessary tubing. All tubing is labeled and comes with instructions for novice keggers.

Surrounding this center slot there is an outer ring that wraps around the keg and is refrigerated by an internal cooling element. This is insulated and acts as a kegerator.

EXTERNALLY:
The design is a brushed metal finish, cylindrical shape that varies in size depending on which size keg you order. It also has wheels so you can move it around easily.

The keg has a tap tower on top that allows you to add any handle you want as well as a washable drip tray.

The home brewer is even able to control the temperature to his or her liking via an external switch.

The keg is powered by a regular wall adapter making it easy to "plug in and use".

Price Range (Not really sure)
Includes keg, co2 tank, outer kegerator tank:
~$250

Theres my pitch! I'm just posting this for fun and out of curiosity. Just wondering if this is something that anyone would be interested in!
Feel free critique and whatnot haha
:rockin:

 

[Thedutchtouch]

There is no way you will pull this product off for anything close to that price.

 

[McLovinBeast57]

Lol I was thinking that too but I think it's manageable depending on part quality and the product run.. How much do you think something like this would cost to manufacture?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Like this?

http://www.portabeer.com

 

[b-boy]

It sounds like you've covered everything.

My 2 cents:

• I'd probably prefer not to limit myself to one keg.
• Is this limited to homebrew? I'd like to be able to swap out a commercial keg on occasion.
• Will this be easy to clean and maintain? How do I swap out lines?
• What type of cooling? It sounds like you'd have to go with a peltier cooler to keep this thing small. I'm not a big fan of that type of system.
• Make it weather-resistant and I'm probably in. I'd love to have a mobile kegerator I could use on my deck.

 

[Bobby_M]

Just create the kickstarter campaign already. People will throw thousands of dollars at you.

 

[passedpawn]

One word: Shark Tank.

 

[McLovinBeast57]

It sounds like you've covered everything.

My 2 cents:

• I'd probably prefer not to limit myself to one keg.
• Is this limited to homebrew? I'd like to be able to swap out a commercial keg on occasion.
• Will this be easy to clean and maintain? How do I swap out lines?
• What type of cooling? It sounds like you'd have to go with a peltier cooler to keep this thing small. I'm not a big fan of that type of system.
• Make it weather-resistant and I'm probably in. I'd love to have a mobile kegerator I could use on my deck.

1. I'd say it would be marketed more towards people who like to have one batch on hand at a time. Alternatively, a version with multiple slots for kegs would be cool also!
2. It could work for anything! Basically a keg that fits inside a cooling tank.
3. You can remove the keg, clean it, replace it, switch out lines, etc. just as you would any other keg.
4. I think a peltier cooler system is what I was going for. I'm not too familiar with this stuff, just thought it was a cool concept!

The idea is basically just a compact and affordable kegerator for 5gal "corny sized" batches.

I come up with random ideas like this all day, I think I have too much time on my hands haha

 

[OneFeather]

If it had good temperature control, it could be used as a small batch fermentation chamber.....I am just saying.

 

[fpweeks]

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_1_44&products_id=689

Here it is less the refrigeration........

 

[McLovinBeast57]

If it had good temperature control, it could be used as a small batch fermentation chamber.....I am just saying.

That's true! Although having Krausen and trub in a keg would probably be a bit of a pain


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[PortaBeer]

Thanks TheBeerNerd for thinking of our product when this concept came up.

McLovinBeast57 -- It's a great idea and not 100% the same (though it is similar) to what we developed. You can see the basic assembly and function of the PortaDraft in our user guide here: http://portabeer.com/files/pdf/useandcareguide2013-08.pdf

As for some pointers/thoughts:
1) It will be almost impossible, at cost, to make a system you're describing for $250, let alone selling it at that price for profit. Our original goal was to make a system to sell for $199 and ended up at $649 at the lowest price point.
2) Plug-in systems tend to be challenging with respect to portability, though not impossible. This is obviously where your temperature control feature comes in, which is critical when kegging beer. There are two different types of plug-in cooling, both of which offer their own tradeoffs with respect to weight, cost, durability, etc. All things you'd want to keep in mind as you think through the design.
3) In products like this, you're really designing two different products -- the external cooler and the internal tap system. Both are incredibly difficult to get right (the internal system took us years to find the right mix of parts to make our systems pour consistently well in all environments).
4) We did a crowdfunding campaign (we were widely criticized on this forum if you'd like to track the discussion down) and failed miserably. Learned a lot from the experience and it ultimately got us the financing we needed to start the business, so it was a net positive.

Feel free to email me directly ([email protected]) with any questions.

Cheers,
Albert

 

[mtnagel]

Very cool of you for replying Albert.

FYI, Deschutes was using your system this weekend at the Cincy Beer Fest. I didn't get to see it in action as I was volunteering at our local home brew clubs booth, but if it helped people get beer faster (always long lines), that's amazing!!

Here's a pic (if it doesn't show up, it's on the Deschutes facebook page):

 

[PortaBeer]

Hey Matt!

For sure -- we know how hard it is to get a new product off the ground and the million things you never realize until you're knee-deep in the process.

Happy you got to see the product in action! We partnered with these guys who do eight beerfests a year (the next one is in Pittsburgh, our back yard). This was an innovate way to show off how portable the system is while still pouring a perfect beer. In addition, that Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale is excellent!

Thanks for the kind words,
Albert