Brewtube-Air Keg

[Sudsumi]

Hey guys, thought I would share this.
My sister's friends dad happens to be a home-brewer up in Haliburton, Ontario (where I'm from) who decided that bottling his beer was tiresome and traditional kegging not practical for his locale (co2 refills hard to come by). So he went ahead and invented this "keg" that uses air for pressurization without exposing the beer to oxygen. The beer is otherwise naturally carbonated but served using a picnic tap. If you don't have any issues with brewing in pvc then you should check this out.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/377030453/brewtube-air-keg-system/description

If you like what you see please consider supporting this ingenious inventor!

 

[milldoggy]

That is pretty cool

 

[bobosbodega]

Looks really nice!

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Same design as a hydraulic accumulator, on aircraft and other machinery!

 

[BigJack]

Hate to be the skeptic, but conventional kegs are cheaper and I don't see how this product is a big enough improvement on a corny to justify the expense.

 

[aprichman]

Hate to be the skeptic, but conventional kegs are cheaper and I don't see how this product is a big enough improvement on a corny to justify the expense.

I agree. You could get 3 stainless steel kegs for the price of one of these. I'd also be hesitant to invest in a keg made out of plastic - if one of these got scratched somehow it would probably be pretty hard to sanitize it properly.

Seems like an over complicated solution to a nonexistent problem. Not sure how having a "big bulky" CO2 tank is less convenient than having to pump up your keg with a bicycle pump.

 

[Sudsumi]

Hate to be the skeptic, but conventional kegs are cheaper and I don't see how this product is a big enough improvement on a corny to justify the expense.

Keep in mind that this product isn't currently being mass produced. I would hope that the Brewtube would come down in price after production ramped up. Also I would imagine that despite the initial higher price tag, the overall cost would be less as there wouldn't be the need to continually refill co2 tanks. Especially if you have to drive a couple of hours to do those refills, as is the case with the inventor of the product.

 

[Sudsumi]

I agree. You could get 3 stainless steel kegs for the price of one of these. I'd also be hesitant to invest in a keg made out of plastic - if one of these got scratched somehow it would probably be pretty hard to sanitize it properly.

Seems like an over complicated solution to a nonexistent problem. Not sure how having a "big bulky" CO2 tank is less convenient than having to pump up your keg with a bicycle pump.

I agree with you on the scratched plastic front. You'd have to be pretty careful when cleaning/sanitizing to avoid scratches and subsequent infections from harboured bacteria.

I don't agree that the co2 tank isn't a problem. Maybe it's not a problem for you and others who have access to cheap nearby refills, but we're not all in your same situation. Also there's an option to have a built in pump on the brewtube, all you need to do is plug it in and it'll maintain the proper serving pressure on its own.

What I think is brilliant about this keg is the simplicity of the design. It is not overly complicated especially when compared to standard kegging.

The only thing holding me back from buying one of the first production brewtubes right now is the price. I do hope this thing gets through Kickstarter so that I can buy it at a reasonable price!

 

[AndytheBeave]

I agree with you on the scratched plastic front.
What I think is brilliant about this keg is the simplicity of the design. It is not overly complicated especially when compared to standard kegging.

I wish someone would explain why standard kegging is difficult...

I think that the OP's post is a neat idea, but the info at that link lost me at the exaggeration of how difficult it is to use a keg/CO2 system. I mean come on. I set mine up in less than 2 hours and that included the time it took me to drive to pick up the bar fridge from the guy on Craigslist. I hadn't even brewed my first batch yet; so I knew nothing and I still figured it out and had it working on the first try. A huge pet peeve of mine is when people exaggerate the difficulties of a particular method they don't agree with just to try to add validity to their own interests. So neat idea, but no.

Plus the "hard to access" CO2 can be overcome. There is another thread going right now with a kickstarter that uses a paint ball CO2 cartridge. Now that is a cool idea.

 

[cyberbrew]

Hate to be the skeptic, but conventional kegs are cheaper and I don't see how this product is a big enough improvement on a corny to justify the expense.

^^This. Interesting idea, but it seems to be a solution to something that's not really a problem...

 

[AndytheBeave]

I will say this. This would be a great product in the event of the apocalypse when production CO2 is no longer available. You could then use the krausen method to carbonate the beer and the bicycle hydraulic accumulator to serve it up.

 

[Sudsumi]

I will say this. This would be a great product in the event of the apocalypse when production CO2 is no longer available. You could then use the krausen method to carbonate the beer and the bicycle hydraulic accumulator to serve it up.

You should always be ready for the apocalypse.

I've never heard of natural carbonating being referred to as the krausen method. That's a new one for me.

 

[AndytheBeave]

Agreed. When society eventually breaks down completely, the one group of people that will not be ruthlessly murdered by roaming packs of ruffians in heavily modified muscle cars and motorcycles will be home-brewers. Especially those that grow their own hops and barley.
BTW: http://byo.com/aging/item/966-kräusening-techniques

 

[NickTheGreat]

Cool product! Hope it pans out for him.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I agree with you on the scratched plastic front. You'd have to be pretty careful when cleaning/sanitizing to avoid scratches and subsequent infections from harboured bacteria.

I think the scratched plastic issue is totally overblown. This is not a fermenter and even if it was, those of us that have used inexpensive plastic buckets for years would argue that it is pretty darned easy to keep them clean without scratching them. I for one scratch my HEAD every time people quote that as a downside for using buckets because I have yet to have an infection in almost 20 year of using them. Add to this your beer is already 95% done fermenting (because you are naturally carbonating) the beer is now a moderately hostile environment for other organisms.

So a rinse with hot water water and a spray-down with Star San is about all you need unless I am missing something.

No personal interest in the product either but I like the design.

I think it silly that the kickstarter implies that you cannot naturally carbonate in a traditional keg. Since I to like the feel of natural carbonation I do using priming sugar about 50% of the time to carb when I keg...the I just push the beer with C02.

 

[Sudsumi]

Agreed. When society eventually breaks down completely, the one group of people that will not be ruthlessly murdered by roaming packs of ruffians in heavily modified muscle cars and motorcycles will be home-brewers. Especially those that grow their own hops and barley.
BTW: http://byo.com/aging/item/966-kräusening-techniques

My dream/happy thought is to someday have my own self sustained brew operation with all the ingredients being grown on site. If it'll keep steam-punk brigands from ripping me a new one during the apocalypse, well that's just icing on the cake.

The krausen method is super interesting. I love the idea that you could speed up conditioning of your beer while at the same time carbonating. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the case with the Brewtube I'd imagine you would add your krausen beer at the same time as adding your main beer to the Brewtube. Similar to just adding priming sugar, but instead you're making a starter and somehow calculating the right amount of sugars in your starter so that when it's in high krausen you still have just enough for good carbonation after you seal it up in the keg. So cool. It's amazing where you can take this craft.

 

[Sudsumi]

I think it silly that the kickstarter implies that you cannot naturally carbonate in a traditional keg. Since I to like the feel of natural carbonation I do using priming sugar about 50% of the time to carb when I keg...the I just push the beer with C02.

I don't keg so I'm not as familiar with the process but from what I remember isn't the beer drawn from the bottom of the keg? Clearly you're not having a problem with it but I always thought that yeast sediment would be an issue for a naturally carbonated keg.

 

[AndytheBeave]

I don't keg so I'm not as familiar with the process but from what I remember isn't the beer drawn from the bottom of the keg? Clearly you're not having a problem with it but I always thought that yeast sediment would be an issue for a naturally carbonated keg.

Yes it does so the first couple of pours will have sediment.
So far, I only force carbonate so this isn't really an issue for me.
I do plan on krausening in the keg in an upcoming batch though. I don't mind losing a few of pints if it works out well. Plus I will save at least a whole 50 cents per batch on CO2.

I was introduced to krausening from a pro brewer here on the island (Kevin from Wolf Brewing). He sold me a bunch of grain and hops once. He was super helpful and highly recommended to me to learn about krausening.
The pro brewers here are really supportive of the home brewing scene.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I don't mind losing a few of pints if it works out well.

I don't "lose" but 4 oz or so. I will drink a yeasty beer just not straight sludge.

 

[orangehero]

Isn't there already a product like this? If I remember correctly it uses a disposable food grade pouch for the beer inside of a plastic housing. Then you just pressurize the space between the pouch and housing.

EDIT: Found one: http://www.keykeg.com/en/home

I believe there's another similar product as well.