Miller Lite Home Draft Dissected
- Thread starter DarthBeer
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I think they are all exactly the same. They are not intended to be reused, but that's never stopped us before. Someone gave me one several weeks ago, but I have not done anything with it other than test it out with some water to see how it worked.
Supposedly, oxygen can penetrate the plastic, so this might not be the best way to go for long term storage. I would go with glass bottles, a corny keg or a glass carboy before I would try it with a plastic bottle.
Ok, sacked up and drank all the coors light and have disassembled. It is the exact same system as the miller draft only it is black and silver. Gonna do a simple extract brew tomorrow and see how reusable this actually is.
ThreeRatBastards
Well-Known Member
People following this thread may find this thread useful:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/my-experience-coors-lite-home-draft-video-190731/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/my-experience-coors-lite-home-draft-video-190731/
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Something I was just reminded of last night. Make sure you let the beer chill for 24 hrs before adding the co2 cartridge. If not, the bottle will pressurize but the majority of the cartridge will vent out the pressure release on the side of the tap. If that occurs, its probably best to wait a day or two for the co2 to absorb into the beer before removing the cartridge.
Has anyone taken off this piece to see what's in there? I'm curious, but not enough to ruin it if someone else has already taken the time.
Ibrewaletx
Well-Known Member
Great tip.
Just tried using mine the 2nd time with water, this time chilled.
Had CO2 coming out everywhere (relief I guess).
I will bite the bullet when I bottle my IPA soon and give it a shot. If it doesn't work I guess I could have a few people hurry over and drink the 5.7L of IPA (or try to rebottle?)
Hannable1975
Well-Known Member
OK, I had the same idea, and I dissected mine. It works PERFECT. I even use one with fruit punch and rum in it at parties. (swmbo likes it ) .
I am going to order a Tap a Draft Jug, just to see if the threading is the same / compatible. If so, I plan to stock up ( I have 2 jugs now ) and "economy keg" my brew until I can make a full fledged keg system feasible.
In the meantime, I plan to put up 2 gals of my current brew, and bottle the rest.
Will post results from using for home brew, but honestly at this point can think of no reason why it won't work and differently.
I am going to order a Tap a Draft Jug, just to see if the threading is the same / compatible. If so, I plan to stock up ( I have 2 jugs now ) and "economy keg" my brew until I can make a full fledged keg system feasible.
In the meantime, I plan to put up 2 gals of my current brew, and bottle the rest.
Will post results from using for home brew, but honestly at this point can think of no reason why it won't work and differently.
natural320
Well-Known Member
I want to say that I read somewhere that the TAD bottles fit perfectly, but please let us know if that is, in fact, the case here.
which (and where did you buy) CO2 cartridges did you use for your fruity experiment?
which (and where did you buy) CO2 cartridges did you use for your fruity experiment?
I'll be honest, I don't know much about CO2, BUT would this be able to screw into Miller Tap-a-draft system, rather than using the 16g CO2 cartridges?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pure-Energy-CO2-Tank-With-Repeater/5439038
The 16g CO2 cartridges are salty, at $10.00, even at Wally world!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pure-Energy-CO2-Tank-With-Repeater/5439038
The 16g CO2 cartridges are salty, at $10.00, even at Wally world!
snevey, look at post #27. there is a paintball gun adapter that might work. You might have to do some DIY to get it to work.
I just got some 16oz cartridges from Williams Brewing for $1.30 a piece. http://www.williamsbrewing.com/16_GRAM_CO2_FOR_BEER_no_air_s_P2161C148.cfm
I'm going with the 16oz cartridges for the portability.
Brew on
Craigbrew
I just got some 16oz cartridges from Williams Brewing for $1.30 a piece. http://www.williamsbrewing.com/16_GRAM_CO2_FOR_BEER_no_air_s_P2161C148.cfm
I'm going with the 16oz cartridges for the portability.
Brew on
Craigbrew
You don't want to use the co2 cartridges that you'll find at a place like walmart. Most cartridges made for co2 pistols like Daisy and Marksman, will contain a lubricant that is blown into the barrel with the co2 when firing the gun. That's a good idea for a pellet gun, but bad when that mixes with your beer.
AluminumGerbil
Well-Known Member
Pellet gun CO2 carts are 12grams and wouldn't fit without a little modification I believe someone posted you could stack a couple dimes in the adapter so the smaller carts could be used. I posted a solution to hooking up a bulk air tank earlier in the thread. there's an adapter that consists of a dummy 12gram with a hook up for constant air.
I think this is an urban legend. I use the Walmart pellet gun type CO2 cartridges regularly without any problems at all, and I've used all of the commonly available brands. I have never detected any type of oil or lubricant in them whatsoever. I've even discharged a couple into a tissue and could not see, feel or smell any lubricant.
A single dime worked for the 12 gram cartridges with the one I have from Miller.
bigjoe
Well-Known Member
I've used the 12 gram cartridges for guns. I've forced carb'd with it and it does impart a diacetyl aroma and flavor IMO. I use cartridges I get at the bike shop to inflate bike tires. the shop owner told me they don;t contain lube as the gun cartridges do. To me there is a difference.
It could be a myth. I've seen it on various forums. I've only used the Leland CO2 cartridged from the LHBS.
An easy way to test that would be to discharge a cylinder into a container and see if it leaves a residue or not.
I've done exactly that and there was no residue of any kind that I could detect.
I doubt that the diacetyl was a result of using the cartridges. Keep in mind that the bike shop owner has a vested interest in selling you his cartridges. Not exactly an unbiased source IMO. I still think it's B.S. Also, the manual for my pellet rifle cautions against using excessive oil for optimum performance. If the cartridges contained oil, there would be no way to regulate the application. Furthermore, any small amount of oil possibly in a cartridge would likely just coat the inside walls and not be dispensed uniformly along with the gas. Either that or the oil could pool at the nozzle end if the cartridge were positioned with the outlet downward for any length of time. This would eject all of the oil in one big squirt. What I'm getting at is that this would be a rather hit or miss way of lubricating a CO2 powered gun. Why would a manufacturer want to add lubricant if there were no beneifit for him to do so. Matter of fact, it would cost him more to produce the cartridges. It would be one of those lose, lose thingys. There is no mention of the cartridges containing oil on the packaging. I would think that there would be, if they contained anything other than CO2, just for liability reasons. All this leads me to conclude that there is no lubricant in them at all. Use a bike tire inflator with one and discharge it onto the surface of a container of water. You would see an obvious oil sheen, much like in the Gulf of Mexico at the moment. There may actually be some cartridges that contain a lubricant, but I have not encountered any and I have been using a variety of them for a long time without problems.
bigjoe
Well-Known Member
I don't doubt the diacetyl aroma/flavor was a direct result of the cartridge. I have a 20lbs CO2 tank also and did a side by side with the same batch of beer. My CO2 tank sat empty for quite some time. My fridge broke and I can't fit a keg in the new fridge. I had a feeling the beer was being contaminated by the gas so I went ahead and filled the CO2 tank again since it would be cheaper to force carb with it regardless.
I just thought I was taking it off the yeast too soon even though samples tasted good and gravity readings were stable.
I see your point about the bike store owner, but it wasn't her telling me the bike cartridges were oil free that prompted me to buy them. I tried different brands to find one that didn't funk up my beer. I bought 2 from bike store. The beer was clean. I went back to buy more for a camping trip and she asked if I was having problems with flats because I was buying a lot of them in a short period of time. I told her what was up with the beer when I used her cartridges vs the wally world Copperhead brand Paint Ball cartridges. This is when she told me they put oil in them. Regardless if its oil or just some funky aroma in the gas its getting in my beer.
I have no reference other than that. I do know from experience my beer gets funky with paint ball gas and it doesn't with Genuine Innovations brand gas for bike tires. Doing an internet search doesn't turn up much other than some saying it does contain and some say it doesn't. It is a common to find posts on bike forums warning to not use anything but gas for tires because oil on the paint ball gas will damage the tire.
I just thought I was taking it off the yeast too soon even though samples tasted good and gravity readings were stable.
I see your point about the bike store owner, but it wasn't her telling me the bike cartridges were oil free that prompted me to buy them. I tried different brands to find one that didn't funk up my beer. I bought 2 from bike store. The beer was clean. I went back to buy more for a camping trip and she asked if I was having problems with flats because I was buying a lot of them in a short period of time. I told her what was up with the beer when I used her cartridges vs the wally world Copperhead brand Paint Ball cartridges. This is when she told me they put oil in them. Regardless if its oil or just some funky aroma in the gas its getting in my beer.
I have no reference other than that. I do know from experience my beer gets funky with paint ball gas and it doesn't with Genuine Innovations brand gas for bike tires. Doing an internet search doesn't turn up much other than some saying it does contain and some say it doesn't. It is a common to find posts on bike forums warning to not use anything but gas for tires because oil on the paint ball gas will damage the tire.
AluminumGerbil
Well-Known Member
I will back up claims about CO2 being a dirty gas. High end paintball guns use Nitrogen/HPA vs. CO2 for a variety of reasons. The two major are that under higher rates of fire CO2 will chill causing pressure to drop and the marker to freeze up, the second CO2 is considered a dirty gas among people who only use it on their markers. It will foul up regulators and leave a residue on every internal part of the marker. Granted the volume of CO2 put through a paintball marker is significantly higher, but the stuff used for paintball is not filtered like food grade gas is.
RogerMcAllen
Well-Known Member
Your forgot to mention the best feature. If you get the Coors bottle you get the thing that turns blue to let you know your beer is as cold as the Rocky Mountains.
/fighting my way through a pair of Coors HD, actually not too bad for a summer beer
The Coors variety I could stand to drink and finished that one off over a week or two. The Miller one, I couldn't stand after 1-1.5 glasses and poured the remainder down the sink.
BGJ223
Active Member
Just picked up my Coors-Lite keg this evening. I am going to bottle my 2.5 gallon batch of Witbier this weekend, so I have so drinking to do. I have several of the 16gram carts (Mountain biker, flats happen), so I am gonna give force carbing a shot.
I also want to see if there is some way to add some hose to the tube so that it points away from the dregs.
Exciting little project.
I also want to see if there is some way to add some hose to the tube so that it points away from the dregs.
Exciting little project.
camiller
Well-Known Member
IIRC the tap-a-draft instructions suggest (when natural carbing) to carb with the bottle upright so the sediment is all at the other end of the bottle. Perhaps you could prop the bottle upright until your ready to serve so the dregs are at the other end.
ThreeRatBastards
Well-Known Member
It actually does a great job of not picking up the dregs until about the last 3 or so glasses of beer.
Bjornbrewer
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this is great! A coworker just asked me yesterday if I wanted some (ten actually) of these when he's done with them. I wasn't sure if I could use them so I was hesitant, but then I find this thread. I'll be handing out HB draft for Christmas it looks like!
BGJ223
Active Member
Well I filled it up last night and put in a new CO2 cart. We shall see how it all works out. I have a total of 4 carts, so that should be a enough to carb and pour my witbier.
