My Experience With The Coors Lite Home Draft (Video)

[Big10Seaner]

I brought it out to my buddy's pond last night and it worked perfectly! The 16g co2 fits perfect, no leak whatsoever. First pint a little foamy but worked great after that, this is awesome!

 

[natural320]

did you notice any o-rings when you disassembled? I just kicked my MLHD, and didn't notice a single o-ring when I unscrewed it...I'd hate to fill with beer and then have a co2 leakage problem.
fwiw, I filled with water, attached the tap, shook and squeezed the bottled and did not detect any leaks, but I thought I would ask anyway!

 

[skidaddytn]

There's not a removable o-ring... I think the seal is similar to the way a soda cap seals with a molded softer plastic...

I noticed that after 1 day and 1 16 gram cartridge I could taste and feel slight carbonation in plain water... I think what happens is that the pressure gets real tight and then slowly the liquid absorbs the co2... When I tried it with water, I noticed no escape from my relief valve...

However I just put 1.5 gallons of my IPA in it tonight (with no priming sugar) and am trying to force carbonate... my relief valve was indeed releasing pressure... I guess its better than letting the thing blow up and get beer everywhere
I think its possible that I left *less* headspace in the container when I filled it with beer. I hooked the co2 cartridge up with the liquid at room temperature and stuck the thing in the fridge... maybe it would have been better to chill the liquid before applying the first cartridge... don't know...

I am now 3 hours in to this process and the container is still very tight and chilling in my garage fridge... I'll probably come home from work tomorrow to find the pressure is down (cart exhausted), and then add another one... this is what happened when I did a test run on water...

I thought the whole point of force carbing was to get the job done faster... I bet after 3 days and maybe 2-3 carts it will be carbonated and drinkable... I left this particular batch for 5 weeks in primary so it should be good to go..
The sample tasted good with no carbonation, so I'm pumped to see what happens...

 

[knotquiteawake]

from what I understood you need to have it very well chilled before you can force carb it, it wouldn't have absorbed any of the C02 if it was at room temp.

 

[skidaddytn]

You are correct... my beer is still pretty much flat... The pressure was gone when I returned from work, so I withdrew about 4 oz from the tap (for more headspace) and then inserted a new cart... It is now fully pressurized and bubbling again... we will see what it looks like tomorrow... this time it is cold... I didn't notice escape from the relief valve this time... on a positive note, this IPA tastes very hoppy and flavorful still...

 

[skidaddytn]

Ok... First of all thanks to ThreeRatBastards for starting a new thread on an actual experience with playing around with these disposable mini-kegs... I hope its ok if I continue on to this with my "force-carb" experience...

I just withdrew a couple more ounces as a test... I can tell that there is a little bit of carbonation now, but not enough to produce a head in the glass... but you can definitely feel it on the tongue when drinking... I put in cart #3 now...

There is definitely some sort of issue with getting the cartridge to pierce... you have to work it back and forth and not just line up the Green Arrows... To get #3 to work I had to screw it in and then work it a couple of times and then leave it a few millimeters short of matching "green arrow to green arrow" for the bubbling action to occur in the keg...

Always feel the pressure in the vessel before you unscrew the cart.. you should be able to make an indention with your finger in the vessel to realize the pressure is gone before you take the old one out... I don't know what would happen if you took one out while the pressure is tight, but it may not be good...

 

[knotquiteawake]

So far it seems we've learned:
You can take it apart and put your beer in it and it won't spill all over the place.
Force carbing is iffy right now.
and we are waiting to hear back on the Natural carbing still correct?

 

[ThreeRatBastards]

Skidaddytn, feel free to post anything you want in this thread.

knotquiteawake, that sounds like a decent synopsis. So far the natural carbing seems to have worked well. I put the system in the fridge last night and will be shooting the final video tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned

 

[skidaddytn]

Ok... I took out a 6oz beer tonight and it is well on its way to perfection... There is a small amount of head... it tastes good, and after realizing that the pressure was going down in the vessel once again, I put in cart #4... this may be the final cart that is needed... keep in mind the first cart I installed when the beer was at room temp (this is not optimal for co2 absorption--it should be chilled first to get the most absorption out of it)

I bet tomorrow it will be almost perfect... 4 days after loading it with no priming sugar...

I will add that using 4 16g mini-carts to force carb 1.5g of beer is not really cost effective.. but it was fun and it does work... and I have friends coming into town this weekend who I am sure will enjoy this beer!

I think that to really get the best value out of the system the following process should be followed:

1) Fill with beer and add priming sugar same as you would bottling (leave some head room... only fill the thing maybe 93% full) basically fill it from your bottling bucket...
2) Screw the entire tap assembly back on the 1.5 gallon container (with no co2 cart) and let sit for bottling condition period... ~2 weeks...
3) Chill the vessel, then unscrew the tap assembly slowly to release pressure from bottling conditioning, then re-tighten
4) Add 1 16g cartridge (you may not even need to do this if you plan to drink the entire 1.5 gallons in a few days time) but if you don't release at least *some* of the pressure first you may end up with a glass full of foam...

It would be cool if we could retrofit these things to feed from a larger co2 canister...

 

[natural320]

I am liking your thought process on the steps to follow, and I am going to go with some natural carbonation myself. I have a witbier still fermenting away, but my MLHD is empty, clean, and ready to be filled...so I will be able to update its progress in a few weeks.
I found that the cap from a 3L soda bottle fits, so I might carb with that on for 2 weeks, chill in fridge for a couple days, and then have the pressure release occur when I switch the cap for the tap assembly, add the co2 cart, back into the fridge for another day and check the bottle's pressure...

if all is well, the bottle should be rock hard, minimal co2 release, and maximum witbier enjoyment from the tap

 

[jbrookeiv]

Cannot wait to try this. I'm going to see if I can find one of these locally. Anyone in South Florida had any luck?

 

[skidaddytn]

You really don't need a separate cap during bottle conditioning. The tap assembly seals it tight--even when no co2 is installed.

 

[HitLines]

Just picked up a Coors home draft for around $19 after tax. It's going to take awhile to get though it but the extended weekend with a few friends might help.

 

[Ampsonic]

I also just picked one up. Will be putting my first batch of apfelwein in there!

 

[Yambor44]

Any new vids from the OP yet?

Also, maybe this was addressed but what about the sediment from the priming sugar?

 

[skidaddytn]

I had hops sediment come out in the glass in mine and I force carbed. That is a good point. If you prime, you will have trub in there and the tube draws from the bottom. Maybe if you angle the keg so the back end is 10 degrees higher it would help.

 

[ThreeRatBastards]

Any new vids from the OP yet?

Also, maybe this was addressed but what about the sediment from the priming sugar?

Sorry I'm slacking getting the last video up. I had a party this weekend and tapped the home draft with a new CO2 cartridge. It worked wonderfully. My friends really enjoyed getting my beer on draft, and it was fun to serve it that way.

As far as the sediment is concerned...
If you remember, the beer I made was a Magic Hat #9 clone made with apricot puree. My filtration wasn't the greatest when it went into the bottling bucket, so there were chunks of apricot getting into the draft system. I was afraid the pickup tube would get blocked or something, but I was wrong. I would say that the first gallon or so poured out of the draft was clear as day, the last half gallon started showing bits of fruit and other sediment. Overall I was very happy with the results.

 

[jbrookeiv]

So what's the consensus between force carbing and priming?

I am considering purchasing one of these to put my first homebrew in.

 

[ThreeRatBastards]

So what's the consensus between force carbing and priming?

I am considering purchasing one of these to put my first homebrew in.

I think skidaddytn's post is spot on. Force carbing is possible, but not economical. If you have time, prime it and wait.

 

[chicagobrew]

Thanks to everyone for the primer. My brother works for Miller, so I'm going to hit him up for a few free ones.

 

[daugenet]

Thanks to everyone for the primer. My brother works for Miller, so I'm going to hit him up for a few free ones.

I envy you

 

[ThreeRatBastards]

Part 4 is finally up!

Part 4:



Any chance a mod can edit the original post and add this link to it as well (it won't let me edit it now)?

 

[chicagobrew]

I talked to my brother, who works for Miller and has been involved in the development of this system, and one thing he made specific mention of was that when you pour a draft you should always open the tap all the way. If you try to pour a beer with a tap that is half open you'll get a huge amount of foam. Just a little FYI for you. As an aside, it took Miller over 5 years to get this system perfected and in market. I don't know what took so long, but they went through many iterations before they were happy. Hopefully, those of us who don't keg will be able to benefit.

 

[user 40839]

Was in the local Safeway this morning, and lo and behold, they were on sale. (For $22.99, normally $25.99.... gotta love living in @#$# Northern California...)

Now I just need to figure out what to do with a gallon and a half of carbonated rat's pee.

Has anyone, out of interest, checked to see if like the TAD, the unit fits on a 3-litre soda bottle?

 

[bctdi]

Looks like it would fit perfectly into one of those disposable styrofoam coolers.... Might be able to cut out the side of the cooler so the neck could come through.:rockin:

 

[ThreeRatBastards]

...one thing he made specific mention of was that when you pour a draft you should always open the tap all the way. If you try to pour a beer with a tap that is half open you'll get a huge amount of foam.

This is very true. In the first video where I pour it out into a glass this is exactly what happened. There is a little resistance before you get the tap opened all the way which made me feel like I was going to break it if I pulled it any further. It is almost like an extra little click that you need to feel to know it is fully opened up.

 

[KrayzieVanh]

Very nice!! Thanks for sharing the video. I bought one of these last month. I have a batch right now that's carbing up. It'll be a few more days before I can inject the co2. Can't wait to see how well this works.

 

[akthor]

I Know! theres a coor lite and a miller lite version of these, why couldn't Samual Adams or Sierra Nevada or similiar come out with something like this???

Was in the local Safeway this morning, and lo and behold, they were on sale. (For $22.99, normally $25.99.... gotta love living in @#$# Northern California...)

Now I just need to figure out what to do with a gallon and a half of carbonated rat's pee.

Has anyone, out of interest, checked to see if like the TAD, the unit fits on a 3-litre soda bottle?

 

[MJDore]

Talked to my local beer store guy here in the Nashville area. He said we have them here but he can't keep them in stock. And he said Miller/Coors won't promise their distributors replenished stock because they're having production issues. BUT...he said they've already reused some of the kegs and, in fact, they just ordered the food grade mini CO2 cartridges! So, he can offer those to homebrewers and can also use the 1 gallon kegs for draft fills in addition to his growlers.

 

[rod251]

If you prime with sugar, couldn't you use the homedraft system without a co2 cartridge, at least for a few beers, or would there not be enough pressure to dispense the beer? I have a red ale carbing up in a homedraft system right now. I have a pack of carts coming from Midwest, but I think I'm gonna try without a cart first. If nobody replies before I tap mine, I'll try to remember to post the results. It just seems like if there's a need to relieve pressure before installing a cartridge then there should be enough pressure to dispense as well.