My Experience With The Coors Lite Home Draft (Video)

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throwbookatface said:
I still don't understand why you need to naturally carb the thing. Can the CO2 cartridges not force-carb it enough?
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You don't "need to" naturally carb the thing, but it is a hell of a lot more cost effective to do so. I'd rather spend a few pennies on sugar than several dollars on CO2 cartridges.

throwbookatface said:
Also, my understanding is that people use less priming sugar for their tap-a-draft systems. Would the same apply here?
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I used the normal amount of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch (as noted in the videos). The bottle swelled up pretty tight and I will admit I was nervous about it. You could definitely get by with less. Somewhere in this thread I posted a link to the TAD instructions which tell you how much sugar they recommend. I'll probably go with that next time.
 
someone gave me one of these things last month and I tried unsuccessfully to make it work right the second time. my c02 cartridges would not seal into the little rubber o-ring and c02 leaked out immediately.

on another note, the people that I think that will benefit the most from these if they can get them to work are homebrewers that keg and force carbonate already. the only reason I even tried it was so that I could take smaller amounts of beer to homebrew club meetings or over to friends cookouts, instead of lugging the kegs with me. I am going to try again to figure out how to keep it from leaking c02 because of this thread though and will report back my findings.
 
I plan on dumping the coors, but I was wondering if I could just unscrew the tap system from the container and dump the beer out - and save myself the C02 cartridge that came with the thing. Would this work?
 
Yeah, just unscrewed it and it didn't foam up or anything. And lo and behold coors doesn't taste as terrible as I remember.
 
Hook09Em said:
Here's an idea:

If you already have a beer that's kegged in a corny keg (or any keg for that matter), you could use a counter pressure bottle filler to fill up a Home Draft system. All you would have to do is buy a different stopper that fits the Home Draft System.

This would allow you to bypass having to naturally carbonate the bottle, or wasting a bunch of CO2 cartridges trying to force carbonate. Also, if you already have the kegged beer chilled, you don't have to wait for the beer to cool down before you twist in one of the cartridges.

I understand that you need a corny keg to begin with, but I think it would work great for anyone who's wanting to bring their homebrew to a party and give everyone the "draft" experience while avoiding having to lug around a 5-gallon keg and CO2 tank.
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+1... Anyone give this a shot?? Or maybe using BierMuncher's bottle filler idea?? If it's practical enough, I'd love to do this instead of bottling up a 6 pack to take somewhere for a gameday...
 
Timboosh said:
+1... Anyone give this a shot?? Or maybe using BierMuncher's bottle filler idea?? If it's practical enough, I'd love to do this instead of bottling up a 6 pack to take somewhere for a gameday...
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Very easy to do. Filling with carbed beer is no harder than filling with flat beer. Don't worry about the bottle filler, you need to leave a lot of head space anyway(1-2 pints) so that the CO2 cart has somewhere to expand without blowing out the safety valve.
 
I am very excited about trying this. I know you said it was posted in here somewhere, but I read through this entire thread (fairly quickly I will admit) and am under the impression that you will prime this 1.5 gallon Home Draft bottle with the SAME amount of priming sugar or DME that you would normally use for your 5gal batch when you bottle?

Doesn't that seem like much more than is needed? Please correct me if I read that wrong.
 
craig_reed said:
Doesn't that seem like much more than is needed? Please correct me if I read that wrong.
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I had a 5 gallon batch and primed it as you would normally prime a 5 gallon batch to bottle. 1.5 gallons went into the home draft and the rest went into bottles. The home draft swelled up quite a bit and I agree, the standard amount of sugar is too much (this has to do with head space left in the draft system being less than the sum of head space remaining in bottles should it have been bottled).

Here is a link to the Tap-A-Draft instructions. In it they suggest 6 rounded teaspoons of sugar to naturally carb it. I'll probably use this amount next time.
 
pretty expensive 16 pack (esp for ****ty beer)... but if you can manage to scavenge around for some empties, its an awesome find

try asking around craigslist or freecycle... or drive around the night before recycling day like i do lol ;)
 
How much headspace did you guys leave in the home draft? A couple pints worth is what I was thinking?

Too much? Too little?
 
Where is everyone getting 16g co2 from? The ones I got from the brew store just leak out once punctured.
 
Nickeldeposit said:
Where is everyone getting 16g co2 from? The ones I got from the brew store just leak out once punctured.
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I got mine from the LHBS. Are you puncturing it while the bottle is vertical? That will cause it to leak out. Make sure the bottle is in the horizontal dispensing position at all times once the cartridge is in place.
 
Thanks ThreeRat - I just wasn't sure what to expect in that thing.

I plan on doing this with a Hef I am waiting to bottle, so I first have to find and empty one of these (we have plenty at our local grocery store, just deciding if I do one, or two)

Is there a difference between the Miller or Coors IMO they look identical.
 
That's a tight little setup for not having to take 3 growlers with you. This would be perfect like the party pig for taking with you. I actually like the design in this for air releasing from the bottle easier. With the lid on with the pig you can't get 100% of the air out.
 
Quick question about this process because my friend just sent me a few of these emptied out. How did you clean out the line that went from the tap to inside the 1.5gal bottle ? It smells like stale beer. Did just soaking it work ? The line seems so small I can't imagine it being able to be cleaned.

Edit - I didn't have the tap opened so never mind. Water is now flowing through it. I do have another question now. Is it OK that I snapped the tabs off when I unscrewed the Co2 ? The casing seems loose now when I screw it back in. I assume once a Co2 is back in place it will be tight enough ?
 
Wingfan13 said:
Quick question about this process because my friend just sent me a few of these emptied out. How did you clean out the line that went from the tap to inside the 1.5gal bottle ? It smells like stale beer. Did just soaking it work ? The line seems so small I can't imagine it being able to be cleaned.

Edit - I didn't have the tap opened so never mind. Water is now flowing through it. I do have another question now. Is it OK that I snapped the tabs off when I unscrewed the Co2 ? The casing seems loose now when I screw it back in. I assume once a Co2 is back in place it will be tight enough ?
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I just run hot water through my line with the tap open. The casing will screw on and off much easier with the tabs broken, but it will still seal tightly with a cartridge in. I now have two of these units. I ran a batch of Irish Red Ale through one, and now they're both waiting to be filled.
 
rod251 said:
I just run hot water through my line with the tap open. The casing will screw on and off much easier with the tabs broken, but it will still seal tightly with a cartridge in. I now have two of these units. I ran a batch of Irish Red Ale through one, and now they're both waiting to be filled.
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Thanks for the reply. These things are great if you aren't able to keg...cuts down on bottling. He sent me two. He buys them so he doesn't have to return bottles and ships them to me when he is done with them.
 
Wingfan13 said:
Thanks for the reply. These things are great if you aren't able to keg...cuts down on bottling. He sent me two. He buys them so he doesn't have to return bottles and ships them to me when he is done with them.
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I use PBW. Filled it 2/3 full with a concentrated PBW solution. Put the tap back on (CO2 removed, obviously). Shook the crap out of it to build some pressure and then opened the tap to get some through the line. Repeated a couple of times. Smells fine now although I'll probably do it once more before sanitizing and filling.
 
i got through the original contents over a weekend, i;m watching the yeast starter bubble away now.
 
So, I'm force carbing a batch of Apfelwein in my fridge right now. I started Tuesday evening, do you think it will be ready by Sunday evening? Sounds great for a Halloween drink!
 
When force carbing a Tap-A-Draft system they recommend at least a week. But this is Apfelwein, so good carbination isn't crucial in my opinion. It might be slightly undercarbed, but will still be drinkable come Halloween.
 
Can anyone recommend a brand of 16g co2 cartridge that fits this thing without leaking? I bought some from my local foodie store (food grade c02) and they leak really bad.
 
Just picked one of these bad boys up on sale for 13.99 at our local grocery store. Took the cartridge out and took the top off and poured a glass of the stuff. It really is horrible. I don't understand why ANYONE would drink this. At any rate, I have half a batch of Dead Guy clone left over that didn't carb fully. I'm planning on pouring some of it in there and trying to force carb with the cart that came with it, and a few that I'm planning on picking up at the LHBS tomorrow. I'm in a brew contest next weekend at my cousin's and I'm really hoping a week will do it. Thanks for all of the tips.
 
with all the problems with the Co2 cartidges, has anyone tried to hacksaw the top off of the original (EMPTY) cartridge and use it as a sleeve for the new cartridge? would a smaller Co2 cartridge fit inside of it? Any MacGeyver's out there?
 
buckeyejb said:
with all the problems with the Co2 cartidges, has anyone tried to hacksaw the top off of the original (EMPTY) cartridge and use it as a sleeve for the new cartridge? would a smaller Co2 cartridge fit inside of it? Any MacGeyver's out there?
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I use the 16g cartridges from Midwest Supply with no problems. No MacGeyverin' needed. :mug:
 
rod251 said:
I use the 16g cartridges from Midwest Supply with no problems. No MacGeyverin' needed. :mug:
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I've got those too but my were leaking a bit... quick fix though is to wrap a small rubber band around the tip of the new CO2 cart. first cart leaked out second one with the rubber band at the top went in to my test water. I've got some hard cider brewing that I'm going to try in this.

Once I prove this works to myself, I'm going to get some nitrous carts to use in an imperial stout I've got aging.
 
rengelma said:
I've got those too but my were leaking a bit... quick fix though is to wrap a small rubber band around the tip of the new CO2 cart. first cart leaked out second one with the rubber band at the top went in to my test water. I've got some hard cider brewing that I'm going to try in this.

Once I prove this works to myself, I'm going to get some nitrous carts to use in an imperial stout I've got aging.
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Nitrous is for whipped cream. Nitrogen is for stout. Two different gasses.
 
What would happen if you put some previously bottled beer in one of these? I have a batch where most bottles turned out sufficiently carbed, but some are pretty flat. Would opening and transferring the bottled beer to this system ruin the good ones, or would it improve the whole lot?
 
GreenLion said:
What would happen if you put some previously bottled beer in one of these? I have a batch where most bottles turned out sufficiently carbed, but some are pretty flat. Would opening and transferring the bottled beer to this system ruin the good ones, or would it improve the whole lot?
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This is what I did. The less carbed beer definitely flattens out the good stuff at first. I used two carts from my LHBS and the original that came with the setup. I poured the chilled beer in on a Thursday night and carbed with a LHBS cart. The bottle got really firm. I assumed that after a day or two in the fridge, I would feel the bottle soften, which I didn't. I believe this is where I went wrong. I had plans to take it to a brew-off the following Saturday at my cousin's house. On the night before the brew-off, I tried a sample from the "keg" only to be really dissapointed with the level of carbonation. It seemed like it had done nothing at all, so I added another LHBS cart. Saturday night, I was a little bit nervous about the carbonation level, thinking it would cost me points. I added the original cart from the kit and immediately filled a few glasses. It seemed like the second LHBS cart had worked a little bit. There was more carbonation, but still not what I would have aimed for. As the night progressed, the beer continued to flow, and the level of carbonation continued to increase. I took second place out of eight brews. On a side note, the winner absolutely deserved it. He swept all of the categories. At any rate, the next day, I filled a glass or two from what was left and it was perfectly carbed. There was a nice thick head with great retention. So I can say for sure that something definitely worked. However, with that said, I'm not sure exactly what it was. Both of the LHBS carts definitely added pressure to the bottle, and I could see the gas entering the bottle through the plastic, the contents were bubbling as the gas entered just like with the OEM cart. What I don't know for sure is, was it just coincidence that the last cart that finished the job was the OEM cart? Or, did the OEM cart actually do most of the job? Meaning, if I had chosen another LHBS cart for that las cart, would I have had similar results? Knowing what I know now, the next time, I will just add a cart every other day until I have my desired level of carbonation.
 

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