Oxebar Keg?

[Drewch]

Anyone have experience with these?

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Hom...nt/KegLand-Oxebar-Kegs/Oxebar-Keg-Starter-Set

 

[Beerstein]

Im interested. Id love how know how beer fairs with them in in long term storage.

 

[Malticulous]

I orded some from Williams just now.

I may want more. Seven of these would bottle my all rounder.

 

[Drewch]

I'm wondering about keg carbonating in one of these with a spunding valve and then bottling for cellaring.

 

[Malticulous]

I just pressure filled two of these and two almost full kegs from a 60L all rounder. Easy. Being able to see trough these is nice.

These things are just like little all rounders. They tip over easy, but they can do anything a keg or fermzilla can do.

I think Ill spund one with priming sugar and force carb the other. I'm not sure how much C02 is in my lager and I only have one tap head. I wish I had a simple carb cap that would fit.

 

[khannon]

Ordered some of these today (2 of the starter kits). I don't know how they will do for long term storage, but it seems like a great size to take to a party. I'm also interested in seeing how well they fit in a water cooler, might be a great way to serve for festivals and the like.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

FYI...MoreBeer also has the kegs and taping head in stock:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/oxebar-mono-pet-keg-8-22-gal.html
Personally, I am really hoping they actually produce the 4L version that they mentioned in their initial launch video. This is because I brew a number of 1 gallon batches and would love an inexpensive kegging option. Also, I already have four of the 10L Torpedo kegs. If I did not have the 10L kegs, I would jump on these KegLand kegs.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

The following is a recent response from KegLand from a question I posted on the YouTube video regarding the 4L versions:

The 4L version is close now. We are just going through the certification process and doing pressure testing. Once we get the tick of approval they will be released to the public. At the moment looks like this will be in about 3 months from now.

Here is the video they put out earlier this year on the kegs:

 

[GoodTruble]

I just got these a couple of weeks ago and already bottle carbed in one of them. Worked fine, but one tip: pressure it first just a bit to listen for leaks. I thought mine was setup tight but could then hear a small leak around one of the carb caps. I only needed to tighten it down just a bit, and then it worked fine. But would have been really disappointing to wait several days on the natural bottle carbing only to learn it all leaked out.

 

[GoodTruble]

Also, wondering if I could use one of these to ferment 2 gallons with a spunding valve, let it naturally carb, and then just chill and serve?

 

[Malticulous]

You probably could pressure ferment 6L in one of these.

 

[GoodTruble]

You probably could pressure ferment 6L in one of these.

I may test this with a new batch tomorrow

 

[pvtpublic]

If you thought bottle bombs were bad, wait until one of these fail!

 

[Malticulous]

You made me imagine my 60l fermzilla exploding. What a mess.

Good thing it's spunded and has a PRV. Not going to happen.

After all this is a little all rounder.

 

[SanPancho]

Also, wondering if I could use one of these to ferment 2 gallons with a spunding valve, let it naturally carb, and then just chill and serve?

I’d guess it might be worth cutting the dip tube a bit in that case. At least so that the filter is sitting vertical vs laying flat on bottom. its a narrow vessel and the yeast/hop trub layer will be taller vs in a wider/typical fermenter. Might take some experimentation. Too bad you can’t get a float ball in there…..

 

[DuncB]

@SanPancho
You just need a smaller float, then you could.
An artificial cork would do it really well but I haven't seen any for years now as they are either screw caps or real corks.

 

[SanPancho]

@SanPancho
You just need a smaller float, then you could.
An artificial cork would do it really well but I haven't seen any for years now as they are either screw caps or real corks.

you mean the artificial wine corks? i didnt realize they floated, but yes, that would work if it fits and floats.

but i'd still worry about how narrow the bottle is. i'd worry that if you went with a floating diptube, the tubing would be likely to kink since the bottle wouldnt give it the space to bend around like you get in a corny keg.

of course i havent seen one of these yet so i'm just making wild ass guesses here....

 

[GoodTruble]

They are just over half the width of 5-gallon corny kegs. I already have trouble with floating dip tubes inside corny kegs, and I think you would need a pretty specific design to get one to work well inside these (though being somewhat see-through would help diagnose problems that do occur).

 

[GoodTruble]

I bottled carbed a 2-gallon batch, and tried to take a photo showing the amount of bottle residue at the bottom. -The shape has 4 little 'feet' that catch residue pretty well.....

 

[Drewch]

I bottled carbed a 2-gallon batch, and tried to take a photo showing the amount of bottle residue at the bottom. -The shape has 4 little 'feet' that catch residue pretty well.....

View attachment 782449View attachment 782450View attachment 782451

That's not too bad. One could just trim the pick up so that it hangs about a half inch above that.

 

[GoodTruble]

Agreed. It come with an attachment filter, so you can use that to keep the end of the tube off the bottom.

 

[Off Balance Brewing]

I really liked these when I saw kegland announce the release. Before the release I bought a dozen 1 liter pet bottles, carb caps and some cut beer line for dip tubes. I like this better to take beer places. I get smaller amounts to mix and match beer I take, I can just pour out the bottle without a tap and pump and it's only like 6 bucks a bottle set up. I also don't end up with 3 liters of a half empty bottle getting oxidized if it's not finished. I don't ferment small amounts, I'm kegging 5 gal batches. I think these oxebar kegs are better if you don't keg yet. Cheap entry to dip your toes in kegging. I like carb caps and 1 or 2 liter pet bottles to carry beer to places.

 

[GoodTruble]

@Off Balance Brewing - I help keep friend's taps with new beers. So these are great. I make 6-7 gallons batches and can keg 4.5 gallons for myself and 2 gallons in one of these for a friend's tap.

 

[Off Balance Brewing]

Yeah I agree, they are useful for small kegging. Maybe I would like them for split batches since 1 gallon kegs are like 120 bucks

 

[Malticulous]

I'm thinking of a four tap tower on a minifridge with these in it. I have got to go fridge shopping. It might work.

 

[GoodTruble]

@Malticulous - yeah, I was showing them to a friend last weekend, and we were discussing how be might be able to convert his kegerator from 2 to 3 taps. They are just a bit more than half the width of a regular corny keg.

 

[khannon]

I got mine yesterday(I guess the day before now..). I picked them up for the cap, More effective to buy 2 starters than 2 caps and 4 bottles. I have not cleaned/filled/used them yet.

I brew ~10Gallon batches though sometimes they are 11 or 11.5 or 12. This is my primary reason, to grab the excess that won't fit cleanly into sixtels.

Though 3 of these will fit in a Pancho's Keg Cooler, so ~6.6G of up to 3 different beers in one cooler that will hold ice for ~3 days seems like a party to me. Seems like a win to bring high ABV/specialty beers to fests etc.. Once I use them in RL I will let you know.

Are they better than stainless?(No, O2 ingress, environmental impact, reusability, cost even..).
Size wise do they beat stainless? (For the price no).
The only places where I can see this beating stainless kegs is when you give them away or when you condense them to facilitate cooling/serving. For this they may be on par with bottles(except bottles are reusable forever(ish), and require priming(which who has done the math bottles vs. Tank vs. cost of caps?)).

Overall, I'm comfortable with my purchase for my needs, though I may follow up here as I begin to use them. I like the bottle cap standard, even if it is only for the connectors.

For those getting into kegging, go stainless. I am quoting someone, "buy one, cry once". These serve a niche market, and seem to be great for that, but nothing will replace equipment that will as spike puts it "won't fail before your liver will", and that includes things that are made of renewable sources like stainless(kettles to kegs), glass(carboys to bottles), and even alumium(cans if properly recycled many times if you exclude the bauxite and mining(do your research)).

I reserve the right to edit this post later as I have had several of my "award-winning" triple tonight and may or may not be in a state capable of posting in a public forum...

Kevin

 

[CascadesBrewer]

For those getting into kegging, go stainless. I am quoting someone, "buy one, cry once". These serve a niche market, and seem to be great for that, but nothing will replace equipment that will as spike puts it "won't fail before your liver will", and that includes things that are made of renewable sources like stainless(kettles to kegs), glass(carboys to bottles), and even alumium(cans if properly recycled many times if you exclude the bauxite and mining(do your research)).

You make some good points. Personally I have been thinking about how I could put the 4L version of the Oxebar kegs to use once they are available. It has me wondering about alternatives.

Looking at the 8L Oxebar Kegs from Williams, they are basically $28.50 per keg when you purchase 2 (or $31 each from MoreBeer)
• Oxebar Keg Starter Set: $40
• Oxebar Tapping Head: $17

The various stainless growlers with a ball lock adapter seem like the cheapest upgrade to stainless. There are some cheaper rebranded kegs, but the KegLand ones at Williams look decent quality at a competitive price:
• Ball Lock Lid: $45
• 8L Keg: $60 = $105 w/ lid
• 4L Keg: $40 = $85 w/ lid

Are there other good options for kegs in the 4L to 8L range? Some possibilities:
• 1.5 Gal Torpedo Keg: $100 (MoreBeer...these have crept up in price)
• GrowlerWerks uKeg 64 oz: $120 (MoreBeer...small and uses cartridges, but has a built in tap)
• YaeBrew 1.6 Gallon Keg: $76 (Amazon...I wonder about the quality of this keg)
• Kegco 1 Gallon Ball Lock Keg: $120 (Beverage Factory...the price you pay for quality Italian kegs I guess)

It is hard to beat the price point of the Oxebar kegs. 4 Oxebar kegs with tapping head run around $120, vs $320 to $400 for stainless solutions. Though if you have to replace the Oxebar units after a few years because they are not as hardy as stainless...the price jumps to $240...then $360.

Man it is hard to compete with the $45-ish price point of used 5-gallon kegs!

 

[ba-brewer]

I have a few of the small keg options, I prefer the cannon ball 1.75gal size kegs over the 1.5gal torpedo keg as you can only really about 1.3gal in them verse being able to get 1.7gal in the cannon balls. Same goes for the 2.5gal torpedo kegs you can only get 2.3gal in them.

I have some of the kegland style mini kegs with the screw tops and had issues with oxidation and foamy pours. You need to replace the main O-ring with a bigger one to get a good seal. The dip tube needs to be replaced with one that is very snug on the lid nipple and adding a zip tie for extra measure helped with the foamy pours.

I have tried the soda bottle Tee thing too, which works well on 2 liter soda bottle for beer that does not fit in a keg. Carbonation Ball Lock Quick Disconnect (QD) Cap Tee Fitting | MoreBeer Cleaning soda smell from the 2 liter bottle is tough, I bought store brand club soda which are cheap and easy to clean. I also have some Mr beer PET bottles I fill with extra beer and use a carbonation cap to force carb and get a early taste sample while the keg slow carbs.

I really don't need another solution but the 2gal oxebar starter kit still look appealing.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Same goes for the 2.5gal torpedo kegs you can only get 2.3gal in them.

The slimline ones? I have heard that the slimline versions hold less than stated. I have several of the "2.5 gallon" standard ones, and they hold about 2.8 gallons up to the gas post and about 2.9 gallons right to the rim. The kegs themselves are marked "10L / 2.6 gallon."

Overall I am very happy with the small Torpedo kegs. I splurged on 2 of them at $80 each (now they are $110 at MoreBeer) and I got another 2 from a friend (along with a 3.5 gallon Ss Brewtech Brew Bucket). But while I love having the four small kegs, the current $440 price point would be very hard to justify.