Party Pig

[rknowles6]

I was wondering if anyone has used the Party pig? It looks like a good product on paper but does anyone have any first hand use and advice for me? I have never used a product that uses the PET. Any advice would be awesome.

 

[Nurmey]

I've used them (along with bottles and kegs) for a few years. They make a nice portable unit to take to parties. They're not hard to fill or use but they can be a bit fussy when getting the pouch popped. They fit well in any refrigerator which is convenient. Never had a problem keeping beers in them for months at a time. Overall they work well if you're not set up for kegging.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Honestly, not worth it. I keg, so in a pinch if I want to bring a small amount of beer to a get together, I fill up a couple cleaned 2 qt soda PET bottles with a semi counter flow chiller.
Heck, I have 2 PET bottles conditioning overflow from primary fermentations. I'm all for gadgets that make sense and are affordable, I just never saw the party pigs as worth the money.

 

[oberon567]

I have put 4 batches in party pigs, and they are convenient and much better than bottles... but i am saving up for some cornies, and not going to buy any more of the pouches for these guys......

 

[FishinDave07]

I haven't used either, but i think i would personally prefer the Tap-A-Draft system from reading a few HBT testimonials.

 

[oberon567]

On the down side for the TaP, though, is that it is smaller (1.6 gallons instead of 2.3 gallons), it is more expensive ($80 each instead of $40).

On the good side for the TaP, the CO2 cartridges are cheaper, usually a 10-pack costs like $7 or so, I think, which will get you through a couple of gallons, where as the Party Pig pouches are $5 each. Another positive is that the TaP dispenser will fit on 3L soda bottles in addition to the 6L bottle that is ships with, which I suppose would be useful in some instances.

I know when weighing the pros and cons a little over a year ago I went with the Party Pig, and overall I am happy with them, they are pretty easy to use and easy to clean, and I havent perfectly nailed down the amount of priming sugar required yet but I am pretty close after using them for 4 batches (really only using them twice, though, as each time I used them I did two batches in the span of days). HOWEVER, I realize that I would just really appreciate 5 gallon kegs a lot more, it would make my life a lot easier, and so that is why I am saving up for those...

 

[CBBaron]

If you can go for corny kegs. If you can't afford the full kegging setup or don't have room for the dedicated fridge then Party Pigs are a nice alternative.

They have some of the advantages of corny kegs in that you need much fewer containers. You don't need a bottling bucket and you can pull off as much beer as you want, plus they fit nicely in a fridge. Even in compact fridges.

The downsides are the pouches are expensive, don't store for long periods of time and can be tricky to use. Also I have not found the Pigs to be good for parties despite the name. When you draw off a large number of pints in a short amount of time the pressure decreases and the beer starts pouring very slowly. It takes some time before the pouch expands back to normal pressure.

While I have not had any trouble with the Pigs I would not store beer in them past 6 months. The pouches react slower with age and do not keep the pressure correct. And I don't trust PET for long term storage. I use my Pigs to store session type beers that I put in the fridge and drink over the course of a couple weeks.

Craig

 

[Pivzavod]

As a newb I was browsing the web and came across Party Pig and I came to this forum to research it further. I also checked out TAP which looks interesting but more expensive and not as portable imho.

Last night I purchased a Coopers Brewery kit which I want to use as my fermenter. I also have old Beer Machine which I was planning to use as a keg that I can store in my fridge. Problem with Beer Machine is that if you take it apart for cleaning and put it back together sometimes there are pressure leaks and it can be a pain in the ass to take it apart and clean it with every batch.

Then I came across Party Pig which would be perfect for me. I live in Brooklyn, NY in a 1 bedroom apartment and dont have as much room as some of you might have to store all your home brewing toys. As an expansion to Coopers fermenter I was planning to get a carboy plastic bottle and that I think would handle all my needs and not take that much space. I think if I get 2 Party Pigs I can avoid bottling and have the ability to place one of them in the fridge and consuming one while another one conditions further. They are also very portable and would be a great way for me to share the beer I brew. I think what I would do is brew 5 gallons with Coopers when I get it (American Lager + European Lager kits). I will do one of them first and keep it for 2 weeks then transfer 2 gallons gallons to each of the Party Pigs. Remaining 1 gallon would be bottled (first using bottles that are coming with Coopers kit + glass 22 oz's I'm saving up right now in the future). Then I can start on the 2nd kit and as I start consuming first batch the second one will be ready to be bottled and / or transferred to a hopefully empty Party Pig

What do you guys think? I think this setup is the best for my situation. Not much space, newbie to the hobby, very portable, bottling avoided for most parts.