Tap A Draft questions and share your experiences with a TAD newbie

[nanofreak]

So I picked up a Tap A Draft, and I have 6 bottles for it. I am looking for any tips you have for me as someone that has had the system for a while. I did this as a happy medium between kegging and bottling. This will allow me to fill one or two TAD bottles, and botle the rest. I also do not have room right now for kegging (as in somewhere to keep cold kegs). I did pick up the nicer caps that people speak of.

Questions:

1) Do you use as much priming sugar as you would for bottling, or have you found that going lighter is better?

2) Is it OK to only partially fill a bottle?

3) Once you fill a TAD bottle, if you don't tap it how long will it last waiting to be tapped?

4) Once tapped what is your real world experience of how long it lasts?

5) How long did you go before needing the TAD repair kit?

Please feel free to leave any other tips you have.

Thanks.

 

[nanofreak]

Anyone?

 

[Mose]

I have had mine for a year and a half or so.

I can't answer all your questions because my beer doesn't sit around long enough to worry about going bad.

Once I tap a bottle it hasn't ever really gone bad and probably sat over a month without a problem. Once the pour pressure starts to drop I put in a new CO2 and I'm good to go.

I set up my bottling bucket like normal with the same amount of sugar for a full batch, then just fill a TAD bottle as if it was another glass bottle and let it sit for a couple weeks. If I do this I find I only need one CO2 cartridge to keep push the beer.

I have force carbed in the TAD. You'll go through a few cartridges but you can get it done. I did my IPA in under a week once to make a deadline. The release valve on it is rated at something like 15psi so you won't be able to over do it really.

I've not needed the repair kit yet.

I've started kegging now but still use it. especially for stuff for the wife that may sit around longer and I don't want to take up precious keg space.