Brewferm kegs...Again?

[atco_91]

Hi all,

I've done some searching and can see this topic has been discussed but my questions haven't quite been answered.

Mini Keg Starters Kit by BREWFERM - Get Er Brewed - These are what I am interested in. I have used mini kegs before and for some styles I prefer them over bottling for numerous reasons. (Bottles still have their place in my process).

Does any one have any experience with these kegs and does the CO2 tap mean you don't have prime as much (if at all) or am I going at this wrong?

On paper they seem a really good idea but for that price point I want to do my research, I'm assuming the money is in the tap and CO2 as the kegs are not normally pricey.

Thanks in advance
Martin

 

[phildo79]

No experience with them but you can't go wrong with an actual corny keg. Perhaps you have limited fridge space? Geb sell a variety of sizes. Smallest is 6L, I believe. Would cost more, if wanting 3 of them, but worth it in the long run. Small corny kegs also don't deprecate much in value, in case you were looking to sell them on.

 

[atco_91]

No experience with them but you can't go wrong with an actual corny keg. Perhaps you have limited fridge space? Geb sell a variety of sizes. Smallest is 6L, I believe. Would cost more, if wanting 3 of them, but worth it in the long run. Small corny kegs also don't deprecate much in value, in case you were looking to sell them on.

Thank you for the response. I've looked at these before but in all honesty I am struggling to wrap my head around what I will need to get one fully up and running, as stupid as that sounds.
I do have some room to play with (I can always get a beer fridge) but I don't have room for any complicated setups involving large CO2 bottles etc.

 

[Sandimas]

I've no experience of those particular ones but I do have a 10L minikeg with CO2 cartridge tap from Dark Farm, similar to these. Like you I don't have the space / enthusiasm to have a large CO2 cannister in the house.
https://www.geterbrewed.com/ss-mini-kegs/
Here's the Dark Farm link, but these kegs seem generic just with different branding ‘Single Walled’ 10L Mini Keg with Fixed Tap, Flow Control and CO2 Valve + FREE JACKET WITH EACH KEG - Dark Farm

I really like them, in fact I'm going to buy another. There are two ways you can use them: have just enough CO2 to serve the beer, and force-carbing. I prefer real ale / flat beer so these are perfect for me, I just use enough CO2 to serve, and doing it this way I get through 2 CO2 bulbs per 10L. Force carbing you'd use a lot more, and you'd probably want a sodastream canister rather than bulbs (you can get attachments). The temperature of the beer can be an issue especially this time of year, but I live in an old house where one room gets down to 12C in winter if I leave the heating off, so I store it in there.

If I want more carbonated beer I bottle those batches.

 

[Covrich]

with these

https://www.darkfarm.co.uk/product/5l-single-walled-mini-keg-with-fixed-tap-co2-valve/
or the 10l ones could you not gently prime them and use a co2 cartridge? HOw long do they last under a cartridge? a few weeks?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I've used the mini-kegs before - they aren't bad, but the main problem with them is they are plain steel lacquered on the inside; and if the lacquer gets damaged you end up with a nasty metallic taste.

To be fair I only had that once but it put me off using them again.

in all honesty I am struggling to wrap my head around what I will need to get one fully up and running, as stupid as that sounds.
I do have some room to play with (I can always get a beer fridge) but I don't have room for any complicated setups involving large CO2 bottles etc.

Totally understood (and I know what you mean) but I would totally recommend a Corny setup if you don't mind the setup cost (approx £80, plus the cost of the keg £50-90)

Here's an example of what you need based on MaltMiller stuff:

(1) keg - 9 litre , 12 litre or 19 litre (all about £80, less if you get refurbished)
(2) disconnects for gas in, beer out to 3/8" JG pushfit (£17 for two)
(3) party tap and dispense line (£10)

then EITHER:
(4) regulator (£49) this fits a full size 6kg gas bottle but you can use an adaptor (next item) for a Sodastream cylinder
(5) adaptor for Sodastream bottle (£12)
You can get the Sodastream bottles from Argos, Robert Days etc.

OR (for small kegs only, I'd recommend):
(6) mini-regulator for 16g CO2 bulbs (£25)
(7) 10x 16g CO2 bulbs (£8.79)

Note that one 16g CO2 bulb will dispense about 7 litres of beer

Hopefully that makes sense?

EDIT: I forgot to say that you'll also need a metre or so of 3/8" push-fit tubing to connect the regulator to the keg, but I'm guessing you've probably got some of that already...

 

[atco_91]

Engineer - i really appreciate you spelling it out for me. I think I see now how it all comes together, is the keg still primed and co2 used for pouring or does the co2 take care of carbonation as well? You've definitely made it easier for me to look at these more seriously now. Only thing I may struggle with is a fridge but I can work on that.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

No worries - I found it pretty intimidating too :-)

is the keg still primed and co2 used for pouring or does the co2 take care of carbonation as well?

You can do it either way, but mostly if you've got a CO2 cylinder then you use it both for carbonation (i.e. instead of priming) and dispensing.
One big advantage of that is that with no priming you eliminate the wait for secondary fermentation to complete before you can start 'quality testing' LoL
Another advantage of carbonating with CO2 is that you can easily adjust the level of carbonation as you go along, rather than having a 'one time' choice on how much priming sugar to put in at bottling time :-)

 

[phildo79]

Engineer - i really appreciate you spelling it out for me. I think I see now how it all comes together, is the keg still primed and co2 used for pouring or does the co2 take care of carbonation as well? You've definitely made it easier for me to look at these more seriously now. Only thing I may struggle with is a fridge but I can work on that.

You can use gas to carb or use sugar. If all you have is a sodastream bottle or gas bulb, I would recommend sugar. But with a big tank (6kg-ish) of gas, I wouldn't bother with the faff of sugar. I think I used sugar for my first 2 or 3 brews and then just forced carbed with gas ever since.

If you get yourself a larder fridge, you can house the gas tank inside it along with your kegs.

 

[phildo79]

Carbing with co2 is also easier for avoiding oxygen contact with your beer. Something I would seriously look into if you are going to start kegging. Like with most things about brewing, the moment you decide to change your process, the whole thing can seem very daunting. But in reality, you get to grips with it pretty quickly.

 

[Tanglefoot]

I've used the mini-kegs before - they aren't bad, but the main problem with them is they are plain steel lacquered on the inside; and if the lacquer gets damaged you end up with a nasty metallic taste.

To be fair I only had that once but it put me off using them again.

This is what put me off those kegs.
For the price I think you'd be better off going for a stainless steel 10L mini keg, about £80 from Brew2bottle or Geterbrewed.
Or Brewkegtap do a starter kit for either mini keg or corny with all the necessary bits although the 10L mini keg option has been sold out for ages.
I ended up getting this corny kit
https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collection...rs-1/products/mobile-corny-keg-sodastream-kit
I then got a 10L mini keg from Brew2bottle and switch the gas and tap between as needed.
The regulator has a sodastream adapter which can be removed to move up to larger gas bottle which is handy,
all excellent quality kit.
I've also sugar primed my first bitter in the corny which was easy and served a lovely pint !

 

[Covrich]

could you dump into 2x 5l kegs and just tap up the one as and when you need it and leave the other one to condition or store it until it is ready? for example

my issue is I don't and wont have the space to store a 19l keg so it just might not be viable but 5l ones I could put in my little fridge no problem and just use a couple of them and bottle the rest