Mini Keg Advice

[Chris17]

So I kegged my beer for the first time yesterday.

I was planning on force carbonating using a method I found on a website somewhere. I kegged 4L yesterday, set the pressure to 10psi and cold crashed for 24 hours. I was then going to crank the pressure up to 30 psi for the next 24 hours, then reduce to around 12psi for the next 3/4 days.

My CO2 canister ran out at some point in the night, so I fitted a new one this morning. I cranked the pressure up earlier but only managed to get it 20psi and now it is very slowly falling again. I'm fairly sure there is no leak in the system. Would you guys use another canister or just assume that the CO2 has all been absorbed into the beer and it should be well carbonated? I'm worried about over carbonating it!

 

[kelper]

I find 10psi fine.

 

[WrexTheDragon]

They all work on my 2, 4 and 5l kegs without a promlem. You only need to change the liquid feed tube as height varies.

 

[jason65]

I used those 5L mini-kegs for a few batches and then sold by setup. It wasn't for me. The 5L mini-kegs (budget mini fridge kegerator) are great if you like cask ale (low-carbonated, gravity poured). They even work OK with priming with sugar and then pressurizing with the party-star tap system. But cleaning the mini-kegs was something that was a pain, and not verifiable and they took up more room in the fridge than a few bottles and they leaked in the fridge. It is easy to overprime a batch and have the mini-kegs bulge out, I would go with the cannonball system because it is a real corny keg.

 

[Jenny]

I recently saved up a bit of cash to buy myself a Growler Werks Ukeg 128 from Get 'er Brewed (photo below), as sort of an intro to kegging. Anyway, after a week of waiting for the email to say it had been dispatched I called them to ask what was going on, only to be told they didn't have it in stock anymore, but hadn't bothered to tell me/refund me/send the rest of my order (I was fuming). They've now given me a refund, so I'm looking for alternatives.

View attachment 30130

The main benefits of this for me were; the small size (I only do 10L brews at the moment and would like to be able to bottle more than half); the insulating outer walls which keep it cool; and how nice it looks! I recently built a pallet bar for my back garden, hence the last point! The main reason I was looking to get into kegging was the ability to force carb my beers so I can drink them quicker!

Anyway, I've been looking around and seen a few mini keg set ups although I don't fully understand how they work, so would be grateful if anyone could explain exactly what components I would need?

Also, the minimum size that seems to be available seems to be 5L which is just slightly too big. Would it be an issue if I did not fill the mini keg completely?

Finally if anyone knows another similar product that looks as cool as the Ukeg then please let me know!!

 

[Stan's Brew]

Dark Farm do a pretty good selection of mini kegs if you are in the UK, never tried them but they do look cool in black:

https://www.darkfarm.co.uk/keg-equipment/