mini kegs...reusable ?

[brydo]

hi guys, i have been thinking for a while to keg a few beers instead of bottling. i dont have the space for a whole system but am curious about mini kegs. the home brew shop on line has them for about £8 for a 1 gallon keg. i woud buy the tap seperatly, bungs too but only if they can be washed and reused. i dont see the point of paying £8 everytime when i can get bottles for free everytime. i have searched about but cant find a definate answer. sorry if this is an obvious question and im being daft. cheers as always for any help guys

 

[HisDudeness]

You can re-use the ones that already have beer in them too and if they are live beers you can also harvest yeast from them, I have just done this with a mini keg of Adnams Ghost Ship.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA9ZLNQhrgg[/ame]

 

[brydo]

excellent mate cheers. the mini kegs for sale dont have the wee tap at the bottom though its a co2 tap that pierces the the rubber bung at the top of the keg. im sure the principle would be the same though

 

[bquiggerz]

Yeah I've heard you can still use the top kind of tap on a mini keg that had a tap built in

 

[brydo]

cheers. also quick follow up question, once the beer has fermented, i take i batch prime the beer as normal and it to carbonate and condition as i would for bottles. eg im a lager drinker so two weeks at room tempreture then in the fridge for a miniumum of four weeks ? and im guessing the shelf life of the beer is the same as bottles ? not that ive had a beer last as long as say six months but in princeple it could just sit in the keg to mature as long as a bottle ?

 

[bquiggerz]

Yeah in theory the shelf life should be the same. The only down side is if you don't sanitise well you'll lose 5 litres rather than just one bottle