Howdy brewers,
I bought a tap-a-draft system the other month. Its basically a tap that screws onto 6 liter PET bottles. The tap also accepts those sparklet CO2 bulbs to cabonate and for dispensing pressure.
Bit expensive - near on $200 once you buy a few bottles - but it gets you beer on tap in the fridge without too much mucking around, and it doesnt take too much room either !
So no more bottling !
I am now interested in doing a secondary ferment in some kind of keg to
carbonate to a moderate level, then decanting the beer into the 6 liter
PET bottles when Im ready to put it in the fridge. I dont know much about kegs tho.
Which brings me to the question - what sort of keg should I get, and where
can I get it from ? - I see lots of kegs out the front of the pub across the road, and I feel they would be happy for me to have one. They look to be about 25 liters (perfect) and have what looks like a large ball-bearing in the neck/opening at the top.
Does anyone know if I can use these ? What is that ball-bearing ? How do I get the beer in and out ? Cleaning ?
Any other suggestions for obtaining a robust 20 - 30 liter container that could take a bit of pressure ?
Cheers.
steal kegs
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nelso
mate, i've got a couple of these kegs you're talking about and the pubs don't get too happy if you just borrow them permanently, but that doesnt mean you don't NEED one of course.
if you go on ebay they usually have some keg tools on there, they should fit in. you'll need these because trying to get shit in there with a screwdriver is extremely frustrating. when you first get the keg just push into the ball bearing or the rubber around it with a screwdriver. but stand back because you'll cop a face full of either air or old beer.
The ones i've managed to get are 50L and there's a couple of 40L ones too.
hope this helps somewhat
if you go on ebay they usually have some keg tools on there, they should fit in. you'll need these because trying to get shit in there with a screwdriver is extremely frustrating. when you first get the keg just push into the ball bearing or the rubber around it with a screwdriver. but stand back because you'll cop a face full of either air or old beer.
The ones i've managed to get are 50L and there's a couple of 40L ones too.
hope this helps somewhat
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Oliver
- Administrator
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- Location: West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sorry to sound like a wowser, but I would strongly advise against stealing one. Apart from the fact it's criminal, you make everyone's beer more expensive because they have to cover the cost of stolen kegs.
Most kegs are 50 litres. You can buy them legitimately. Or try scrap metal merchants, which is where I bought the one that we converted for the Millennium Ale Project.
Oliver
Most kegs are 50 litres. You can buy them legitimately. Or try scrap metal merchants, which is where I bought the one that we converted for the Millennium Ale Project.
Oliver
englend victorious "ashes 2005" -
Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Sparky,
I don't think you would be happy with the results of decanting pressurized beer. Think about the head you are going to get. Why not pressurize in the 6 litre Pet (I think it is called a bulb) as you would a 500 ml bottle?
Dogger
I don't think you would be happy with the results of decanting pressurized beer. Think about the head you are going to get. Why not pressurize in the 6 litre Pet (I think it is called a bulb) as you would a 500 ml bottle?
Dogger
"Listening to someone who brews their own beer is like listening to a religous fanatic talk about the day he saw the light" Ross Murray, Montreal Gazette
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sparky the dog
Thanks guys,
..yeah - I can do the seconday fermet in the PET bottles, but like the keg idea for a few reasons.
The PET bottles are expensive, and not that robust. Each batch requires I have 4 bottles. If I want to have 2 - 3 batches going - I need a LOT of $$ worth of bottles. And if I want to put a batch down for a few months .. well that just ties up more of the expensive suckers.
The PET bottles caps dont seal that well, so if doing the seconday ferment in them, they just dont gas that well anyway.
The fact they dont gas that well isnt so bad for the same reason I am not too concerned about excessive gas loss when transfering from the keg - I tend to like and make thick malty beer. It just doesnt need _that_ much gas anyway. (think classical english beer - lots of little bubbles going down - something like a 'brass monkey' from the redback brewrey.
While the tap-a-keg seems remarkably good at leaving sediment behind, I still like the idea of having that little bit less there in the first place.
..yeah - I can do the seconday fermet in the PET bottles, but like the keg idea for a few reasons.
The PET bottles are expensive, and not that robust. Each batch requires I have 4 bottles. If I want to have 2 - 3 batches going - I need a LOT of $$ worth of bottles. And if I want to put a batch down for a few months .. well that just ties up more of the expensive suckers.
The PET bottles caps dont seal that well, so if doing the seconday ferment in them, they just dont gas that well anyway.
The fact they dont gas that well isnt so bad for the same reason I am not too concerned about excessive gas loss when transfering from the keg - I tend to like and make thick malty beer. It just doesnt need _that_ much gas anyway. (think classical english beer - lots of little bubbles going down - something like a 'brass monkey' from the redback brewrey.
While the tap-a-keg seems remarkably good at leaving sediment behind, I still like the idea of having that little bit less there in the first place.
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Sparky,
Maybe go for a full blown tap system? Can I dare say "Chest Freezer"? I know you have some tossed some cake at this system but I don't think it is doing what you want.
Dogger
Maybe go for a full blown tap system? Can I dare say "Chest Freezer"? I know you have some tossed some cake at this system but I don't think it is doing what you want.
Dogger
"Listening to someone who brews their own beer is like listening to a religous fanatic talk about the day he saw the light" Ross Murray, Montreal Gazette
Sparky,
There is an interesting article in a site htt://brewiki.org/ about building a party keg from a garden sprayer, I also thought about using an old stainless steel fire extinguisher, any fire maintenance mobs should be able to supply them, but of course you will need to be proficient in metalwork to do it unaided.
There is an interesting article in a site htt://brewiki.org/ about building a party keg from a garden sprayer, I also thought about using an old stainless steel fire extinguisher, any fire maintenance mobs should be able to supply them, but of course you will need to be proficient in metalwork to do it unaided.
Ross