Is there any reusable 5ltr kegs on the market?

Muahahaha · 01-01-2022 3:30pm #1

Thinking of getting back into brewing again now MUP is soon here. Should never have given it up in the first place but life got in the way. I want to try to avoid bottles if I can but I dont have the space or a fridge for one of those cornie kegs. Just have a normal fridge so looking to see has any company released a 5ltr or similar keg for home brewers, something that can be sealed and re-used time after time. Would be good to have a recommendation if anyone is using them

BeerNut · 03-01-2022 9:29am

Looks to be in stock at Geterbrewed.

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/5-litre-maturing-barrel/

Muahahaha · 03-01-2022 1:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409367#Comment_118409367

Thanks Beernut. I had found these ones as well with a tap & CO2 system

https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/mini-keg-starter-kit-brewferm-with-party-star-deluxe-p-293.html?cPath=2_95

Have you known anyone to use something like the above and how did the find it? My main concern is wastage, Im not sure how well these things work. Maybe Im overthinking it as the above tap has a regulator so if the pour is frothy I can slow it down to avoid waste. But would be good to hear from someone with real world use of them, the primary objective is to find a better solution to bottling but I dont have the space or cooling ability for a cornie keg.

I was also looking at beer dispensers along the lines of Perfect Draft but the cheaper ones (c.200 euro) like Klarstein. But Im not sure if they are compatible with 5 litre mini kegs, alot of these beer dispensers seem exist to get you into an ecosystem of buying mini kegs of Heineken or whatever. So Im wondering if the keg connectors are deliberately made to not be compatible with a cheap mini keg, kind of like what Nespresso tries to do.

BeerNut · 03-01-2022 7:04pm

I've never tried a tap system, but I have refilled a commercial 5L keg a couple of times and it was fine. If you're precious about wastage, homebrew isn't a great hobby for you. Wastage happens.

For the technical questions, maybe ask the supplier.

mordeith · 04-01-2022 3:43pm

I bought 2 of the maturing barrels Beer Nut linked above. I've only tried pouring a glass last night. To be honest I made a bags of this brew as I think it got a bit infected when I dry hopped but still drinkable! Keg worked fine and carbonated well. Not sure how that will progress as I take a glass off every evening but we'll see. Wasn't much of an outlay even if they prove useless.

Muahahaha · 04-01-2022 5:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118416738#Comment_118416738

Thanks for the feedback, thinking I'll go with them rather than bottling. If it does goes flat would be good if you could report back as like yourself Id just be taking a pint or so off at a time

mordeith · 04-01-2022 6:33pm

Still gas in there this evening. Pour isn't overly vigorous so no major frothing. There's feck all head retention but that applies to the ones I bottled as well so no reflection on the keg.

It was a joy to transfer 5 litres at a time from the fermenter though rather than around 20 bottles !

Muahahaha · 04-01-2022 10:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417719#Comment_118417719

haha I bet you hand a lot of extra time on your hands with just kegging rather than bottling. The washing and sanitising of 40 odd bottles was always a pain for me which is why I want to move to the mini kegs

mordeith · 04-01-2022 10:16pm

2nd pour of the evening.

Sorry about the orientation

d31b0y · 07-01-2022 9:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118410212#Comment_118410212

I have mini keg starter kit. Works great. Very little waste. It's a well sealed system so I don't see why the keg wouldn't last a week after opening at least. Mind you, I've never gotten more than 5 days before it's empty.

I've also read 6 to 9 months shelf life in the right conditions but again, it's never lasted long enough for me to test that.

I'll be buying an extra mini keg every time I order from now on. So much handier than bottling. I still like to bottle one or two so what I normally do with a brew is fill three kegs and bottle the rest.

One thing with kegging is that it needs far less priming sugar than is recommended. I put 14 carbonation drops into my first batch of kegs (1 per 350ml as recommended) and my keg was fit to explode. Nothing but head for the first half of the keg.

I tend to halve it or less now and it works well.

Muahahaha · 07-01-2022 11:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431531#Comment_118431531

Thanks, thats very useful information, especially on the carbonation drops as one of my worries about using kegs was getting tons of froth. Did you get the tapping system with the kegs along with the Co2 cylinders or do you just use the little tap at the bottom to pour (and is it adequate?). Also is the fermentation stage supposed to be done in the keg or are you stlll leaving the beer in the fermentation vessel for a couple of weeks and then kegging it?

Will be definitely going ahead with the kegs will probably get four to begin with and then maybe a second four later on. Washing and sanitising 40 bottles was always such a pain so the kegs will remove all of that work load.

d31b0y · 07-01-2022 4:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118432239#Comment_118432239

I got the exact kit you linked which doesn't include a tap at the bottom of the keg so you have to use the co2.

https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/mini-keg-starter-kit-brewferm-with-party-star-deluxe-p-293.html?cPath=2_95

You still ferment in the fermentation vessel and keg after a couple of weeks, same time as you would put into bottles.

MuttonDagger · 14-01-2022 12:50pm

When kegging do you just batch prime the beer as you would when bottling then transfer to the keg?

I've done 4/5 kit brews (Hopapocalypse from the home brew company) so looking to step up my game this year.

I'm eyeballing this keg setup, I have a "beer fridge " that I could keep the keg in and drill a hole out for a tap .

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/complete-keg-set-up-19-litre-corny-keg-starter-kit-with-c02-get-er-brewed/

loyatemu · 14-01-2022 1:11pm

you can prime the keg with sugar like a bottle, or you can force carbonate using a tank of CO2 (various methods for doing this) - you need CO2 to serve the keg anyway.

MuttonDagger · 14-01-2022 1:15pm

Thanks Loyatemu,

Could I force carbonate using the kit I linked to or do you need extra gear ?

loyatemu · 14-01-2022 3:33pm

Yes. Some people add a "carbonation stone" to speed up the process, but it'll work without one too.

Muahahaha · 19-01-2022 10:33pm

Whats the best way to clean and santise a mini keg? Can you just half fill with warm water and sanitiser and shake the hell out of it or do you need some special brush to clean the walls of it?

BeerNut · 20-01-2022 8:33am

Clean it and all the separated components with hot water after use and sanitise before use. As long as you don't let anything dry onto the inside you shouldn't need a brush.

Is there any reusable 5ltr kegs on the market?

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