Mini Keg Usage, Maintenance & Party Star Deluxe Part 1

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Well them 40 pints wont last you as long as the tap will lol. And I couldn't answer that question. I wouldn't imagine you'd get the same quality head on your pint? The party star deluxe tap just finishes off the look of the keg as well as pouring a great pint. So if not bothered about either don't get one :)
 
Rob, one more question:

- did I read correctly that you prime each keg with just one tea spoon of sugar? I normally add that to each 500ml bottle so doesn't seem like a lot! Multiplying what I use up would be 10 tea spoons (Carol Vorderman here!), or around 40g which, as I understand is way too much as the kegs can't hold as much pressure as bottles. So I added 12g (around 3 tea spoons).
 
Rob, one more question:

- did I read correctly that you prime each keg with just one tea spoon of sugar? I normally add that to each 500ml bottle so doesn't seem like a lot! Multiplying what I use up would be 10 tea spoons (Carol Vorderman here!), or around 40g which, as I understand is way too much as the kegs can't hold as much pressure as bottles. So I added 12g (around 3 tea spoons).

I do lagers and I put 3 heaped measured tea spoons in. I get good results
 
Would love to know how to fit the party star to a Hobgoblin keg. For the life of me I just can't get it into the keg.
I managed to do mine. It was surprisingly easy once I bought the regulator and read specs then bought the hose and ball stop quick release gas and liquid fittings. Just need to get a brew in the keg now.
 
I managed to do mine. It was surprisingly easy once I bought the regulator and read specs then bought the hose and ball stop quick release gas and liquid fittings. Just need to get a brew in the keg now.

Only want to install the party star tap lol.
 
Been using these for a year or 2 now and what I do is
Removing the red / black bungs..pull red flappy bit off push the middle through ( this comes out if you fill it with water ,turn up side down and open the tap as it causes a vortex)and then get a piece of string and wrap in around twice the Bung between the Bung and keg ( if that makes sense ) , then pull the string gently And the Bung comes out , I use the grey 2 piece bungs and they just pull off , I don't use Vaseline with these I simply twist them on and never had an issue in about 50/60 kegs this year
I use a Cooler for these from Germany and a party star , you can use the red black bungs with these easy enough, hob goblin have started to do a different Bung now and they are a pain to get off .still working out how to do them with out damage , done 4 with cutting bits of it with side cutters although I buggerd one up and had to throw it
I prime with 13/14 g of sugar per 5 litre kegs and it is gassy for the 1st pint or 2 ( I like fizz though) but I don't use co2 for the 1st few , I put the co2 in when it starts to slow , I also use 8 g co2 in a 16g Home made holder as I find it easier to get 8g .
Hope that helps someone
 
Excellent threads, thanks Rob. The vaseline wouldn't have occurred to me either. Going to fill my first three tomorrow, so not long til I can start using the party star tap. I've just ordered another six from Ebay for free (well for Nectar points, but don't tell anyone...).

How long do the red/black bungs last? The first three I got were full of beer and the red tab looks like it may break soon. Must get a load of the grey ones.
 
Excellent threads, thanks Rob. The vaseline wouldn't have occurred to me either. Going to fill my first three tomorrow, so not long til I can start using the party star tap. I've just ordered another six from Ebay for free (well for Nectar points, but don't tell anyone...).

How long do the red/black bungs last? The first three I got were full of beer and the red tab looks like it may break soon. Must get a load of the grey ones.

The bungs will last a long time as long as you look after them and be careful when removing them from kegs. Also the bungs will perish if you leave a little beer in a keg for a few weeks. So remove ha ha
 
I've ordered a starter kit from Leyland Home Brew. Not only is Julie really helpful, but I paid for it yesterday at which point they were waiting for supplies to arrive (with a backlog of 50 ordered!) Totally impressed that they were delivered today. :-D I am now just waiting for my Cereal Beer to finish in the FV so I can test out the Party Star...
 
The bungs will last a long time as long as you look after them and be careful when removing them from kegs. Also the bungs will perish if you leave a little beer in a keg for a few weeks. So remove ha ha

Yeah I've been emptying and rinsing the kegs as I go. Just filled my first batch! Star san foam made it a bit tricky to tell how full they were.
 
I use my little finger as a measure. I put my little finger in and against the rim of the keg up to the first joint and when I feel the beer touch the tip of my finger the kegs full and ready to prime
 
I've just tapped my first mini keg with a Party Star tap.

I managed to lose the contents of the first CO2 cartridge when I screwed it into the tap without turning the CO2 knob off!! :doh:

First thoughts are positive. I didn't get much flow after tapping and had to turn the CO2 on a little bit. I primed with 12g of sugar, so perhaps this is a little low, but the beer itself is nicely carbonated.

The one downside of the mini keg is it's the Beer equivalent of a Wine box! Very difficult to gauge consumption! I also don't like drinking the same thing all night, so having a few mini kegs and taps going at the same time might get a bit pricey with the taps at ���£40

I can perhaps see myself using the mini keg/Party Star for light and pale ales for get-togethers, and bottles for normal consumption.
 
Excellent post with sound advice. I have just used these kegs for my Christmas Brew and primed with 80gms of dark candy crystals and praying that it all works out well..(fingers crossed)
 
Im pretty sure that was the amount per keg...
By survive, do you mean the keg or the beer?:-o

The keg. Its probably going to distend with that much sugar in it, perhaps (trying not to sound too dramatic) even explode. If you've got a garage or some such I'd put them in there or may ber a carboard box with plenty of newspaper underneath if not
 
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