This seems to be Keg heaven...

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Spending Saturday morning with a coffee in hand and the phone in the other. I have been trying to update my Keg situation. Currently I have a 2.5 gallon plastic keg that cost me about £25. It is not great but it does the job. I have been looking at Corny Kegs but I am not sure that I have the money for that kind of set up, as good as I am sure they are. Trawling across the internet, as you do, I have stumbled across this company:- NEW – Black 10L Mini Keg with Flow Control Tap - Dark Farm They seem to sell a descent set up at affordable prices. Has anyone had any experience with this company or has any thoughts on the set up they provide?
Thanks all.

 

[MyQul]

No never heard of em*













*They're forum sponsors

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https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dark-farm-mini-keg-and-c02-dispenser-15-discount.77134/

 

[Leon103]

Just to let you know, cornies are cheaper. I bought a two keg set up, all parts and taps etc for £200. You can get a one keg set up for £100. You could save a few quid shopping around and buying separate.

 

[user 18729]

Spending Saturday morning with a coffee in hand and the phone in the other. I have been trying to update my Keg situation. Currently I have a 2.5 gallon plastic keg that cost me about £25. It is not great but it does the job. I have been looking at Corny Kegs but I am not sure that I have the money for that kind of set up, as good as I am sure they are. Trawling across the internet, as you do, I have stumbled across this company:- NEW – Black 10L Mini Keg with Flow Control Tap - Dark Farm They seem to sell a descent set up at affordable prices. Has anyone had any experience with this company or has any thoughts on the set up they provide?
Thanks all.

A couple of thoughts on the set up in the link-

1) Although the taps are flow control, without some 3/16 beer line or similar you will likely be pouring pints of foam with any beer that is moderately carbonated

2) You can buy reconditioned corny kegs for circa £50

3) You would need to prime the kegs to carbonate or go through a fair few CO2 Bulbs force carbing

4) The CO2 bulbs are very expensive compared with a bulk co2 cylinder (pub gas, hobby weld or soda stream etc)

That said, it's a convenient little starter kit and it would allow you to take beer to events (when the lockdown is over). You are also not spending out on a CO2 / kegerator set up so initially a bit cheaper. Investment wise just make sure you look at all the options and consider if this set up might restrict what you could dispense in the future.

Hope that help, and I'm sure someone else will offer their opinion.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

No never heard of em*













*They're forum sponsors

You can get a discount Home Brew Forum 10% discount @ darkfarm.co.uk
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dark-farm-mini-keg-and-c02-dispenser-15-discount.77134/

Ffs I did not know that. Well if my cheeks aren’t a new shade of rose..

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

A couple of thoughts on the set up in the link-

1) Although the taps are flow control, without some 3/16 beer line or similar you will likely be pouring pints of foam with any beer that is moderately carbonated

2) You can buy reconditioned corny kegs for circa £50

3) You would need to prime the kegs to carbonate or go through a fair few CO2 Bulbs force carbing

4) The CO2 bulbs are very expensive compared with a bulk co2 cylinder (pub gas, hobby weld or soda stream etc)

That said, it's a convenient little starter kit and it would allow you to take beer to events (when the lockdown is over). You are also not spending out on a CO2 / kegerator set up so initially a bit cheaper. Investment wise just make sure you look at all the options and consider if this set up might restrict what you could dispense in the future.

Hope that help, and I'm sure someone else will offer their opinion.

Thank you so much for all this helpful advise. As I say, I have always used the ubiquitous, plastic, homebrewing Kegs. It would be nice to venture into something better. Will keep researching though.

 

[obscure]

I’ve being using these (from dark farm) for about the last 18 months. For my needs they work well, I tend towards 9-10L batches so cam put a batch in a couple of 5L kegs, or what I often do is put five litres in a keg and the rest in bottles, which ensures I have some variety (while I have 10 mini kegs I only have two tap units).

The biggest downside is of course that CO2 bulbs are an expensive way to buy CO2, a pack of 30 including delivery is about £23 including delivery, so about 77p a cartridge, typically one of these will dispense a 5L keg, so I assume two will be needed for a 10L one. I do not force carb, but just use priming sugar, you will get a slight layer of sediment, however all but the first maybe 100ml draws clear in my experience.

The biggest advantage for me personally is that they fit in my kitchen fridge without issue, meaning I do not need a dedicated beer fridge if I was using 19L corny kegs this would almost certainly be the case. You would need to check the dimensions of the 10L mini kegs, as I assume they are a fair bit taller, so may not fit in your fridge.

For me personally mini kegs are ideal, and suit my needs, but the ongoing CO2 costs are not insignificant. If it suits your needs go for it I have found Dark Farm to be a reliable supplier for mini kegs, and the tap units are well built. You can also buy additional mini kegs elsewhere as the fittings all seem quite standard I.e, I have a couple of two litre ones I bought on ebay which I am finding great at the moment for putting beer bought from commercial breweries in, as they are currently doing delivery in 2L plastic bottles.

Mini kegs suit my particular need however when I was looking into it, I found their was very little in it between a corny keg setup and these if you look around, it’s just that I don’t have the space for a dedicated setup hence my choice to use mini kegs.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

I’ve being using these (from dark farm) for about the last 18 months. For my needs they work well, I tend towards 9-10L batches so cam put a batch in a couple of 5L kegs, or what I often do is put five litres in a keg and the rest in bottles, which ensures I have some variety (while I have 10 mini kegs I only have two tap units).

The biggest downside is of course that CO2 bulbs are an expensive way to buy CO2, a pack of 30 including delivery is about £23 including delivery, so about 77p a cartridge, typically one of these will dispense a 5L keg, so I assume two will be needed for a 10L one. I do not force carb, but just use priming sugar, you will get a slight layer of sediment, however all but the first maybe 100ml draws clear in my experience.

The biggest advantage for me personally is that they fit in my kitchen fridge without issue, meaning I do not need a dedicated beer fridge if I was using 19L corny kegs this would almost certainly be the case. You would need to check the dimensions of the 10L mini kegs, as I assume they are a fair bit taller, so may not fit in your fridge.

For me personally mini kegs are ideal, and suit my needs, but the ongoing CO2 costs are not insignificant. If it suits your needs go for it I have found Dark Farm to be a reliable supplier for mini kegs, and the tap units are well built. You can also buy additional mini kegs elsewhere as the fittings all seem quite standard I.e, I have a couple of two litre ones I bought on ebay which I am finding great at the moment for putting beer bought from commercial breweries in, as they are currently doing delivery in 2L plastic bottles.

Mini kegs suit my particular need however when I was looking into it, I found their was very little in it between a corny keg setup and these if you look around, it’s just that I don’t have the space for a dedicated setup hence my choice to use mini kegs.

Thank you for the advice. Seems to me that the major downside to this type of Keg, is the Co2 cost. I already use the 8g soda cartridges with my current mini keg. But it seems like better value to find a setup that utilises the s30Hambleton Bard style cylinders.
Thanks for your help.