KegLand Questions and Answers

[Ferg]

No problems, actually the pump and heater are custom, it's only the power that is the standard 5mm 2.1 fitting.

Bollocks, now my plan doesn't work! I hate when companies do this.
Is it bigger or smaller than the 2.1mm?

 

[DazGore]

Bigger

 

[Schikitar]

There will be a couple containers of stock that will sell out fairly quickly that come into Australia

Any chance AHB members might get 'first dibs' at an order of the BrewZilla?

 

[Nullnvoid]

Any chance AHB members might get 'first dibs' at an order?

I second this motion!

 

[RobB]

The image of the fermzilla on the website shows it ready to go in dispense/transfer mode with dip tube etc. Is this the set up which corresponds with the listed price, or will it be like the generation 1 with pressure lid, float etc being optional extras?

Also, with what appears to be an updated lid design, can you tell us what the changes will be to the overall dimensions? It would also be good to know the height with a disconnect, rather than with an airlock as shown in the current pdf.

 

[Grmblz]

@KegLand-com-au Make the boil proof fermenter an option not an "upgrade" so $130 for a 27Ltr pet bottle kit or $230 for boil proof kit. I'd buy the boil proof btw, and probably in both sizes, BUT if I have to pay twice, once for the pet and then pay again for the boil proof "upgrade" it becomes a different ball game. Just my 2c worth. Luv yer work, cheers G

 

[altone]

@KegLand-com-au when will your order tracking actually work?

Still shows my September 2018 order as processing even though it's been picked up.
And order page says you'll send a link to be able to track the order but only a confirmation is sent - no tracking link.
I have to assume you'll stick to your 4 business hours and drive down to pick it up in the hope you do.
If tracking gave processing then ready, I'd know for sure.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Yes I'd pay for the higher temperature tank.

Also you mentioned "a couple of containers coming into Australia" does this mean that the new versions are not being made here in Australia?

Typically one of the main benefits of blow moulded containers is that the container itself is bulky and expensive to ship. As a result you would not want to pay the shipping cost from Asia to Australia. Also with a lot of low value blow moulded tanks the shipping cost would be a high percentage of the value of the container itself.

With that said the shipping of a 27L FermZilla to Australia in full container loads is $4 per Fermenter in Shipping to get it from China to Australia. The labour cost in Australia is more then $4 for the production of the tank alone. In addition to that the older models of fermenter had the stainless steel stand, dump valve, raw resin, stickers and carboard cartons shipped from China to get packed with the tank and items like the stainless stands were quite bulky. As a result we would still have this high shipping cost for all this other stuff anyway so this would offset the benefits of blow moulding locally in Australia.

Furthermore the FermZilla are getting shipped all over the world. If you are looking at international shipping and want to ship something from Australia to Europe or America it will often go via Asia. So the shipping from Australia to Europe or America is generally more expensive than from China to Europe or America. As a result this strengthens the business case to have the FermZilla's manufactured in China.

Lastly in China we have access to far better access to quality engineering in the plastics industry, tooling, machinery manufactures and raw materials. So this makes it much faster to build and get a new plant up and running.

So yes it simply makes sense for us to manufacture the FermZilla in China for these reasons above. It would have been nice to manufacture in Australia but in order to make a more feature rich product with better stand, better dump valve, use better quality raw materials, more features in the collection container, lid etc. and still sell the product at the same price it would be very difficult to achieve this manufacturing the product in Australia.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Why not just install a screw in fitting? Then the customer can screw in a hose barb, duotight, or anything else that takes their fancy.

Yes we did consider using the MFL thread instead. I guess the only issue with that is that the MFL thread is a bit more expensive to make than a duotight compatible barb. Also for customers who really want the least cost option the MFL thread also requires the cost of the swivel nut and barb tail while the duotight compatible barb you can slip a hose over the barb directly so we thought the duotight compatible barb was the slightly better option

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Yes I understand all of this Have watched the video on setting up the kegerator 3 times now and picked up my kegerator on Friday.

But I guess my question still remains, can you use the duotight fittings on the current barb? So the kegerator that I picked up on Friday has the traditional barb on the shank, will KL07481 as per the instructional video still fit and work if I wanted to swap them over, or do I need to wait for the new shank/barb?

Also, just as a suggestion, but think you probably will be anyway, you talk about the 7 in one tool in the video but the 5 in one tool is included. You should change so you include the new 7 in one tool.

Eitherway, loving pouring beers from the kegerator!

Sorry. I think i missed part of your original question. If you have the traditional barb type you the duotight fitting will not work well. I did actually try this myself and it seemed to seal but to be honest it's not designed for this application so it may not be a reliable solution and as a result we would not recommend it. To use the duotight fitting on the shank like this video you really need to make sure you have the duotight compatible shanks:


Yes the 7 in 1 tool is also going to be included in the near future. Within the next 5-6 weeks all the kegerators will have the new duotight compatible stuff, the 7 in 1 tool as well.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

@KegLand-com-au when will your order tracking actually work?

Still shows my September 2018 order as processing even though it's been picked up.
And order page says you'll send a link to be able to track the order but only a confirmation is sent - no tracking link.
I have to assume you'll stick to your 4 business hours and drive down to pick it up in the hope you do.
If tracking gave processing then ready, I'd know for sure.

1. Yes if you log into your account on the web once the order is placed it will say "processing" and the status will not change. This basically means the order has been passed over from the website to our accounting and dispatch software. Whenever you place an order with us as soon as the order is placed picked and packed it will sync with our accounting and dispatch software and a PDF invoice is generated and emailed to you. So if you chose to have the parcel shipped the tracking number and courier details will be on the bottom left corner of your PDF invoice that is emailed to you.

2. If you chose to pick the goods up during the checkout process all orders will be picked and packed with 4 business hours of the order being paid for by credit card. In the vast majority of instances the order will be ready for pickup in less than 1 business hour. The 24/7 pickup locker system is also really coming along well and I think this will be soon working. This means you can place an order the pickup after work. I know a lot of your guys brew on the weekend and it's difficult to pickup orders during normal business hours so we really hope you guys are able to take advantage of the 24/7 pickup system that is almost finished.

With pickup orders the system is slightly different. Once the order is available for pickup you will get emailed an invoice and on the bottom left and corner of the invoice it will have your locker number and a pass code for your locker. It's taken a while for us to complete all this as it's all customer built software and hardware.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

@KegLand-com-au Make the boil proof fermenter an option not an "upgrade" so $130 for a 27Ltr pet bottle kit or $230 for boil proof kit. I'd buy the boil proof btw, and probably in both sizes, BUT if I have to pay twice, once for the pet and then pay again for the boil proof "upgrade" it becomes a different ball game. Just my 2c worth. Luv yer work, cheers G

Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it. We will take this into consideration. We might just have to have 4 different models instead of 2 as you have suggested.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Thanks for checking for me, much appreciated! What a bugger that is... I might have an interim plan though.

I have always been a bit concerned about putting heat into the main surface where yeast is sitting. Does this concern you at all? You don't think you would be better off just getting a much cheaper heating wrap instead?

When I first started brewing I used to have a flat bottom fermenter and used a heating mat underneath the yeast cake and I was convinced that this gave me Vegemite tasting beers. Why not just put heat into the cylindrical part of the fermenter rather than the cone and avoid this risk?

 

[goatchop41]

@KegLand-com-au when will your order tracking actually work?

Still shows my September 2018 order as processing even though it's been picked up.
And order page says you'll send a link to be able to track the order but only a confirmation is sent - no tracking link.
I have to assume you'll stick to your 4 business hours and drive down to pick it up in the hope you do.
If tracking gave processing then ready, I'd know for sure.

They do have tracking though...
Both orders that I have done through KL may not have changed on the website (in My Account), but with both I have gotten an email when it has been shipped, with a tracking number for the package.
You've stated that you picked up your previous order - why on earth would you expect to get any specific tracking info for it? Any reasonable person would understand that tracking would refer to tracking of a shipped package. Plus you get an email to say that it is ready for pickup...

 

[altone]

They do have tracking though...
Both orders that I have done through KL may not have changed on the website (in My Account), but with both I have gotten an email when it has been shipped, with a tracking number for the package.
You've stated that you picked up your previous order - why on earth would you expect to get any specific tracking info for it? Any reasonable person would understand that tracking would refer to tracking of a shipped package. Plus you get an email to say that it is ready for pickup...

Yes thanks @KegLand-com-au and @goatchop41 for the replies.
When I said tracking I meant online order status tracking not delivery tracking - sorry for not being clear.

While KL have emailed an Invoice with pickup details, picked and packed quickly, it would be useful to have meaningful order status information online as many other suppliers do.

 

[adoom]

@KegLand-com-au
I think it's already been mentioned before, but what are the chances of getting a "Wish list" added to the site?
I've tried adding stuff I want to basket but it eventually times out. I'm assuming it's due to automated stock controls etc.
I can't speak for everyone, but it would result in me buying more stuff as I wouldn't need to go digging to find everything again.

 

[Nullnvoid]

@KegLand-com-au
I think it's already been mentioned before, but what are the chances of getting a "Wish list" added to the site?
I've tried adding stuff I want to basket but it eventually times out. I'm assuming it's due to automated stock controls etc.
I can't speak for everyone, but it would result in me buying more stuff as I wouldn't need to go digging to find everything again.

Yeah I have created a tab on my brewing spreadsheet for the items I want as they are releasing new stuff all the time and I will forget when I have money. Having it on their site would be heaps betterer.

 

[stevodevo]

@KegLand-com-au
I think it's already been mentioned before, but what are the chances of getting a "Wish list" added to the site?
I've tried adding stuff I want to basket but it eventually times out. I'm assuming it's due to automated stock controls etc.
I can't speak for everyone, but it would result in me buying more stuff as I wouldn't need to go digging to find everything again.

I agree a wish list would be great, but do you log in before adding items to your cart? It may eventually time out, but I've been building up my current cart this way for what feels like at least 2-3 weeks and it's still all there every time I leave and come back. From time to time I'll get a notification to say something is currently out of stock when I go back into the cart, but everything is still there, and out of stock items are un-flagged when they come back in stock. I don't know that it won't eventually clear out though.

One thing worth noting though. I think you need to ensure you log in first before adding anything new to an existing cart. If you add one item (from a guest session after cookies/cart have cleared), then log in, I recall it replaces the old cart in your account with the new items. I'm not 100% sure, but that's what I recall happening a couple of times. I can't confirm that now because I have a very full cart I don't find it to be an inconvenience doing it this way.

Anyway, yeah a wish list would be great but I thought I'd share the method I use in case it helps in the meantime.

 

[adoom]

I agree a wish list would be great, but do you log in before adding items to your cart? It may eventually time out, but I've been building up my current cart this way for what feels like at least 2-3 weeks and it's still all there every time I leave and come back. From time to time I'll get a notification to say something is currently out of stock when I go back into the cart, but everything is still there, and out of stock items are un-flagged when they come back in stock. I don't know that it won't eventually clear out though.

One thing worth noting though. I think you need to ensure you log in first before adding anything new to an existing cart. If you add one item (from a guest session after cookies/cart have cleared), then log in, I recall it replaces the old cart in your account with the new items. I'm not 100% sure, but that's what I recall happening a couple of times. I can't confirm that now because I have a very full cart I don't find it to be an inconvenience doing it this way.

Anyway, yeah a wish list would be great but I thought I'd share the method I use in case it helps in the meantime.

Interesting tip, I can't recall if I was logged in or not (probably not by the sound of it) but the cart emptied within the hour.

 

[Engibeer]

The float needs to be clean and without burrs on it. Can you please email us some photos of the ball and the setup. From the image attached it looks like you have it attached to a PET bottle. Not sure how this is working. You need to have enough pressure being applied to the tank/bottle so that the pressure pushed the ball up and stops the flow.

We have not heard of any issues with this device and I still use this device quite a lot myself. I generally fill the first part of the keg under some pressure. Once I have about 1-2 liters of beer in the keg. If I do this while the keg has some head pressure then this will prevent beer splashing and foaming up as i continue to fill. After I have about 1.5liters of beer in the keg I open the pressure release valve and the keg fills perfectly every time.

The beer was carbonated in the kegmenter to 15psi, I transferred it to the dispensing vessel with only a slight pressure differential, but once the keg was full the duotight flow stopper leaked.

See the video on youtube for my example with the PET bottle:



I connected it to the PET bottle for testing as I didn't want to wait until another keg was filled. Essentially this is replicating the liquid level reaching the bottom of the gas in dip tube.

I pressurised the PET bottle to 15psi and then screwed the spunding valve all the way in. I then slowly wound the spunding valve out to allow flow.

It looks like the flow stopper won't work under a pressure of 15psi, even if the spunding valve is only just cracked enough to allow flow.

The float ball is clean, but has a slight seam on it from manufacturing.