King Keg

[wide eyed and legless]

Duplicating this post from Guinness Style Carbonation thread.
Getting a cask style pour and stout from a keg, these are popular overseas in pubs, they are a throw away keg with only a single use. But this one bags are easily replaced and cheap, the bag in the keg is what holds the beer, pressure is then pumped in through a picnic pump putting pressure on the bag enabling the pour.
So forgoing the cost and setting up of a beer engine this is a good alternative. The bags are oxygen free so a transfer from the fermenter to the keg will give an almost O2 free transfer.
Transfer from the Apollo into the King Keg with just a bit of top pressure on the Apollo.

No priming, just the dissolved CO2 at 2C. First pour after 27 days in the keg

After 14 weeks in the keg still as good if not better than the day I first tried it, wouldn't get a cask lasting so long. Yes I know I can add 1ATM of CO2 to a cask but with some fluctuations in temperature the dissolved CO2 could rise. Still a few minor things to iron out but very happy with the results.

 

[RobB]

Do you have a link for replacement bags and a photo of your dispensing set up for these?

 

[MHB]

Looks like the perfect solution to serving beer with the classic hand pulled look and flavour.

I'm not a fan of Nitro; it guts the beer suppressing a lot of hop and yeast flavours.
There would be no problem using CO2 to pour (it isn’t mixing with the beer) and should give very much the same pour as a pump. As mentioned above no O2 uptake. The other thing I like is, as with KeyKegs, these are drawing the beer from the top; any trub will have plenty of time to settle and won’t be seen until the keg is empty.
Looks like a fantastic solution
Mark

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Do you have a link for replacement bags and a photo of your dispensing set up for these?

Replacement bag is $10 that includes the cap.

I have a push in fitting on the air in and another on the pump saves having the pump fitted to the keg.

Almost finished the keg this will be one of my last pours.

 

[RobB]

Thanks. None of my attempts to imitate casks with standard kegs have really worked.

 

[fifis101]

The bags are such a good idea.
I'm assuming you could replace a CO2 cylinder with a keg pressurised with air if you wanted to.

 

[crowmanz]

Not up on the kegking website? How do we obtain one? Call em up and whisper sweet nothings?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

The bags are such a good idea.
I'm assuming you could replace a CO2 cylinder with a keg pressurised with air if you wanted to.

Or even a bicycle pump, could easily adapted.

Not up on the kegking website? How do we obtain one? Call em up and whisper sweet nothings?

As I mentioned it is a, 'King Keg' really made for the commercial market, they come either with a bag or filled with nitrogen, wasn't really made with homebrewers in mind just commercial breweries and wineries. Just that it opens up an avenue for home brewers who would like a cask ale with the only difference being the dispensing.
You could ring Keg King and get more detail if you can't get into the shop, but don't forget the sweet nothings.

 

[crowmanz]

Or even a bicycle pump, could easily adapted.


As I mentioned it is a, 'King Keg' really made for the commercial market, they come either with a bag or filled with nitrogen, wasn't really made with homebrewers in mind just commercial breweries and wineries. Just that it opens up an avenue for home brewers who would like a cask ale with the only difference being the dispensing.
You could ring Keg King and get more detail if you can't get into the shop, but don't forget the sweet nothings.

Just seems odd they haven't put it on the website when they have the king kegs including A and D type on the website (including the wholesale pallet rate). Best brush up on the sweet nothings talk then.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Just seems odd they haven't put it on the website when they have the king kegs including A and D type on the website (including the wholesale pallet rate). Best brush up on the sweet nothings talk then.

Try this one.
https://www.kingkeg.com.au/I am happy drinking a beer at 11 to 14 C which is ideal during the winter and just having the keg outside. Come summer there will be a new cooling system covering a bigger surface area than the usual coil but more on that later.

 

[S.E]

The name may cause confusion if these are to be sold in the UK?

King Keg is also a leading homebrew pressure barrel in the Uk and have been for many years. They were one of, if not the first to introduce the floating dip tube.

Try googling “King Keg UK”

King Keg Pressure Barrels Equipment Barreling Equipment Home Brew K,Home Brew Kits

 

[Barleycorn Brewer]

Try this one.
https://www.kingkeg.com.au/I am happy drinking a beer at 11 to 14 C which is ideal during the winter and just having the keg outside. Come summer there will be a new cooling system covering a bigger surface area than the usual coil but more on that later.

I am ready to fill my keg, any tips of what I should look out for?

 

[billygoat]

The name may cause confusion if these are to be sold in the UK?

King Keg is also a leading homebrew pressure barrel in the Uk and have been for many years. They were one of, if not the first to introduce the floating dip tube.

Try googeling “King Keg UK”

King Keg Pressure Barrels Equipment Barreling Equipment Home Brew K,Home Brew Kits

Been drinking a Hobgoblin clone from a King Keg pressure barrel over the last couple of weeks.
Brought it back from the UK a couple of years ago.

 

[S.E]

Been drinking a Hobgoblin clone from a King Keg pressure barrel over the last couple of weeks.
Brought it back from the UK a couple of years ago.

I brought my pressure barrels from the UK when I moved here but they were a bit old, the seals and taps were leaking and I couldn’t get spares here so used no chill cubes as casks instead.

There was an old thread on here about it at the time. The whole idea caused a bit of an upset at the time as some folk thought fermenting under any sort of pressure in plastic would be extremely dangerous for some reason. How times have changed, seems everyone these days are fermenting under pressure in PET.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

The name may cause confusion if these are to be sold in the UK?

King Keg is also a leading homebrew pressure barrel in the Uk and have been for many years. They were one of, if not the first to introduce the floating dip tube.

Try googling “King Keg UK”

King Keg Pressure Barrels Equipment Barreling Equipment Home Brew K,Home Brew Kits

I think there may be quite a few disposable keg manufacturers in Europe and they are similar to Key Kegs with a bag so I can't see the point of shipping pallet loads of kegs into Europe. As I mentioned it is a commercial keg after all.
I don't know how many home brewers here would use it, I just saw it as a tool in the home brewers arsenal which could eliminate the need for a beer engine which are expensive, setting them up with demand valve, casks or polypins. For me this is a so simple way to enjoy an ale with cask style pour.

I am ready to fill my keg, any tips of what I should look out for?

Yes one thing I did which I won't do next time. I filled the keg at 2C, I removed the coupler and let the temperature come up to 15C. Engaging the coupler at that temperature I lost some CO2 from the bag as the temperature had allowed the dissolved CO2 to come out of the beer. Luckily it didn't make any difference but I prefer to be in control of the carbonation of the beer.
So leave the couple engaged.

 

[S.E]

I don't know how many home brewers here would use it

I would have thought they would be very appealing to home brewers especially casual brewers that don’t brew a lot and don’t want or need a keg setup.

I see you are filling yours carbonated from a pressure fermenter with O2 free transfer but is there any reason they couldn’t be filled and primed to carb in the keg?

 

[clickeral]

Just need to find a cheap hand pump option to go with it

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I would have thought they would be very appealing to home brewers especially casual brewers that don’t brew a lot and don’t want or need a keg setup.

I see you are filling yours carbonated from a pressure fermenter with O2 free transfer but is there any reason they couldn’t be filled and primed to carb in the keg?

Well I prefer bottle or cask conditioned beers. Though I use an Apollo to ferment in I don't pressure ferment. I like the Apollo because I can fit a sample tap into it. The dissolved CO2 isn't introduced by any other means other than the drop in temperature. That was my initial thought to introduce just a bit of sugar like I would with a beer engine but there really is no need. If I was to carbonate the beer I would have to add the sugar to the fermenter. But even losing some of the CO2 when connecting the coupler there was still enough carbonation give a great pour.
I have never liked overly carbonated drinks, and its interesting to read that humans are the only animal that does. Something to do with chemesthesis so I have found another reason I may be a few rungs down the evolutionary ladder.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Just need to find a cheap hand pump option to go with it

No need for a hand pump, I just have the Ultra Tap with a stout spout. The air compressing the liquid in the bag is what forces it out.
I will be trying an English bitter next time.

 

[S.E]

If I was to carbonate the beer I would have to add the sugar to the fermenter.

Ah ok. I thought you were pressure fermenting. But why do you say “If I was to carbonate the beer I would have to add the sugar to the fermenter”?

Is there any reason you couldn’t add sugar to the keg? That was the point I was making, that these would be great if you don’t have co2 as you could prime the keg then serve with a bicycle pump or whatever without Oxygen coming in contact with the beer.