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Lion introduces "Tap King" - party keg / growlers
- Thread starter Liam_snorkel
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Got the 12g cartridges from ezycharges. So far it seems to work ok. Poured a few bottles of my HB into an empty TK, and I've attached some photos. Hope to carb my next brew in a few of these bottles in the coming weeks.Captain Morgan said:
Captain Morgan
Well-Known Member
Oh, that made me thirsty! haha. Looks goodjorni said:
keg guy
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Hi Guys,
Totally new to this or any other forum so please be patient while I catch on.
I have been reading with interest the comments related to the 3.2 L Tap King.
In the factory where these bottles are made they are known as “Kegs”
Some info that may be of interest, as I understand it
The bottles are filled at the brewery between 2.8 and 3.2 volume, dependant on variety and how close they can hold there targets.
Dispensing pressure is between 10 and 12 PSI
The on board CO2 is to keep the head space in the bottle stable during dispensing only.
Are the bottles suitable for reuse?
Can they handle forced carbonation pressures?
I'm sure some of you intend to find out.
Another interesting point is, the bottles are multi layered; that's to say they are PET on the inside and outside surfaces but nylon is sandwiched between. Nylon has much better barrier properties against oxygen and CO2, this is good news for HBer's
Personally I struggle with the idea of HB in PET, it's fine if the turnover is high but.....
The Keg Guy
Totally new to this or any other forum so please be patient while I catch on.
I have been reading with interest the comments related to the 3.2 L Tap King.
In the factory where these bottles are made they are known as “Kegs”
Some info that may be of interest, as I understand it
The bottles are filled at the brewery between 2.8 and 3.2 volume, dependant on variety and how close they can hold there targets.
Dispensing pressure is between 10 and 12 PSI
The on board CO2 is to keep the head space in the bottle stable during dispensing only.
Are the bottles suitable for reuse?
Can they handle forced carbonation pressures?
I'm sure some of you intend to find out.
Another interesting point is, the bottles are multi layered; that's to say they are PET on the inside and outside surfaces but nylon is sandwiched between. Nylon has much better barrier properties against oxygen and CO2, this is good news for HBer's
Personally I struggle with the idea of HB in PET, it's fine if the turnover is high but.....
The Keg Guy
Beerisyummy
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Just bought one and want to keep up to date with peoples progress.
Some points I can add;
-The unit works well at holding temp for an hour or so if you use a decent insulator around the exposed bottle part.
- The recommended temp for serving preparation is similar to using yeast. Err on the low side for less funky results.
-Measure your fridge before you buy one on that premise. Mine doesn't fit in the kitchen fridge as it is too long.
HTH.
Some points I can add;
-The unit works well at holding temp for an hour or so if you use a decent insulator around the exposed bottle part.
- The recommended temp for serving preparation is similar to using yeast. Err on the low side for less funky results.
-Measure your fridge before you buy one on that premise. Mine doesn't fit in the kitchen fridge as it is too long.
HTH.
Beerisyummy
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After drinking the whole bottle last night just so I could pull it apart, I have a few questions ( and some advice I suppose).
Let me just start by saying that I don't advise drinking the whole 3.2L bottle in one sitting. I got up for an early morning training session at 5:00 and was onsite wearing my tool belt at 7:00. The hangover was fairly noticeable.
This got me thinking about the whole idea behind these bottles as a money spinner for Lion Nathan.
If they are a success short term, the marketing department has just worked out a way to charge more for less without the average punter feeling ripped off. Job done.
Further down the track it beats a path for larger session bottles for alcoholics. People that live day to day and have no sense for long term planning.
$18.50 for a 3.2L bottle of beer is an obvious winner for a pisshead looking for a quick fix ( as a six pack for $16-18 won't quite cut it) and this way the brewery can call on sensible drinkers for support. They just paid $30 odd dollars for the head unit and don't want the investment to go to waste.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that you can just unscrew the cap and pour a glass or seven. Heck, you could even just swig it from the bottle.
My gut feeling is that this is a very smart way for the breweries to get around many of the regulations that stop them doing what they want.
I remember when the Dry Dock in Balmain had happy hour for 2 hours, starting at 2pm, a couple of years back. $2 schooners and similar spirits prices.
It took 2 months for the licencing board to put a stop to it, but before then it was like Balmain used to be. People were knocking off of work early to get smashed and fights were pretty common, as was drink driving.
Good fun, but not allowed even though business was booming.
Moving on from my conspiracy theories, I'm still keen to adapt this system to a HB setup that keeps me stocked with fresh beer on tap for the average glass or two after work.
Questions;
- Which ezycharges bottle did people order? The Liss or Mosa?
-Can you buy these types of cartridges from a local shop, or are they a specialty item?
- Is 12g of CO2 enough to carbonate 3.2 litres of beer over a week at 1c? ( I would love a link to a calculator that can help here)
-Is there any reason why you couldn't just use one head unit for carbonating bottles and another for pouring?
-Has anyone pulled apart the regulator and can it be adjusted?
Let me just start by saying that I don't advise drinking the whole 3.2L bottle in one sitting. I got up for an early morning training session at 5:00 and was onsite wearing my tool belt at 7:00. The hangover was fairly noticeable.
This got me thinking about the whole idea behind these bottles as a money spinner for Lion Nathan.
If they are a success short term, the marketing department has just worked out a way to charge more for less without the average punter feeling ripped off. Job done.
Further down the track it beats a path for larger session bottles for alcoholics. People that live day to day and have no sense for long term planning.
$18.50 for a 3.2L bottle of beer is an obvious winner for a pisshead looking for a quick fix ( as a six pack for $16-18 won't quite cut it) and this way the brewery can call on sensible drinkers for support. They just paid $30 odd dollars for the head unit and don't want the investment to go to waste.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that you can just unscrew the cap and pour a glass or seven. Heck, you could even just swig it from the bottle.
My gut feeling is that this is a very smart way for the breweries to get around many of the regulations that stop them doing what they want.
I remember when the Dry Dock in Balmain had happy hour for 2 hours, starting at 2pm, a couple of years back. $2 schooners and similar spirits prices.
It took 2 months for the licencing board to put a stop to it, but before then it was like Balmain used to be. People were knocking off of work early to get smashed and fights were pretty common, as was drink driving.
Good fun, but not allowed even though business was booming.
Moving on from my conspiracy theories, I'm still keen to adapt this system to a HB setup that keeps me stocked with fresh beer on tap for the average glass or two after work.
Questions;
- Which ezycharges bottle did people order? The Liss or Mosa?
-Can you buy these types of cartridges from a local shop, or are they a specialty item?
- Is 12g of CO2 enough to carbonate 3.2 litres of beer over a week at 1c? ( I would love a link to a calculator that can help here)
-Is there any reason why you couldn't just use one head unit for carbonating bottles and another for pouring?
-Has anyone pulled apart the regulator and can it be adjusted?
rockofclay
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Yep, you can even get tap king stubbie holders on ebayBeerisyummy said:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tap-King-Stubbie-Holder-/271267125669?pt=AU_Breweriana&hash=item3f28c7d9a5&_uhb=1
Beerisyummy
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And all for the bargain price of $50. How does that line go?rockofclay said:
"tell him he's dreaming".
drchickins
New Member
hi fellas,
happay fathers day!.
ok so yes. i got myself a tapking. happy. not sure! but i managed to pore myself a glass of fome first up like most people i realise have reported. got alot of guggeling and thought something was wrong.......
of course i thought id see was wrong myself! and momentarily undetached the key STOPPP!(yes i know your thinking!. oh what a dumb ass! but 4 beers in we thought it was a good idea...and not knowing how the unit worked!.. look i know my way around a key! thought there was a leak............only to find 2 beers into the tapKing i couldnt pore anymore). not to worry us! beer lovers know how to get into a bottle like a monkey knows how to steal a torists wallet. still i felt alittle pissed. but now i got it sorted! all good.
now id like to point out i have a full home brew setup, korney keys and a keg king fridge for my full grain setup. so its not like i'm a total noob. but man i tell ya. reading this forum.. and wading through the posts........plenty of people doing the old whining about this product! but on the up side good to see people are inbracing this. love the old beer geeks hacking this stuff.
personally if i'm doing a 22 ltr brew, 19ltr in the corny and the 3ltrs in the tapking that i could bring to my mates to whann-kin off about how good my HB is. id say the small outlay for the tap is way worth it.
i think the disapointing thing is having to read the heap of beer snobs saying. "Oh golden ale isnt good enough for my plete" so what!. becuase i only drink something with and ibu of 25-60 or higher, becuase i you know what hops are, and you drink your beer in wine glass and sniff it alot....... give us a break you hipsters. grow a beard and havest your yeast from it. its still a good premis.
Id like to congratulate Lion for putting themselves out on the line for this product! look in a world where coles and woolies own 90% of pubs and there trying to make somthing we can bring home, and hack for homebrew. hell yeah! (oh wait Lion! evil corperation that forces us to drink bad beer! oh your probably blogging from you iphone but i guess thats fashionable) i can see this going britty far if people imbrace this. sure beer selection is limited ATM but i'm sure that will grow. if homebrewers can use this its a bonus for us. look i know lion are part of a huge food group but i think this is a great move for home brew. and if your from Lion reading this blog! dont worry i'll still by your beer espessially in this format. even if it dosnt meet the sleave tatoo hipster requirment of hoppyness. just give us some wider selections. and like Coopers did! invest in the homebrewing comutity because there the ones that really push the beer market. we dont all homebrew 100%!
anyway happy dday..
look forward to the upcoming post to see what people have done with this.
happay fathers day!.
ok so yes. i got myself a tapking. happy. not sure! but i managed to pore myself a glass of fome first up like most people i realise have reported. got alot of guggeling and thought something was wrong.......
of course i thought id see was wrong myself! and momentarily undetached the key STOPPP!(yes i know your thinking!. oh what a dumb ass! but 4 beers in we thought it was a good idea...and not knowing how the unit worked!.. look i know my way around a key! thought there was a leak............only to find 2 beers into the tapKing i couldnt pore anymore). not to worry us! beer lovers know how to get into a bottle like a monkey knows how to steal a torists wallet. still i felt alittle pissed. but now i got it sorted! all good.
now id like to point out i have a full home brew setup, korney keys and a keg king fridge for my full grain setup. so its not like i'm a total noob. but man i tell ya. reading this forum.. and wading through the posts........plenty of people doing the old whining about this product! but on the up side good to see people are inbracing this. love the old beer geeks hacking this stuff.
personally if i'm doing a 22 ltr brew, 19ltr in the corny and the 3ltrs in the tapking that i could bring to my mates to whann-kin off about how good my HB is. id say the small outlay for the tap is way worth it.
i think the disapointing thing is having to read the heap of beer snobs saying. "Oh golden ale isnt good enough for my plete" so what!. becuase i only drink something with and ibu of 25-60 or higher, becuase i you know what hops are, and you drink your beer in wine glass and sniff it alot....... give us a break you hipsters. grow a beard and havest your yeast from it. its still a good premis.
Id like to congratulate Lion for putting themselves out on the line for this product! look in a world where coles and woolies own 90% of pubs and there trying to make somthing we can bring home, and hack for homebrew. hell yeah! (oh wait Lion! evil corperation that forces us to drink bad beer! oh your probably blogging from you iphone but i guess thats fashionable) i can see this going britty far if people imbrace this. sure beer selection is limited ATM but i'm sure that will grow. if homebrewers can use this its a bonus for us. look i know lion are part of a huge food group but i think this is a great move for home brew. and if your from Lion reading this blog! dont worry i'll still by your beer espessially in this format. even if it dosnt meet the sleave tatoo hipster requirment of hoppyness. just give us some wider selections. and like Coopers did! invest in the homebrewing comutity because there the ones that really push the beer market. we dont all homebrew 100%!
anyway happy dday..
look forward to the upcoming post to see what people have done with this.
pressure_tested
Well-Known Member
Read your whole rant. Happy Father's Day mate!
Guysmiley54
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I read it all too, sounds like you've been emptying a few Lion Nathan filled TK kegs to make room for your own HB. Nice one 
Guysmiley54
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Has anyone actually confirmed that the Ezychargers are foodsafe? The site claims that they are 100% pure, is that reassurance enough?
Guysmiley54
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Just got this response back from Ezychargers:
How do you guys feel about that? Is there any real concern here?
ash2
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Why do they use Co2 for inflating tyres,could be a difference in written English here between Australia & china .Guysmiley54 said:
Just as a tangent here, 1 of my workers suggested using nitrogen cartridges as they do with Guinness.Should produce a creamier longer lasting head.( WHO DOESN'T LIKE A CREAMIER LONGER LASTING HEAD )
keg guy
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Hi All,
Been playing with the TK dispenser and some of you may be happy to know the internal regulator is adjustable, by how much I'm unsure. A reliable source informed me they are factory set to around 11 PSI, yet to test this with a descent gauge.
Remove the top cover (4 screws underneath) and the regulator is clearly visible, the white device at the top.
Regulator
The adjustment cap is the part with the vertical ribs, finger grips.
The locking device hooks onto a short shaft sticking out of the top centre of the adjustment cap and when in place clips into the under edge of the adjustment cap.
To adjust the regulator take a small blade screwdriver and GENTLY force / lift the the top of the locking device off the short shaft. Place the tip of the screw driver between the parts and apply a twisting motion to separate them, seemed to do the trick for me. Be careful it can launch off, put you hand over it to keep it contained.
Dismantled reguator
This opens up some interesting options...
Can you set-up one TK at carbonation pressure and a second one for dispensing, click click ready to go??
I have a kegerator so I can just fill from the tap, change the CO2 cylinder and head for the BBQ.
For those of you less fortunate, if you have to use those pesky little cylinders for charging they simply have to be attached from the outside and preferably 2 at a time.
We need someone's help with the internal CO2 plumbing, come on you engineering types get involved. How do we get CO2 hopefully from a decent cylinder into the system.
A second project I'm looking at is a disk that can go inside the cap after removing the current innards.
It mounts at the 4 small screw holes (with 3 mm SS cap screws not the triangle ones) and has a ¼ BSP tapped hole where the internal gas gas bottle would normally be seen, hook up the gas and charge in the bottle.
The underside has a step to allow reuse the current rubber seal.
There seem to be some questions related to the pressure these bottles can hold. Firstly they are made for single use but so are twist tops and look how many of those are in faithful service for the HBer.
All I can say is sample bottles are regularly pressure tested at manufacture and are taken well beyond normal HB charging pressures. Keep in mind internal carbonation pressure is directly related to temperature so don't leave them in a hot location.
Keg Guy
Been playing with the TK dispenser and some of you may be happy to know the internal regulator is adjustable, by how much I'm unsure. A reliable source informed me they are factory set to around 11 PSI, yet to test this with a descent gauge.
Remove the top cover (4 screws underneath) and the regulator is clearly visible, the white device at the top.
Regulator
The adjustment cap is the part with the vertical ribs, finger grips.
The locking device hooks onto a short shaft sticking out of the top centre of the adjustment cap and when in place clips into the under edge of the adjustment cap.
To adjust the regulator take a small blade screwdriver and GENTLY force / lift the the top of the locking device off the short shaft. Place the tip of the screw driver between the parts and apply a twisting motion to separate them, seemed to do the trick for me. Be careful it can launch off, put you hand over it to keep it contained.
Dismantled reguator
This opens up some interesting options...
Can you set-up one TK at carbonation pressure and a second one for dispensing, click click ready to go??
I have a kegerator so I can just fill from the tap, change the CO2 cylinder and head for the BBQ.
For those of you less fortunate, if you have to use those pesky little cylinders for charging they simply have to be attached from the outside and preferably 2 at a time.
We need someone's help with the internal CO2 plumbing, come on you engineering types get involved. How do we get CO2 hopefully from a decent cylinder into the system.
A second project I'm looking at is a disk that can go inside the cap after removing the current innards.
It mounts at the 4 small screw holes (with 3 mm SS cap screws not the triangle ones) and has a ¼ BSP tapped hole where the internal gas gas bottle would normally be seen, hook up the gas and charge in the bottle.
The underside has a step to allow reuse the current rubber seal.
There seem to be some questions related to the pressure these bottles can hold. Firstly they are made for single use but so are twist tops and look how many of those are in faithful service for the HBer.
All I can say is sample bottles are regularly pressure tested at manufacture and are taken well beyond normal HB charging pressures. Keep in mind internal carbonation pressure is directly related to temperature so don't leave them in a hot location.
Keg Guy
pressure_tested
Well-Known Member
are the 16 gram food grade ones too big??Guysmiley54 said:
Beerisyummy
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I'm interested to know why the Finewhip site lists the same brand as food safe? They do seem to cost a fair bit more.Guysmiley54 said:
http://finewhip.cart.net.au/store/12g-un-threaded-keg-chargers-x-5-strong-food-grade-strong.html
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