Tap King product ending

[SBOB]

Email just came announcing the end of the tap king product line.. Consider it cost more than buying the same beer by the case it doesn't surprise me..

Email below


Noble Kings, it is with a heavy heart that the Royal Council announces the end of the Tap Kingdom. The pleasure of draught beer in the comfort of your own castle was enjoyed by many, but unfortunately the time has come to discontinue Tap King and bid thee farewell.

Since launching Tap King in 2013, we have appreciated the unwavering loyalty of our Kings and Queens, and have delighted in the many experiences you have shared of one’s enjoyment of draught beer at home.

However, ultimately sales have not met expectations and the Royal Council has had to make the most difficult of decisions and stop supplying stockists. We recognise this will disappoint many of you which we greatly regret, but we hope you will always remember your time as a King or Queen most fondly.

 

[crowmanz]

I think them cutting out XXXX Gold and the other staple beers didn't help either. I know I facebook a lot of the diehards were those that enjoyed having Gold/New/etc "on tap".

 

[Yob]

good ******* riddance to bad rubbish

 

[SixStar]

Sad news, I use mine for home brewing all the time. Time to pick up a few spares.

 

[Bridges]

Should have let other breweries play and let more interesting beers through, could have been a different story...

 

[DU99]

now we will see people trying to sell off these units

 

[welly2]

Having XXXX/etc. on tap at home is like taking your Maccas home and sticking it on a plate. What was actually on offer aside from Gold etc.? A couple of James Squires varieties. They were clearly targeting the wrong people - what Gold drinker cares if they're drinking out of a can or a bottle at home? It's not difficult to see how it went wrong.

 

[crowmanz]

Having XXXX/etc. on tap at home is like taking your Maccas home and sticking it on a plate. What was actually on offer aside from Gold etc.? A couple of James Squires varieties. They were clearly targeting the wrong people - what Gold drinker cares if they're drinking out of a can or a bottle at home? It's not difficult to see how it went wrong.

I think the Gold drinker tried it and realised that drinking from a glass instead of from a can/bottle makes the beer taste better, however they probably thought it was due to the tap king product and not simply drinking from a glass.

They had JS Golden, 150 lashes, Hanh super dry, james boags, new, extra dry and gold. they axed all but the JS beers mid last year and added the JS summer ale. see the comments about how missed the xxxx gold is here https://www.brewsnews.com.au/2015/07/tap-king-axes-classic-beers/

 

[Dave70]

Good news! If you enjoy pointless beer related gimmicks, the Japanese have got you covered!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeoI5WKDVc4

 

[SixStar]

Surprised by all the hate. I've turned mine into an awesome home brewing machine and have draught beer on tap in the fridge in the house. The wife doesn't complain and it works really well.

Easy to take apart, clean, recharge and fill with brew. I let mine carb in the tap king bottle and when that's low the dispenser takes over.

Won't be so easy anymore.

 

[klangers]

It hits me a bit harder than most because I put months and months of hard work into making that packaging line work. It took an enormous amount of effort for us to bring the efficiency high enough to meet consumer demand, but by that stage it was too late.

Like many other corporate woes, the Tapking was doomed to failure by the fact that Lion prioritises marketing over making beer. The marketing department had decided on a release date and insisted on this date despite the operations team continually telling them that this date was far too early. What then happened is that the whole brand spanking packaging line was rushed through tender, design, installation and commissioning and surprise surprise - it performed like **** and consequently didn't meet (initial) consumer demand. Quality issues plagued the line and unsurprisingly this pissed off punters, many of whom stopped buying the product.

I then got involved in the line to try and improve the efficiency. With a few investments and adjustments, we did indeed improve the line efficiency. We looked at a $6 million project to further increase the capacity of the line to meet sales forecasts from marketing. Halfway through the project, the huge sales forecasts never materialised (who would have thought) and the capacity expansion was scrapped with hundreds of thousands of $ wasted.

So by this stage in the saga, we have a one-of-a-kind bottling line working well, but no one to buy the product. Lion didn't really know what to do at this stage, because their usual method of fancy marketing didn't work. A few half-hearted attempts at changing the products in the Tapking didn't make a difference and here we are today.

The reasons why it failed, I believe, are:

• Lion missed their market and pulled the gimmick angle and never clearly explained why the beer was better than bottle beer, since it was substantially more expensive
  There is a significant flavour advantage because Tapking beer is flash pasteurised rather than tunnel pasteurised, and this was never mentioned
• I could clearly see this as the demand matched typical gimmick products - sales peaks at Father's day, Christmas and sometimes NRL grand finals

[*]The bottling line was rushed through design, tender, installation and commissioning which meant that the first product to market were of poor quality
[*]The design of the cap/dispenser system is astoundingly bad.

• The caps are so complicated that they must be made by hand - $$. The overall design places the CO2 bulb in the cap, meaning that the punter cannot get a sodastream bottle or the like to plug in - $$.
• The worst thing, however, is the dispenser. Like anyone with kegs will know, a foam-free pour relies on low turbulence and a gradual pressure drop (all about keeping that CO2 in solution). A 20mm long, 5mm tube is woefully insufficient. There is no way to change "kegs" without completely losing all the CO2 from one.

If I were Lion I would have resdesigned the whole arrangement a long time ago so that consumers could just buy beer in 3.2L bottles. The dispenser would allow external CO2 cylinders to be attached (eg sodastream or other very small ones) and have a controllable back pressure. The beer line would be balanced to stop excessive foaming. Then, the beer itself would be cheaper (very basic cap) but the dispenser more expensive. At least the product would actually work AND consumers could put any beer they want in there.

It's rather saddening for me.

 

[///]

My brewery supplier was asked to take part in the tender as he had done similar in the US for one of the big boys

When he looked at the time frames and demands from upstairs he backed away and wished them the best of luck

Working with both sides, sadly it will be a long time (if ever) the big houses in Oz understand the concept of fresh beer. Economizing the wort stream and demanding brite pasturiser beer is just poles apart from small guys like me who want maximum hop and malt flavor with the lowest intervention possible. Thankfully our customers also now expect this and happy for a bit of haze

With all that marketing prowess the big houses cannot still cannot figure out fresh beer and why their market share is falling, ain't my problem

 

[Toper]

My local BWS staff got a deal on the remaining stock,$2 per dispenser and $5 per beer,probably the only time the price was right. :lol:

 

[barls]

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2016/01/lion-dethrones-tap-king-dispenser/

 

[nosco]

Went to a few local bws to try and get some as i have a despenser that i used once. Nothing on special but one did give me 2 for 40 and a free despenser. Another store was sold out.

 

[Mardoo]

Jump on those gift cards!

 

[Crusty]

I want to buy a modded one if anyone has one or two to offload

 

[SixStar]

I want to buy a modded one if anyone has one or two to offload

I don't recommend this. You can follow the directions from tap King hacked website but I found the parts to be too brittle.

It's much easier to just get am the right screw driver and replace the co2 cartridges
You can get them on eBay

I carb in the tap King bottle with 8 coopers drops. The my new c02 is ready to go when it's time. Of course clean everything well and disassemble before you do all that.

But don't bother modding (external regulator) the thing. That's my opinion.

 

[Crusty]

I don't recommend this. You can follow the directions from tap King hacked website but I found the parts to be too brittle.

It's much easier to just get am the right screw driver and replace the co2 cartridges
You can get them on eBay

I carb in the tap King bottle with 8 coopers drops. The my new c02 is ready to go when it's time. Of course clean everything well and disassemble before you do all that.

But don't bother modding (external regulator) the thing. That's my opinion.

How have you done yours.

 

[Feldon]

Jump on those gift cards!

According to the news article linked by Barls (above), to get the $30 Visa gift card refund for the Tap King dispenser unit you must mail the unit to Lion in an authorised satchel.

To get the satchel you have to contact Lion direct, but I could find nothing related to this refund on the company website.

Looking around the web I found this email address that can be used to contact Lion to ask for a satchel to be sent to your address (note: haven't tried it myself yet).

[email protected]

Edit: If you can find the dispenser units being run out at retailers for a substantial discount you could make a killing.