Like you I am a lover of wine. I developed my interest in wine in university when my friends would host wine and cheese parties, which were not only fun because of the new people I met but also because of all of the different types of wine I was exposed to. 
My First Impressions Of The Tap-A-Draft Kegging System
July 8th, 2008 by
Scott Young
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I mentioned in my email last week that I purchased one of those Tap-A-Draft kegging systems for carbonating beer and wine coolers and here are some initial thoughts:
1) I like how it fits nicely in my fridge - not quite like a beer tap at the pub but close enough!
2) I’m a little disappointed in the level of carbonation that you get with the system to be perfectly honest. I like a little more “bubbly” in my beer and to me it tastes a little flat.
3) Each bottle contains the equivalent of 15 bottles of beer so I only have a pint once in a while. You need to add a new CO2 cartridge to dispense the beer and one thing I’ve noticed is that if you let the beer sit in the fridge for a few days between pours you lose the pressure and need to add another CO2 cartridge (this makes sense as the CO2 will dissolve into the beer). At $13 per package of 8 or so cartridges it gets pretty expensive as you are constantly putting in new cartridges.
To increase the level of carbonation in your beer you can “prime” the container by adding some sugar (i.e. as you would if carbonating your beer in the bottle), which is what I plan on trying next. Note that you need a special cap for the plastic bottle, which has a one-way valve so that the bottle doesn’t “blow up” if the pressure gets to be too large.
4) I actually did a taste test this evening where I tried the bottled version of the beer against the Tap-A-Draft version and I noticed that the bottled version had much nicer, creamy taste then the Tap-A-Draft, tasted a little more complex and definitely had more “fizz” to it.
(Note that I did enjoy both so perhaps I’m just being overly picky …
Anyhoo, just some quick thoughts for you on how things are going with my new “toy”as I know some of you were asking me what I thought about it. I’ll be blogging more about it in the coming weeks and would be interested in hearing what your comments are especially if you have one.
According to the place I bought it from they can’t seem to keep them in stock as they’re so popular so I’m definitely not the only one who owns one !
So stay tuned for more …
- Scott
Here are some other discussions on the Web about the Tap-A-Draft that I have found:
- Im not ready for a full keg system yet but getting tired of bottling. -Yes, spend the $65 or so to forget bottling, its awesome. -No, its not worth it. -I would get it but wouldent use it strictly for everything(all batches, all amount)
- Don’t you have to use priming sugar to carbonate with the tap a draft systems? I read and old post that said something like “unless you can force carbonate, like in a tap-a-draft system…” The CO2 just forces the beer out of the bottle …
- Posted: by bkov33 (9 hours ago) |
| 2.5 |
Tags: beer making, fermentation, kegging system, make beer, make wine, Tap-A-Draft, wine making
October 26th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Hi Scott,
Nice article on homebrewing,like you I too make
beer from kits,but I also make all grain from scratch too
with friends that have been making beer for many years.
When I started I bought a 5Lb CO2 setup and a couple Corny Kegs.It also included a double gauge setup for each keg
because different beers use different CO2 pressures,while
some beers are designed to use little CO2.My friends have
taught me that while i thought i was a lager man,there are
too many great ales out there as well.Keep up the great website,and i’ll keep checking in.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Thanks David. While I’m currently using the Tap-A-Draft (which has been great by the way) I’m hoping to get a proper kegging system from a buddy of mine. I hear they are a little trickier with figuring out the pressures but he’s going to sort that out for me.
Stay in touch!
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 am
hi scott
good idea this tap a draft kegging system,but i am like you i like a decent head on my pint,so i have a pressure barrel that you top up with gas when it runs out but the only problem is, you cant refrigiate the barrel as it is too big,
but must admit the beer is fantastic out of the barrel just like you get in a bar.
good health
littleplowe