DebbieM

[Debra Maloney]

Hi Does anyone here use or no wether I can use the Beerdroid with our Kegerator Set up & put into out 10litre Metal Kegs?

[Captain 3 Droids]

25 minutes ago, Debra Maloney said:

Hi Does anyone here use or no wether I can use the Beerdroid with our Kegerator Set up & put into out 10litre Metal Kegs?

Hi again. Yes you can. I run three droids and keg all to 10 and 12l ss ball lock kegs. I place sanitised tubing over the tap nozzle (can use small diameter and push up inside the tap spout.). Works well and is quick.

Cheers Mark

Edited August 16, 2020 by Barrelboy

[Debra Maloney]

Again Thanks for Replying..That is  a great help as we have lots of the 10litre Kegs & was worried I could not use them..I will give it a try next week putting a couple of brews down..And will probs have many more Q's as I get into it. 🙂

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

9 minutes ago, Debra Maloney said:

Again Thanks for Replying..That is  a great help as we have lots of the 10litre Kegs & was worried I could not use them..I will give it a try next week putting a couple of brews down..And will probs have many more Q's as I get into it. 🙂

 

Welcome, with any questions and inf about your brews.

[Debra Maloney]

Thank you

[Erik Denkers]

On 15/08/2020 at 9:58 PM, Barrelboy said:

Hi again. Yes you can. I run three droids and keg all to 10 and 12l ss ball lock kegs. I place sanitised tubing over the tap nozzle (can use small diameter and push up inside the tap spout.). Works well and is quick.

Cheers Mark

Nice picture.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it is along the same lines as the original poster's question.

With my recent problems of leaking keg liners and what not, I'm looking into maybe getting standard 10 liter kegs or something similar.  Any suggestions on what to get.  I supposed that I would also need to invest in a kegerator.  With the larger kegs, can you or should you still do secondary fermentation?

Also, I live in the USA and was wondering what size tubing that you are using?  I suppose it is metric size?

[Captain 3 Droids]

3 hours ago, Erik Denkers said:

Nice picture.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it is along the same lines as the original poster's question.

With my recent problems of leaking keg liners and what not, I'm looking into maybe getting standard 10 liter kegs or something similar.  Any suggestions on what to get.  I supposed that I would also need to invest in a kegerator.  With the larger kegs, can you or should you still do secondary fermentation?

Also, I live in the USA and was wondering what size tubing that you are using?  I suppose it is metric size?

No hijack here and glad to help. The tubing is silicon 12mm (1/2”) inside diameter and 18mm (23/32”) outside diameter but the imperial conversion will suit and od size not overly important. You could take the tap with you to a suitable hardware or brew shop. In my case it’s a metre long (39”). ( get food grade)

Stainless kegs in the US are a lot cheaper than here in Australia. Getting a complete package may be the way to go however you have obviously invested in a Brewflo unit and associated gear so endeavouring to sort the leaking keg issues out may be the best option. A member has posted a video on how to get the lid on correctly. Fire away with any questions.

Cheers Mark

[Captain 3 Droids]

Sorry forgot to answer on kegs and secondary. With the ss kegs you purge them to remove O2 with CO2 (30psi) and store for the brew to mature. Then to the fridge and connect to CO2 to carbonate.  You can get ss kegs of different sizes to suit the 10l Droid capacity. 5l, 10l or 19/20l. A setup isn’t cheap.

[Erik Denkers]

Thanks for the information.  I've seen that video and it's helpful.  To be honest, I've filled 40 kegs so far and never had a problem until these last few kegs.  I know that the liners are screwed on correctly.  I suspect a defect in the liners themselves.

I'm not sure that I'm ready to give up on the flow and kegs just yet.  As you pointed out, I have a substantial investment in that.

Also, if putting the beer into the stainless steel kegs, do I still add priming sugar?  

I have heard of forced carbonation but wouldn't natural carbonation from secondary fermentation with priming sugar taste better?

[Captain 3 Droids]

19 minutes ago, Erik Denkers said:

Thanks for the information.  I've seen that video and it's helpful.  To be honest, I've filled 40 kegs so far and never had a problem until these last few kegs.  I know that the liners are screwed on correctly.  I suspect a defect in the liners themselves.

I'm not sure that I'm ready to give up on the flow and kegs just yet.  As you pointed out, I have a substantial investment in that.

Also, if putting the beer into the stainless steel kegs, do I still add priming sugar?  

I have heard of forced carbonation but wouldn't natural carbonation from secondary fermentation with priming sugar taste better?

You can use a priming sugar in the keg however Co2 is far better and

1) duplicates that of purchased cans, bottles, pubs etc.

2) personally it gives a crispness/freshness to the brew. 

3) by forced carbonation can have a keg ready to go within a couple of hours if previously chilled to serving temperature

Out of interest if the liner leaks can you salvage the beer?

You will need Co2 bottle to dispense with in any even, although there are bulb or soda stream setups.

Cheers Mark

[Dustin Frothman]

3 hours ago, Erik Denkers said:

Thanks for the information.  I've seen that video and it's helpful.  To be honest, I've filled 40 kegs so far and never had a problem until these last few kegs.  I know that the liners are screwed on correctly.  I suspect a defect in the liners themselves.

I'm not sure that I'm ready to give up on the flow and kegs just yet.  As you pointed out, I have a substantial investment in that.

Also, if putting the beer into the stainless steel kegs, do I still add priming sugar?  

I have heard of forced carbonation but wouldn't natural carbonation from secondary fermentation with priming sugar taste better?

Hi Erik,

I think if you've kegged more beers without issue using the Brewflo system than you have had problems then it is worth your while persisting and attempting to address the issues as they arise. As Mark points out, a stainless steel kegging system is not cheap to set up, requires CO2, can be more difficult to clean and maintain and requires a dedicated fridge/kegerator. 

For what it's worth I've had a couple of issues lately with failing keg cap connectors and a burst liner (most likely due to incomplete primary fermentation) that have been addressed promptly and with incredible generosity by the Brewart Team. I appreciate that you're in the U.S. but I have no doubt that the customer service philosophy and standard for your market will be on par with what is offered here in Australia.

I was attracted to the Brewflo system as it is a simple and elegant design. As much as I would've liked a full bar and three tap kegerator setup we neither have the room nor would my wife have it. 😅 I like the idea of not having to buy, refill or run out of beer gas. I like that the plastic kegs are lightweight, easy to clean (or not clean should you choose to do so), easy to store and relatively cheap.

A quick read through any of the competing products' user groups will show you that there's just as many teething and maintenance issues with full stainless steel setups as there can be with this one.

I guess the fallback is always to bottle if you wish. Personally I think bottling is a pain and it's one of the factors than turned me off brewing 20 years ago.

And as final thought , and without trying to sound like an evangelist - the beer is awesome and has completely surpassed my expectations. This is coming from an utter craft beer snob. I think most of the negative comments are from people that either fail to read the manual, are impatient with both the brewing process or conditioning, do some strange things (I just read about dishwashing liquid on Facebook????), are miserable negative humans (yeah, yeah 2020 has been a tough year) or I'm sorry to say it, but just plain dumb. They would probably be better off saving their time, money and effort and just buying a commercially produced beer.

Stick with it. Share knowledge and enjoy the process. When things go wrong contact Brewart and they will sort you out. There are also great people on this forum who really want to see you enjoying brewing and your beers too.

Cheers. 🍻

 

[Erik Denkers]

Thanks for all the good words.  I too was attracted to the BrewFlo system for the same reasons as you.  No CO2 to mess with.

Actually, I've been very happy with the entire system up to this point.  I don't really want to switch out the dispensing system just yet.  BrewArt support has been very good, but response time has been rather slow as of late.  I suspect that this global pandemic has something to do with that.

I will give them some time to address the issue with the leaking keg liners.  However, I am a little leery about using any more of them until this get's sorted out.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Erik Denkers

[Captain 3 Droids]

Were/are these liners from a particular batch, the same order? Have they leaked from the same spot each time?

Cheers Mark

[Shane Hardinge]

Having the same problem with leaking keg liners.   Out of the last four kegs, 3 have beer between liner and inside of keg.   One keg quite bad.  I know the kegs are not cross threaded and not twisted in the keg.  Has anyone had any communication with the tech team?    I have just sent an email to them and await their reply.  Very frustrating.

Cheers   Shane

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

3 minutes ago, Shane Hardinge said:

Having the same problem with leaking keg liners.   Out of the last four kegs, 3 have beer between liner and inside of keg.   One keg quite bad.  I know the kegs are not cross threaded and not twisted in the keg.  Has anyone had any communication with the tech team?    I have just sent an email to them and await their reply.  Very frustrating.

Cheers   Shane

 

Hi Shane, Mark here. Sorry about your plight. Are they leaking up the top near the thread, or the liners splitting.

Are you in Oz or US?

Cheers

[Shane Hardinge]

In OZ.    Hard to say where they are leaking from, I cannot see a split in the liner but I suppose it would only have to be a very small tear to leak the way it has. 

[Shane Hardinge]

Just had a closer look.   The worst one is leaking from between the thread and cap.  Lot of foam visible.    Good side of things is that it does not appear to be leaking anymore.   Does not explain the other three kegs though.

[Captain 3 Droids]

If things haven’t changed you should get a quick response from the Tech Team.

I’ll give this thread a reference as well- @BrewArt Team

Edited September 19, 2020 by Barrelboy

[Shane Hardinge]

Hope so...they have been pretty good with other inquiries.

 

[Dustin Frothman]

Hi @Shane Hardinge

I'm starting to wonder if sometimes this is perhaps caused by overfilling the liners. I'm not sure the sight window index mark is accurate for all recipes depending on the displacement of the liquid volume by the weight of the added ingredients.

I've got a brew to be kegged tomorrow and will purposely underfill both kegs and bottle the remainder to see how it goes.

[Erik Denkers]

For my kegs that have leaked, it does not appear to be coming from between the thread and cap as that area is completely dry.  I suspect that the liner is either split somewhere or has a small hole in it.  It is hard to tell exactly where the beer came from.

Also, these kegs are not filled any more than any of my other kegs.

These liners are all from my last order back in July.  I got 5 packs of liners and have 4 remaining.  I have sent emails to BrewArt here in the US and also forwarded a copy to Liam.

[Dustin Frothman]

10 hours ago, Erik Denkers said:

For my kegs that have leaked, it does not appear to be coming from between the thread and cap as that area is completely dry.  I suspect that the liner is either split somewhere or has a small hole in it.  It is hard to tell exactly where the beer came from.

Also, these kegs are not filled any more than any of my other kegs.

These liners are all from my last order back in July.  I got 5 packs of liners and have 4 remaining.  I have sent emails to BrewArt here in the US and also forwarded a copy to Liam.

Good to know Erik, thank you.

[Shane Hardinge]

Hey gents...Liam got back to me pretty quick.   Looks like I have lost one keg from the brew..He wants me to send the liner/keg attachment to him for the techos to examine.  Good news is that he is replacing the brewprint and keg attachments/liners.  Great bloke to deal with.     Attached photos of buggered keg.   Liam said its not salvageable.

[Rob Courtney]

7 hours ago, Shane Hardinge said:

Hey gents...Liam got back to me pretty quick.   Looks like I have lost one keg from the brew..He wants me to send the liner/keg attachment to him for the techos to examine.  Good news is that he is replacing the brewprint and keg attachments/liners.  Great bloke to deal with.     Attached photos of buggered keg.   Liam said its not salvageable.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Not a strong ale