Robert Pretty Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 Really getting frustrated with these kegs , another leaking keg, happening way to often now. I bottle half now , as I'm sick these kegs leaking every other brew. Love the Brewart system, Droid best invention ever, love the Brewflo, nothing like pouring your own beer. The kegs I have swapped caps tried everything, I still get leaking kegs. You try and save them , but the beer is not the same , flat or air gets in and destroys the flavor . Have contacted Liam again. Sorry just needed to vent 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 Sorry to hear, it must be so frustrating. Trust Liam can help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillies Brewing Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 I've seen a few things lately (couple of posts on the unofficial fb group, + an old post in here) where people have modded the flo to allow you to connect CO2, skipping the liner and just sanitising the plastic keg. It's an interesting project to see, and apparently completely reversible so for people having major frustrations it could be a fun experiment... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Robert Pretty said: Really getting frustrated with these kegs , another leaking keg, happening way to often now. I bottle half now , as I'm sick these kegs leaking every other brew. Love the Brewart system, Droid best invention ever, love the Brewflo, nothing like pouring your own beer. The kegs I have swapped caps tried everything, I still get leaking kegs. You try and save them , but the beer is not the same , flat or air gets in and destroys the flavor . Have contacted Liam again. Sorry just needed to vent @Robert Pretty yes I feel the same but have tried hard to keep my mouth shut. If I posted about how many of these kegs I'd lost due to failures I would be banging on about it continuously. I had a 6 month old keg of Shadow Hill Porter that I deliberately underfiled with only 3.5 L and the other day it let go in the cupboard. Another brew poured out into the garden. I think I have 3 full kegs left and all are Stouts and Porters. If they can make it through to consumption then I'll be done with this side of the system. I'm sorry to say that after as many positive and problem solving posts as I could humanly muster I have finally given up, and I don't give up easily. Unfortunately as it currently stands this side of this system is just too unreliable. Edited February 28, 2022 by Dustin Frothman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 I have been far luckier than a lot of people re kegs as they have all but a couple lasted well and even then, I got out of those situations OK.My issue has always been the lack of consistency from the first pour to the last. I have had a few kegs where from first pour to last was bang on and was really happy with it but no matter how I adjusted this I'd just get disappointed. I ended up switching to bottles because I just had consistency in my pours...and that was important to me. The system itself works well, it just isn't for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Pretty Posted February 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 10 hours ago, Rob Courtney said: I have been far luckier than a lot of people re kegs as they have all but a couple lasted well and even then, I got out of those situations OK.My issue has always been the lack of consistency from the first pour to the last. I have had a few kegs where from first pour to last was bang on and was really happy with it but no matter how I adjusted this I'd just get disappointed. I ended up switching to bottles because I just had consistency in my pours...and that was important to me. The system itself works well, it just isn't for me Thanks guys for the support. Is it worth investing in a Kegerator? How many kegs would I need to start with. @Wazza_wantsbeer I have emailed the guys at 41 pints to get some information on pricing. Do you still leave your kegs 4 to 8 weeks to mature, before drinking. Are the kegs easy to clean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 23 minutes ago, Robert Pretty said: Thanks guys for the support. Is it worth investing in a Kegerator? How many kegs would I need to start with. @Wazza_wantsbeer I have emailed the guys at 41 pints to get some information on pricing. Do you still leave your kegs 4 to 8 weeks to mature, before drinking. Are the kegs easy to clean? Others will advice about kegerator costs. However the kegs are super easy to clean, particularly the 9.5l Cornelius types although the Ikegger 10l are not that hard. If you purchase a 4 keg fit kegerator then 5 kegs would be a good start. With 4 in the unit and one ready to fill. This way you are maximising usage and allowing for maturing. Speaking of that, leaving the kegs to mature the same as you do for bottles or BrewFlo kegs is the go although with the carbonation with Co2 some earlier drinking is not out of the question. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazza_wantsbeer Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Robert Pretty said: Thanks guys for the support. Is it worth investing in a Kegerator? How many kegs would I need to start with. @Wazza_wantsbeer I have emailed the guys at 41 pints to get some information on pricing. Do you still leave your kegs 4 to 8 weeks to mature, before drinking. Are the kegs easy to clean? 41 Pints is a good place to start looking at kegerators as their markup on the Kegerator is very low compared with most other NSW resellers. TBH, I usually start drinking from about 2 weeks or even less but I would think a lot would depend on the style of beer as a NEIPA or HAZY, fresh is best. When I first purchased the Kegerator, I started with 1x 9.5l half corny and iKegger 2x 5l and 1x 4l kegs and that has now quickly ramped up to 3x 9.5l and the 2x 5l kegs. I agree with @Captain 3 Droids that based on my thinking now that I've had the Kegerator for about 3 months, is that 4 or 5 9.5l half corny kegs are the go. It will allow you to brew, drink and maintain stock levels. However, I'm sure @Dustin Frothmanwill tell you that you need at least 10 or so given how many he has 😉 Also keep in mind, you don't need to buy them all at once as I've been buying kegs as I've needed them at the end of fermentation if I don't have a keg to spare. Again, after much research, 41 Pints has the best price on 9.5l kegs, both Kegland and Keg King with the Kegland ones slightly cheaper and I prefer those after using the two side by side. In terms of cleaning the kegs, it could not be easier given the large size opening of the vessel. To clean, I now have a set process: I use 3 or 4 litres of water with sodium percarbonate (@10g / litre) to clean the keg after finishing all the beer inside. When emptying the sodium percarbonate, I empty about 5 litres thru the tap of the Kegerator which cleans the beer line and tap. I then rinse with water until clean, then add about 2 litres of fresh water which I then empty thru the tap of the Kegerator to rinse the line and tap which is then ready for another keg to be added to it and the beer to begin flowing. I then allow the keg to air dry and store with lid off until ready to use. Before using, overnight I add another 4 litres of water with StellarSan with it upside down half the time and empty it using CO2 so that you have a keg all ready for a closed transfer from the Droid. I also do a last minute purge with CO2 of the keg and Droid connector so that there isn't any O2 left in the line connecting the Keg to Droid, trying to avoid any O2 contact or at least, minimise it as much as possible. BTW, I have 3x 20l containers with lids so I can reuse the sodium percarbonate and StellarSan. As long as it is kept in a cool spot and covered, it will last for some time. I also use one of the 20l containers to capture the Droid cleanse tablet water to reuse for cleaning other things around the house including the smaller kegs. That stuff makes for cleaning things like the kitchen sink much easier 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 6 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said: However, I'm sure @Dustin Frothmanwill tell you that you need at least 10 or so given how many he has 😉 Each to their own. I like to let all of my beers mature; most around 6 weeks. I end up with better results this way. I need a few kegs to achieve this. I bought 10 kegs because I had 100L of storage in Brewart kegs and wished to replicate this. I also bought them all at once from Kegland to save on delivery costs and make use of my credit card facility to split larger purchases into 4 equal payments with 0% interest. When spending on frivolous crap like this then free money is good money. 👍 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 17 hours ago, Gillies Brewing said: I've seen a few things lately (couple of posts on the unofficial fb group, + an old post in here) where people have modded the flo to allow you to connect CO2, skipping the liner and just sanitising the plastic keg. It's an interesting project to see, and apparently completely reversible so for people having major frustrations it could be a fun experiment... It's quite a cool mod people are doing. The only problem with it that I see is that it's not just the liner that has issues. Practically every part other than the keg body can and will fail if you're unlucky. I've had brand new out of the box keg collars disintegrate under pressure. Deformed silicon o-rings, cracked keg caps, cross threaded metal collars, blown beer lines, over, undersized or missing parts etc. Liam and Brewart have always been exceptional with their customer service and so incredibly generous with offers to replace entire Brewprints and any manner of parts free of charge, but it gets embarrassing after a while being "that guy" with the problems again. Not to mention the disappointment at all the lost beer and in a few instances ending up fairly pissed off at the gigantic mess made (on the walls and ceiling a couple of times!) in my newly acquired and freshly painted house. I would like to see the Brewflo working as intended and I think the team will eventually get on top of the design and quality control issues but the current operating environment is contributing to their challenges. I'm yet to decide whether I'll keep mine or not once the last few kegs are either consumed. Fingers crossed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said: I agree with @Captain 3 Droids that based on my thinking now that I've had the Kegerator for about 3 months, is that 4 or 5 9.5l half corny kegs are the go. It will allow you to brew, drink and maintain stock levels. However, I'm sure @Dustin Frothmanwill tell you that you need at least 10 or so given how many he has 😉 Triple post, sorry, but not sure how I missed this little detail earlier. @Wazza_wantsbeerhas 1 droid ... 5 kegs. I have 2 droids so 10 kegs. So it follows then that@Captain 3 Droids has ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazza_wantsbeer Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 15 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said: Triple post, sorry, but not sure how I missed this little detail earlier. @Wazza_wantsbeerhas 1 droid ... 5 kegs. I have 2 droids so 10 kegs. So it follows then that@Captain 3 Droids has ... Brilliant! Fully LMFAO at that! It's how I picture @Captain 3 Droids brew shed down there in Adelaide! All in preparation for the next "Piss Head Sunday" and stocking up for May when the community get's together... Oh, hold on, may need a few more kegs for that event 😎 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said: Oh, hold on, may need a few more kegs for that event 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 On 28/2/2022 at 6:11 PM, Dustin Frothman said: I think I have 3 full kegs left and all are Stouts and Porters. If they can make it through to consumption … Yeah nah. Let’s make that 2 to go … 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Pretty Posted March 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Dustin Frothman said: Yeah nah. Let’s make that 2 to go … Feel your pain @Dustin Frothman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 And another one gone. 😶 We're down to one. Will it last? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 minute ago, Dustin Frothman said: And another one gone. 😶 We're down to one. Will it last? What a bugger. It’s such a pity as the unit and idea is impressive. Are the bags strong like those in wine casks? Do you think the Co2 is the go or are the lid/cap just as problematic? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 3 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said: What a bugger. It’s such a pity as the unit and idea is impressive. Are the bags strong like those in wine casks? Do you think the Co2 is the go or are the lid/cap just as problematic? I think I've probably said enough already. But yes, the bags are strong. I won't be leaving the last keg much longer and will try to chill and consume in the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 FWIW here is a photo of the commercial version of the keg design. I took this up at the Scenic Hotel at Norton Summit a week or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benoz Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 I came up with the CO2 conversion and I've not had one failure since I converted. I'd consider swapping back if they sorted out the issue. I have no intention of treading on brewarts toes because the customer service is just amazing. Converting had allowed people who would have gone stainless to keep using the beerflo. I've actually bought more kegs because of it and are planning to buy more again 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 44 minutes ago, Benoz said: I came up with the CO2 conversion and I've not had one failure since I converted. I'd consider swapping back if they sorted out the issue. I have no intention of treading on brewarts toes because the customer service is just amazing. Converting had allowed people who would have gone stainless to keep using the beerflo. I've actually bought more kegs because of it and are planning to buy more again @Benozhow do you protect the beer from light exposure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benoz Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 I just keep the kegs in a cupboard. Covering them with a cloth works just as well 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 22 minutes ago, Benoz said: I just keep the kegs in a cupboard. Covering them with a cloth works just as well OK, how do you convert the keger over to do carb? I mean, I have 16 kegs and I stopped using them because I was disappointed by head retention/carbonation but if there is an option that I could do, I'd be happy to give it a try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) OK, so I have seen the other post and i kinda get it but don't when it comes to changing it over. So you take the original set up and block off the hose that'd go to the flow to stop the sensor sending an error message but then... Do you run another tube from a soda stream catridge into the keg? Does that also mean you don't use carb blocks in your kegs? Edited April 5, 2022 by Rob Courtney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benoz Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Basically yes. You use a line from a CO2 source (I use a 2.6kg bottle but Sodastream would be fine) inside the beerflo you connect it to the existing gas line and disconnect one wire to the pressure sensor. You need to have a non return valve as well. It's best to remove the entire gas line and test for leaks by putting every connection under water for a few seconds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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