TAP-A-DRAFT: first impression...

[sengsational]

i have filled growlers with it to bring to friends, and the carb stays fine for that day or two, just like normal tap filling.

Other than that, i cannot say i have filled bottles, capped them, and returned to drink them weeks later.

Nor have I. But I've taken a TAD out of the fridge due to space concerns, put it in the pantry for a few weeks, then put it back in the fridge. I coudn't tell it had ever been out of the fridge...tasted great.

I don't bother with filling bottles when I go to a party...I just bring the whole thing in a box that I made. You can buy a fancy insulator, but the box works fine. This video is excruciatingly long, but here it is in case you have insomnia or something:



The only bad thing about taking the whole thing is that it usually doesn't last the entire night. Last time I brought one, I went over and kept feeling how light it was getting, and it was staying pretty heavy. Then it got empty and was still pretty heavy...I forgot that I had loaded down the extra space in the box with that "blue ice" stuff, to keep it cold

--Dale--

 

[abandonhope16]

Crap. I was all excited that they had them right up the street one mile from my house (based on the finder application). Maybe that thing is not kept up to date as they're actually doing a pull back in distribution.

I plan on trying a few more places around other errands and will report back. But I'm not hopeful as the finder seems entirely out of date.

 

[abandonhope16]

I plan on trying a few more places around other errands and will report back. But I'm not hopeful as the finder seems entirely out of date.

0-2 today. I asked at my local big wine store and the guy says he believes they have been discontinued.

 

[sengsational]

0-2 today. I asked at my local big wine store and the guy says he believes they have been discontinued.

I think they had several test markets that they closed. They are still supposed to be available in Dallas, Texas; San Diego, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado and Columbus, Ohio. Are you in one of those?

 

[Anon]

Yeah craft and growler is a new establishment and it has them in stock in Dallas

 

[abandonhope16]

I think they had several test markets that they closed. They are still supposed to be available in Dallas, Texas; San Diego, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado and Columbus, Ohio. Are you in one of those?

Ah, fudge. Virginia, outside DC. Not even close.

 

[sengsational]

Ah, fudge. Virginia, outside DC. Not even close.

This is "vaporware" so far, but it's an alternative: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732077870/the-tapit-cap-the-beer-growlers-best-friend

 

[pmarlowe]

If I am just brewing 1 gallon batches, could I still use the TAD, or would that leave too much headspace?

 

[abandonhope16]

^^^ I will be trying this. I haven't tried in practice yet, but I'm piecing it together:
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61167&sid

 

[sengsational]

If I am just brewing 1 gallon batches, could I still use the TAD, or would that leave too much headspace?

If I were you, I'd just go down to the dollar store and buy the 3 liter bottles, dump out the pop, and bottle in those. Only 3/4 of a gallon, though.

 

[sengsational]

I posted this video yesterday and meant to share it with you guys here. You might find it useful.

[ame="http://youtu.be/mExbU7l62p8"]New Five Gallon Coors Light Home Draft Mod[/ame]

 

[abandonhope16]

Hahahaha

 

[mewithstewpid]

I posted this video yesterday and meant to share it with you guys here. You might find it useful.

New Five Gallon Coors Light Home Draft Mod

that is hilarious

 

[mdreyer93]

So I've been using my TAD for about 4 batches now and have been happy with the results (other than having to send the tap back to get a replacement after it sprung a lead on my second bottle).

I have a question about the priming rates though. I've been naturally carbing using the same amount of corn sugar as calculated for bottle priming. Once you hook up the cartridge to dispense though wouldn't the carbonation level equalize to whatever pressure the cartridge is putting out since there's no regulator?

I'm working on a brown porter now and want to carb low but don't want the level to increase once I attache the cartridge to start serving.

Also, should I instead be using the priming rate for naturally carbing a keg (as calculated by beersmith, etc.) instead of bottles?

Any ideas? thanks

 

[mdreyer93]

Anyone have ideas?

 

[Shooter]

I have a question about the priming rates though. I've been naturally carbing using the same amount of corn sugar as calculated for bottle priming. Once you hook up the cartridge to dispense though wouldn't the carbonation level equalize to whatever pressure the cartridge is putting out since there's no regulator?

Eventually it would equalize, but it wouldn't happen after just one cartridge. I think the built in blow off only allows the pressure to be around 15psi or so. I notice the first pint or two pour REALLY fast. However, over time it will come to an equilibirum. I'm currently using mine to push white wine. I had hoped to use the nitrous cartridges to push the wine without carbonating it, but they provide so little pressure it didn't really work very well. Using the CO2 cartridges is slowly turning my still wine into a sparkling wine.

 

[sengsational]

I have a question about the priming rates though. I've been naturally carbing using the same amount of corn sugar as calculated for bottle priming.

That's what I do. The instructions say to use less than for regular bottles. And if you use the priming calculator in BeerSmith2, it says to use less for a keg than if you're bottle priming. I don't get it. I just use what the priming calculators say given normal bottle conditioning. But I have had bottles start to fail on me with a highly carbonated beer.

 

[mdreyer93]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just have to drink them fast then

I'll just prime it on the lower end and see. I just didn't want the co2 to go into carbing the beer first and not dispensing

 

[mdreyer93]

Ok, so I've had my porter on tap in my TAD for about a week now. Naturally carbed for 2 weeks prior to tapping and had it in the fridge for 24 hours before putting on the tap and adding the cartridge. For the first few days it came out great, with the nice low carbonation I was looking for in the style. Then, a couple days ago, with a little over half the keg left, the dispensing pressure got low and the bottle wasn't firm any more. I had to add another cartridge. Now, my porter's too carbonated for the style. I guess the last charge of CO2 carbed it up more instead of just dispensing. Any way to fix it? When I swirled my glass around to release some of the carbonation it eventually got back to where i wanted it in the glass. Any way to bleed some out of the keg?

 

[kaconga]

Ok, so I've had my porter on tap in my TAD for about a week now. Naturally carbed for 2 weeks prior to tapping and had it in the fridge for 24 hours before putting on the tap and adding the cartridge. For the first few days it came out great, with the nice low carbonation I was looking for in the style. Then, a couple days ago, with a little over half the keg left, the dispensing pressure got low and the bottle wasn't firm any more. I had to add another cartridge. Now, my porter's too carbonated for the style. I guess the last charge of CO2 carbed it up more instead of just dispensing. Any way to fix it? When I swirled my glass around to release some of the carbonation it eventually got back to where i wanted it in the glass. Any way to bleed some out of the keg?

I think that bleeding any out would just deplete the co2 since it is a built in regulator. This is one of the drawbacks to the tap-a-draft system. Just keep knocking the co2 out of solution in the glass.

 

[mdreyer93]

Anyone have a guess on the carb level it's set up to give? Seems about 2.5 to me. Guess I'll just have to bottle my English ales. Or brew more styles with that level of co2. Sucks

 

[sengsational]

Anyone have a guess on the carb level it's set up to give? Seems about 2.5 to me. Guess I'll just have to bottle my English ales. Or brew more styles with that level of co2. Sucks

There is a solution to this. The original TAD had an easy solution, and now it's a bit harder, but still possible.

Rather than serving with CO2, you serve with nitrous oxide (no, it does not oxidize your beer).

But since they changed over to 16g cartridges, you need to do a mod.

You cut an old 16g cartridge into 3 bits. You throw away the top, but use the sleeve (with shoulder) and the bottom. Plus you need a spacer (I think 13 pennies works).

You need to leave the shoulder on so that the unit is centered. If it's not centered, it won't align with the rubber gasket. If the gasket folds over upon insertion, you'll lose the contents of the cartridge.

The finished assembly would look like this:

At these pressures, almost none of the nitrous will get absorbed into the liquid, so your carbonation will remain as it was before (as generated by your natural carbonation).

--Dale--

 

[mdreyer93]

Cool, I'll have to give that a try, thanks! Does it give the creamy mouthfeel like normal nitro taps?

 

[mewithstewpid]

Cool, I'll have to give that a try, thanks! Does it give the creamy mouthfeel like normal nitro taps?

no, that's because of high-pressure dispensing through the special stout faucet

 

[mdreyer93]

hmmm... just throwing this out there, but I wonder if I could hook up a sparkler to the TAD outlet... I'm thinking there probably isn't enough pressure...

 

[mobius1ski]

I recently bought these and didn't know I couldn't have them on the side, and indeed, they are leaking. Does this mean that my beer isn't going to be carbonated? Does it man the gas has escaped? There hasn't been a crazy amount of liquid that's leaked, but it's enough to cause concern.

 

[mobius1ski]

I can now answer my own question. The beer was flat and off flavor compared to what I had put in bottles. I'll have to track down these other caps or use teflon tape. Disappointed. Though people happily drank it, it seems like a waste of what could have been an excellent beer all around.

 

[sengsational]

I can now answer my own question. The beer was flat and off flavor compared to what I had put in bottles. I'll have to track down these other caps or use teflon tape. Disappointed. Though people happily drank it, it seems like a waste of what could have been an excellent beer all around.

I'm surprised that it was off flavor, but lack of carbonation can remove that CO2 'bite' and decrease the aromatics, so the lack of CO2 and off flavor could be one and the same.

You may be able to fix the problem by simply chilling the beer with the tap on and a CO2 bulb engaged and wait for 3 or 5 days. Or you could use what I call a 'hobo cap' to carbonate, then put a tap on and engage the CO2 bulb when pouring gets slow.



As to the leaky caps, that is a problem with these units. It turns out the caps from the 3L soda bottles (I get 'em at the dollar store and pour out the soda) work pretty well. Polyseal caps (from the homebrew store) are ok, but the poly part of the cap is subject to nicks and getting compressed weird, so they don't last long. I use a 'strap wrench' to tighten and loosen the caps and I put baloons over the neck and cap so I know if they're leaking (if they are leaking I take immediate action to prevent flat beer). And I carbonate fully (the same sugar as bottling in 12oz). If you get a 'bottle bomb' condition in these PET bottles, the don't fail catastropically, they simply develop a layered crack and start leaking (at least that's my experience). The only catastropic failure I had was when I dropped one (oops!). That was not a pretty sight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4-12lUKksw

 

[Grimster]

I can now answer my own question. The beer was flat and off flavor compared to what I had put in bottles. I'll have to track down these other caps or use teflon tape. Disappointed. Though people happily drank it, it seems like a waste of what could have been an excellent beer all around.

You didn't just force carb it? I've force carbed with the TAD system and it works pretty good.

 

[mobius1ski]

Trying the force carbing... Does anyone know where I can get those higher quality rubber lined caps from?

 

[Stile]

Just recently picked up the TAD from more beer. I've noticed these over the years and figured they'd be a nice interim solution until I go with a full blow keg system.

My only current issue is that the bottoms of the containers are rounded and obviously won't stand up. So I found a drainage collar that fits perfectly....

Problem solved

I found them HERE

 

[sengsational]

Hello folks, I just posted a video that shows how I use the MHD system. Of course most of it would apply to Tap-A-Draft too.

It includes pretty much all of the details, beginning to end, on how I operate these mini-kegs, including a review of the equipment, how you can simplify your bottling day, how you can force carbonate, tricks to tapping, pouring and cleaning, and how you can take these kegs with you on the road.

I linked back to this thread for comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2O1eTA_Lvo

 

[fbi365]

It was suggested upthread that you squeeze the tad bottles to reduce headspace. But I did this with my brand new tad and it resulted in permanent creases in the plastic. Be careful not to squeeze these very much if you are going to compress them to reduce headspace.

 

[Beernik]

Hello folks, I just posted a video that shows how I use the MHD system. Of course most of it would apply to Tap-A-Draft too.

It includes pretty much all of the details, beginning to end, on how I operate these mini-kegs, including a review of the equipment, how you can simplify your bottling day, how you can force carbonate, tricks to tapping, pouring and cleaning, and how you can take these kegs with you on the road.

I linked back to this thread for comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2O1eTA_Lvo

Cool video. I appreciated it.

I'm considering TAD vs mini Kegs and a mini Kegerator like EdgeStar does vs a Party Pig.

 

[ianmatth]

How do I get the regulator on the current Tap-A-Draft system to pop an 8g N2O cartride? I read in some threads that the Tap-A-Draft could take 8g N2O cartridges, so I ordered a box of 24, however it seems the out on the 8g cartridges is too short even if I push them up into the regulator. All it seems to do is scrape the paint off the 8g cartiridge, it doesn't pop it all.

 

[brewbama]

Just recently picked up the TAD from more beer. I've noticed these over the years and figured they'd be a nice interim solution until I go with a full blow keg system.

My only current issue is that the bottoms of the containers are rounded and obviously won't stand up. So I found a drainage collar that fits perfectly....

Problem solved

I found them HERE

I cut a hole in a piece of wood to get to the same end.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[hyperslug]

How do I get the regulator on the current Tap-A-Draft system to pop an 8g N2O cartride? I read in some threads that the Tap-A-Draft could take 8g N2O cartridges, so I ordered a box of 24, however it seems the out on the 8g cartridges is too short even if I push them up into the regulator. All it seems to do is scrape the paint off the 8g cartiridge, it doesn't pop it all.

The old version of the tap used two 8g but the new one only uses 16g and I don't think there is any way to use 8g on the new one. Someone else may know something I don't.

 

[sengsational]

The old version of the tap used two 8g but the new one only uses 16g and I don't think there is any way to use 8g on the new one. Someone else may know something I don't.

The video I posted a few posts back in this thread has a way to accomplish using an 8g cartridge (skip to 10:35 or so in the video). Basically you take a 16g cartridge and cut it twice (once in the middle, and cut off the top). You then put some pennies in the bottom of the cut 16g cartridge until the overall length of the re-assembled cartridge is the same length, or slightly longer than the real 16g cartridge.

 

[Kahless]

My tap a draft arrived today (UK, so old version). I'm dissapointed in the packaging; single ply carboard box just big enough to fit the bottles, with CO2 cartidges loosely rolling around the bottom of the box. Nothing done to protect anything.

The bottles are pretty heavily bashed at the bottom and sides. I tried popping them out but it isn't working at the corners, and I'm worried about the structural integrity of the plastic as even after popping there are marks where it has weakened. When filled with water and sat on the feet, the bottle compresses at the bottom causing the bit inbetween the feet to bend in.

On top of that, there is some weird orange goo on the taps. I thought it might be rust at first, but on closer inspection it is sticky, rubbery, odourless and incredibly difficult to remove.
Is any of this normal?

 

[limulus]

I have TAD stuff and I have never seen that orange goo on any of my taps. That looks like it was used or someone carelessly spilled something on before packing. I have not used mine in a couple of years and would gladly give them to you but you are bit far away from Atlanta.