I only see two posts on the Forum about Tap-a-Draft. I’m a homebrewer in an urban apartment – as in, limited space. Bottling suits my needs for the most part (good for gifting, good for portion control 
), but I wouldn’t mind an affordable alternative to use for the occasional block party or holiday open house.
Any thoughts about this system, or alternatives to it?
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/TAP-A-DRAFT-STARTER-SYSTEM-no-air-shipment-P729C120.aspx
Personally for me, also starting out brewing in a very small apartment, the TAD worked perfectly for me at the time. I served many a great beer through that little system and it never failed me a single time. I gave it away to a fellow new brewer in my club years ago. He strapped nine bottles and the head to the back of his motorcycle and drove off. Never seen him since. I wish I had it back sometimes.
Check out the Home Brew Talk/DIY forum. There is a lot of discussion regarding these in the form of the Miller/Coors home draft systems. Apparently, the home draft things are the same system as the Tap A Draft, but need to be modified in some way to re use them. I think it is much cheaper to buy one of those(invite some people over who don’t know any better to drink the Miller Lite) and modify it versus buying a new Tap A Draft system. Just a thought, especially if you like to tinker with things.
Not trying to promote another forum, but I thought this info would be helpful.
Thanks, all. I do like to tinker though these days my day job cuts into my tinkerability time. Tap-A-Draft is about $65 for a startup kit – not bad, for what it does. What I’d really like is one of those 2.5-gal keg setups designed to coexist in a home fridge. But $$$.
Mini kegs can work well, also. Not sure about the Hieniken ones, but the style Bell’s uses can be reused easily.
You can build your own tap, or buy one (Phil tap, among others). You can also force carbonate in these if you build your own carbonator (basically a schrader valve on a hose barb).
I believe NB forums has a long thread on using these and building taps that is very current.
Thanks – wouldn’t mind a link or two. Reading up on kegging, still very unclear on the concept!
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61167&hilit=mini+keg
Have at it. It’s a load of info, but very useful.
I’ve built a couple taps for mini-kegs, and this appears to be the best design I’ve come across.
I use mini-kegs as well as ball lock kegs. The biggest draw back I’ve found over the years is having a good tap with a strong seal on the mini-kegs. The barb fitting seals very well, perhaps perfectly. The rest of the fittings you’ll need to be careful to make sure they seal.
i am working on these very ideas. currently i am trying to use gallon apple juice bottles made out of pet. these stand up right. little concerned about oxidation but feel if only lasts a few weeks to a month may not be an issue. hopefully will have first design up and pressure tested in next week or so. also dmtaylor has a good post on reusing heineken kegs.
Ages ago, I read a thread where someone had built a tap for a two- or three-liter bottle.
I’m not sure what the connection would need to be at the cap, but basically you were just drilling through the cap and somehow creating a seal on the tap line that went in.
This approach could work for the jugs you’re talking about. I’ll have to look for the info I downloaded, as it led to one of my earlier attempts at a mini-keg tap (since scavenged for parts).
i found that on line if you search 3-liter keg or tap gizmo. i will probably do something similar. the caps on the juice jugs are bigger and i am trying to put two separate ports in them. that is the rub, they are not quite big enough for two ports. i may break down and do it the other way.