Alan's Brewery
Mini Keg Tap
The Party Star Deluxe dispensing tap for mini kegs is made by the company Fass Frisch in Germany. (They also make all the accessories for the mini keg, except the grey bung it would appear.)
Figure 1: The mini keg, with the CO2 dispenser attached fits nicely into a refrigerator.
The tap is very well made, and the design has also been well thought through. It is a little on the expensive side in South Africa, but the build quality makes it look as though it will last. It is packaged unassembled in a small cardboard box, without any filler material, so the components can move around in the box. Fortunately, there is nothing that can break easily.
Figure 2: The packaging of the Party Star Delux Dispensing Tap
It is easy enough to assemble the tap as shown in the following sequence of pictures.
Figure 3: The components of the tap (the CO2 cartridge is not part of the package, but included in this description as part of the assembly).
Figure 4: A closer view of the components. There are small rubber washers on the screw ends of the spout and filler tube.
The small rubber washers on the spout and the filler tube may wear out in time. Finding replacements for these may be a problem.
Figure 5: The assembled tap without the CO2 cartridge inserted.
To insert the CO2 cartridge, you place it in the holder (see Fig. 3) and then screw the cover on as quickly as possible - you don't want to lose too much CO2 while making the seal.
Figure 6: A close up of the CO2 cartridge in its holder on the right, with the receptor pin on the tap on the left. The receptor pin pierces the CO2 cartridge as you screw in the holder.
The CO2 pressure is adjusted by rotating the regulating valve. As you look at the valve, clockwise opens it, anti-clockwise closes it (the diagrams on the valve are a bit misleading). There is no feeling of tightening/loosening as you turn the valve.
Seating the tap
Once the core of the grey bung has been pushed into the beer by the filler tube, the filler tube is pushed all the way down. The hook on the left of the tap holder (see Figure 5 above) is then clipped under the lip on the edge of the keg. The lever on the right of the tap holder is then pressed down to clip under the lip on the opposite side of the keg. You can see it in position in Figure 1.
CO2 cartridges
The CO2 cartridges look similar to that used in a paint-ball gun. However, all of the paint-ball cartridges I have found locally are 12g, whereas the tap requires a 16g cartridge. There is a video clip on YouTube showing how to get a 12g cartridge to fit into the holder, but I'd be a bit wary of trying this. Strictly speaking, one should be using food grade CO2, but there is no way of ascertaining the impurities in the cartridge.
Update
If you look at Figure 1, you will notice that I have a styrofoam cup next to the mini keg. This is to catch any drips from the tap. This is the only irritation that I have with the tap. As the spout is horizontal, there will always be residual beer in it. The tends to drip for a while after dispensing a beer.
