I like beer and spending money on things I don’t really need, so these look like they are right up my street.
Does anyone have one? The beer selection seems to be getting better and better.

I have one. Had it for around 2 years and bought via Beer Hawk.

Works as described really. Pints taste nice and a good choice. As good as a pub pint really. Generally get 11-12 pints out of a keg. Beer stays chilled at 3 degrees and lasts for up to 30 days. Good to keep spare kegs somewhere cold and one in a fridge as it takes a few hours (overnight sometimes) if kegs are at room temperature. In really hot temperatures, the machine can struggle to get below 5 degrees but my kitchen is really warm in summer. First pint out can be a bit lively.

Works out to around £1.50 a pint with multibuy, keg returns and beer points. Useful if you live near a collect+ shop for the returns.

If you do end up getting one, please let me send you a referral link so I can bag some points.

Edit… Also careful on your keg selection. The stronger Belgian beers are great but not really session ales! We drink a fair bit and a keg of Kwak was a bit much!

Beer Hawk. FFS. Why not support a local brewery rather than those ****?

The reasons you shouldn’t is that it’s an InBev product that has a limited selection of generally overpriced mass market beer. It will give you a pub quality pour of them though. I’ve also avoided using Beer Hawk since they were bought by InBev and either buy from my local bottle shops or direct from brewers.

The reasons you shouldn’t is that it’s an InBev product that has a limited selection of generally overpriced mass market beer. It will give you a pub quality pour of them though. I’ve also avoided using Beer Hawk since they were bought by InBev and either buy from my local bottle shops or direct from brewers.

This 👍

bollocks to that. Ye get a cracking pint out them. happy days! 😆

Selection of beers is decent. Though dknwhy is a bit optimistic on the price per pint, you are talking more around £2ish a pint once you factor in keg returns(fiver a go) and discount codes(can always get 15% off 3 kegs). Mind you initial outlay is more like 6 quid a pint if you include the machine and yer first keg.

But still, very good if you ask me. Great for the pubs being shut.

6 litres is 10.5 pints. Though I enjoy using a wee 400ml chalice type glass, get about 15 of those from a keg.

Been a great purchase for me. Would recommend.

bollocks to that. Ye get a cracking pint out them. happy days! 😆

You generally get InBev beer produced for the lowest price possible with little thought for actual quality. It’s just a crap/good as their beer in a pub though.

Shout out for my local small brewery.
https://www.chadlingtonbrewery.com/
They deliver and as close to a draught beer as you can get I think. Fantastic beer, the
Oxford Blue is my personal favourite, nice amber beer, loads of flavour not hoppy.

Gribs

You generally get InBev beer produced for the lowest price possible with little thought for actual quality. It’s just a crap/good as their beer in a pub though.

Perception of quality/flavour is a personal thing though. YMMV.

One thing to bear in mind with the machines though is that if you plan on a session on this with a few folks, make sure you’ve got fridge space elsewhere to prechill the kegs. Cause the actual machine takes ages to cool, so have space in your fridge for what ever you want to drink the night before.

I’ve got a separate fridge that fits 6 kegs, so job done. 😆

Jeez, tough crowd 😂

I didn’t say it was the only beer I bought. I support my local breweries (Cronx and Westerham).

Must admit that Beerhawk annoyed me when their discounts changed when covid struck. They were doing 20% discount on 6 kegs pre-covid.

Magic Rock is my local brewery, I’m just working through s 2L growler of cannonball at the moment. PD do a couple of magic rock kegs so I’m kind of supporting them as well although they’ve been bought up by some aussie brew giant so not local in the truest sense I suppose.

Magic Rock

oh dear 🤣🤣🤣
Yes as you say they are no-one’s local brewery. And their beer is shit 😀 Quality dropped off a cliff after the takeover, as everyone predicted it would.

Is it actually any better than drinking the same beer canned?

Kinda interested, living somewhere with no proper pubs or beer.

But a pint of say Jaipur would cost the same as buying a can of craft IPA direct from my local brewery. And it’s still keg Jaipur, nothing to write home about.

Now if they’d invent a machine to get cask ale at home…

I’ve been supporting the local pub on lockdown. I would be devastated if they don’t survive. Decent selection of excellent cask ales. A bit flat by the time I get it home but delicious. Having beer ‘flat’ is a thing up this way anyway and most pubs serve a flat version of their cask ales where they decant it into a metal jug and let it settle and go flat so it’s not too dissimilar from that by the time I drink it at home. Didn’t like it when I first move here, but one of the best pint I’ve had in my life was a pint of flat Timmy Taylor’s from a nearby country pub after a bike ride.

one of the best pint I’ve had in my life was a pint of flat Timmy Taylor’s from a nearby country pub after a bike ride.

That’s a thing though innit. In my case it was a bottle or three of Rochfort 10 sitting in my damp tent on a grim day touring through Belgium. Later, a bottle Chimay Blue, on the sea wall in San Sebastian after descending off Mt. Ulia: I’m not the biggest fan of those particular beers, and never been able to recreate that taste. A mate said it was a pint of Hartley’s/Robinsons at the Red Lion at Lowick after doing Walna Scar, and he doesn’t usually touch ale.

Is it the various grass or tree pollens up your olfactory passages at the time? Or a trick of the mind?

Way OT though, there’s maybe a separate thread in this…

The beer upper classes are out in force!

That’s a thing though innit. In my case it was a bottle or three of Rochfort 10 sitting in my damp tent on a grim day touring through Belgium. Later, a bottle Chimay Blue, on the sea wall in San Sebastian after descending off Mt. Ulia: I’m not the biggest fan of those particular beers, and never been able to recreate that taste. A mate said it was a pint of Hartley’s/Robinsons at the Red Lion at Lowick after doing Walna Scar, and he doesn’t usually touch ale.

There is nothing in the world that tastes better than a pint after a long day’s walking or cycling. Even Stella can taste like nectar.

The beer upper classes are out in force!

personally idc what people want to drink, I DO care where they buy it from though; if you’re supporting mega-corps with scummy business practices in favour of a local or ethical business I will point it out (repeatedly 🤣)

It’s not a case of class (in that sense of the word). It is a case of not being a ****.

Cos folk drink big corp beer they’re dicks?

Dick’s might be a bit strong

Part of the problem, would be better.

@Nobeerinthefridge correct 👍 You’re using you purchasing power to explicitly condone their actions. Same as buying battery-farmed eggs or buying a stolen bike off a bloke in the pub. Don’t do it people 😉

bob_summers
Full Member
Is it actually any better than drinking the same beer canned?

Kinda interested, living somewhere with no proper pubs or beer.

But a pint of say Jaipur would cost the same as buying a can of craft IPA direct from my local brewery. And it’s still keg Jaipur, nothing to write home about.

Now if they’d invent a machine to get cask ale at home…

I’d a keg of jaipur. Launched half of it down the toilet. Boggin! 😆

But I highly dislike IPA, so not the best judge there!

But in general yeah it is a better pint, only real comparisons I can make are the stella, which is better stuff that the bottles/pints you get here and the lowenbrau, better that the bottled stuff you buy for sure.

Think my favourites so far are the(in no particular order): hasseroder, fransizkaner weiss, diekirch grand cru, jupiler, spaten.

I echo <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>@seosamh77.</span>

It generally pours a better pint and it’s nice having chilled beer on tap.

I didn’t buy one to save money by not going to the pub or to shun my local breweries. I still go to the pub as frequently as ever and I still support my local breweries and get deliveries from them too. It’s not like you’re marrying the thing and are only allowed one supply of beer for the rest of your life 🙂

It’s not revolutionary though, just a minor improvement – in STW terms, an espresso from a Gaggia Classic over an Aeropress.

I looked at one as soon as I get the chance when I move I’m going straight for a Lindr and just ordering key kegs from breweries!

@Raouligan yup I will probably be doing the same once I get my mancave sorted out, that’s the way forwards. Ideally be able to hook my home-brew corny kegs up too although not looked into that yet!

in STW terms, an espresso from a Gaggia Classic over an Aeropress.

it’s clearly Nespresso since you’re tied in & can only put in it what want they sell you 🤣

Yeah I seem to be moving to a beer desert in the Cotswolds so I’ve been tapping up the sales staff of East London breweries to get Key Kegs sent when I move, I’m not drinking the miserable nonsense from the local breweries with the exception of Deya!

Genuine question (because I really don’t know about this stuff), but what sort of scummy business practices do big beer producers get up to?

Making money I think.

@nobbingsford I can only assume your Google is broken?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-abinbev-doj-antitrust-exclusive-idUSKCN0S623R20151012
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a-b-i-sec-fine-idUSKCN11Y21R
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/anheuser-busch-inbev-shuts-out-craft-beer-brewers-by-hoarding-hops-2017-05-11
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ab-inbev-india-exclusive/exclusive-indias-capital-bans-ab-inbev-for-three-years-for-alleged-tax-evasion-idUKKCN1UP1B0
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/30/trouble-brewing-ab-inbev-accused-keeping-cheap-beer-from-belgians
There are many, many more examples. And this is just one company (admittedly the biggest and worst). General anti-competitive practices, stifling smaller breweries, flat out illegal activity that they just don’t care about as they’re so rich they are effectively above the law (just pay whatever fine and move on)
Plenty of further material to read through if you genuinely are interested

What is the story behind the negative feelings towards Anheuser-Busch InBev? from beer

@zilog6128, thanks for the links and the summary – I’ll take a look.

Google works fine 😉, but a brief summary from someone already in possession of the knowledge can help the chat flow productively.

I’m afraid I simply don’t have the time to research the provenance of every item I buy and consume. That’s what’s so great about this place – whatever the topic, someone already knows about it!

The US has a tradition of craft brewing to take home that the U.K. seems to lack, possibly because there is more of a pub culture in the U.K. and it’s a reason to go out rather than take home.

But… they have 3L or so gas regulated growlers for taking beer home in that are designed for keeping beer fresh and gassed up in the fridge. Is that not something that would allow you to support your local pub and drink the beer at home? It might also be cheaper than a keg system.

Alternatively, support a homebrew shop and brew your own.

@nobbingsford no worries 😀 finding reasons Big Beer is bad is very much shooting fish in a a barrel

But… they have 3L or so gas regulated growlers for taking beer home in that are designed for keeping beer fresh and gassed up in the fridge. Is that not something that would allow you to support your local pub and drink the beer at home?

that would be ideal, really not necessary though if you’re finishing them up that night, plastic milk bottles work just fine 😀 Last night’s haul: Cloudwater chrimbo beer (11% 😳), Hammerton & Polly’s… pretty glad the STW chess tourney didn’t kick off @ 9AM as threatened 🤣🤣

Works out to around £1.50 a pint with multibuy, keg returns and beer points.

How are you reaching that number? Do you drink more than Oliver Reed? Are you using a PerfectDraught cooler or something else? The PD cooler is over £200 and the kegs are £30ish for 10.5 pints. That’s a lot of multibuys to get it down to half price.

@doomanic I wasn’t including the machine and when I bought mine originally (2018) it was priced cheaper and bundled up with free kegs Can’t say I’ve bothered to work it out recently. They used to do 20% off for multibuy on 4 plus 5% beer tokens and £5 keg return but yeah you’re right, it’s closer to £2 I guess.

Occasionally they do short keg offers foo for £20 but covid and lockdown has seen prices rise.

It’s a lifestyle purchase really.

FAO the OP, just stuck an order with discounts for 9 kegs, fyi if interested.

Order details

PerfectDraft Diekirch Premium 6L Keg 1 £26.25
PerfectDraft Diebels 6L Keg 1 £26.25
PerfectDraft Cervezas La Virgen Madrid Lager 6L Keg 1 £26.25
PerfectDraft Franziskaner Weissbier 6L Keg 2 £25.42
PerfectDraft Hasseroder 6L Keg 1 £26.58
PerfectDraft Jupiler 6L Keg 1 £26.25
PerfectDraft Lowenbrau 6L Keg 1 £26.58
PerfectDraft Spaten 6L Keg 1 £26.58

Subtotal £235.58
Shipping & handling £0.00
VAT £40.04

Discount -£42.41 (15% off with 15PDKT )
Beer Tokens -£50.25. (9 kegs returned + £5.25 off ordering tokens (you get a fiver for every 100 quid you spend))

Amount paid £190.04 / 94.5 pints = £2.01 a pint

You’re using you purchasing power to explicitly condone their actions

I agree with the ethics,  but I hope you’re not drinking Thornbridge in that case. Not all Craft brewers are equal.