Hey Beertender

This one caught my eye and I figured I would reward myself with a Beertender. Maybe it was my success with the Keurig coffee maker, but I think beverage machines are pretty cool.

And what is cooler than this? Cold, fresh beer on tap. I set it up in my office at Microsoft but i figure I’ll bring it home for parties as well.

I did a bit of research and looked at this system vs. other 5 liter keg systems. This one uses the Heineken Draughtkeg. The Draughtkeg appears to be a Heineken invention and it integrated the C02 into the keg, as opposed to other 5 liter kegs that requires external C02 cartridges.

It’s simple and easy and even the first pour had a good balance of foam and beer. The downside, of course, is that there are only Draughtkeg Heineken (and Heineken Light) beers, so no variety. However I didn’t see a great selection of 5 liter kegs, either (Coors? Blecch). Hopefully we’ll see some variety in this form factor.

There are two companies that make Beertenders. One is Krups and their top model is $299. Kind of rich for what is basically a mini-fridge and pull spout. T-Fal makes one for only $199, so I went for that one (at Target, but they sell them on Amazon).

This model has two LEDs – one for power and one for “optimum temperature.” It took a few hours to get the keg to the right temp, but the keg started cold from the store. They say it  can take up to 18 hours to go from room temp to optimum temperature. Plan ahead.

it’s very quiet – a bit louder when it’s cooling but virtually silent after that. The black and chrome on the TFal is well done, although with the drip tray it takes up a good chunk of table space.

Father’s Day is around the corner, so here’s a refreshing gift idea. Ha ha.