Party Pig???

I am really sick of sanitizing bottles! I am thinking of purchasing a couple of Party Pigs. Has anyone ever used or tried these? I brew five gallons at a time, so two of them would be just about right... My eventual goal if to get a Korny Keg system, but for right now I can't afford to do so. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Roger "Doc".

www.partypig.com

I use the 5 liter kegs a lot. 4 kegs, 1 batch!

What I like about that is I can add different fruit flavoring to one or two and maybe a liquid smoke to another while still having 1 normal beer (or any combination thereof).

rogerdoct said:

I am really sick of sanitizing bottles! I am thinking of purchasing a couple of Party Pigs. Has anyone ever used or tried these? I brew five gallons at a time, so two of them would be just about right... My eventual goal if to get a Korny Keg system, but for right now I can't afford to do so. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Roger "Doc".

www.partypig.com

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I've never used them, but from the talking I've done to others, you either love them or you hate them. The HBS I use talks them up, but they also talk up the cornies AND bottles. They tell me they sell about equal volumes of each.

Hiya, My first time posting here (been following the threads and LEARNING ALOT!)
I decided to use the Party pigs for my first ever 5 gallon batch (was using the Mr Keg system and 22oz bottles).
It seemed to go ok, I'm bottling a Red ale (sorry don't have the recipe in front of me, if anyone wants it let me know).
Was kinda easy, the only issue I had was the sugar, the recipe for the Red ale says to boil 1 cup of water with 5oz of priming sugar. I did that, but the Pig instructions says to add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of corn sugar. So I added 1/3 cup of the priming sugar/water mixture I had made up.
Everything else went smoothly (except a "small" spill) I did'nt have the other Pig ready and lost the prime on the siphon.
BTW, I did rack to a secondary (6 gallon carboy). Fermentation was for 10 days (0 activity on the airlock) and the secondary had maybe 1 bubble every 5-10 minutes. Let sit for 5 days to clear.
Put the pig together (no problems) and then used to the pump to activate the "pouch". Never heard the "pop" the instructions mention, but the the pouch was defitnetly extended and was alot of pressure in the pig.
Wil wait a few days for everything to "settle" then let ya know how the beer is.


Clayton

1 Red ale - Bottled
2 Wheat beer - fermenter.

I think that the biggest problem with the pig is getting the pouch to activate.
I have one and like it a lot for my english real ales.
I bought a CO2 injector that uses 12 gram cartridges. I plan to use a short length of tubing that is the same size as the hand pump tubing and activate it that way. I haven't used this method as my LHBS stopped carrying the pouches and I just haven't bothered to track some down on the web.
I also have a Tap-A-Draft and Philtap systems.
I like all three and they perfectly suit my needs.

I have one. It is part of my collection of "wish I'd spent my money elsewhere" stuff. As I recall (it's been a very long time since I've used it) it worked well, fit in the fridge, reduced bottling a 5 gal batch in half, and made me feel cool having "draft" beer. One thing I didn't like was trying to find the pouches (before I used the internet), and that I was still bottling. The pig went to my brother's attic once I bought the corneys, and I haven't seen it since.
My recomendation, if you're planning on corneys anyway, save your money. If you don't waste it on the pig, you'll be able to afford what you really want sooner.
g

I second George, I came by mine second hand, and to me the best thing was just less bottling time. I switched to Cornies a year ago and have never looked back.

I see the mixed reviews about the Pig. What about the Stainless Keg injector systems like what williams brewing sells? I dont have the money,resources or room for full kegging yet.

i'd go ahead with the kegging...do you have a craigslist in your area? you can usually find some cheaper used kegs and used co2 tanks...seems like it wouldn't cost much more than a new pig

what is a craigslist?

homebrewer_99 said:

I use the 5 liter kegs a lot. 4 kegs, 1 batch!

What I like about that is I can add different fruit flavoring to one or two and maybe a liquid smoke to another while still having 1 normal beer (or any combination thereof).

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HB_99 - Do you get good carbonation on your 5L kegs or is your beer from these kegs like a beer engine? I've always kicked around the idea of trying these. They don't seem to get rave reviews, but I think it comes from people who are die-hard corny users.

George said:

I have one. It is part of my collection of "wish I'd spent my money elsewhere" stuff.

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+1. Still have it in my garage.
For the money you will spend on PartyPig you can buy 2 used kegs. Just look on e-bay or http://www.craigslist.org.

I also have one of these things. I only used it once and it irked me that you have to buy a new pressure pouch for every batch. I haven't done the arithmetic, but I think that the long-term cost of using cornys is less and that the results are superior. That said, the pig does have the advantage of fitting into a normal fridge and being very portable.

Need advice, stat!

I have an offer for 6 of these for free. Do you have to use the pouch or can you rig up a force carbonation?

Eh, now that I think about it, it's probably not worth it....

zoebisch01 said:

Need advice, stat!

I have an offer for 6 of these for free. Do you have to use the pouch or can you rig up a force carbonation?

Eh, now that I think about it, it's probably not worth it....

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Yes and no. I have seen someone put an air valve in the tail of the pig and serve using CO2 cartridges but that requires drilling and installing the valve. Otherwise you need to use the pouches which are about $4 per use.
If you don't have a kegging system I'd say they are definitely worth the free pigs, just for the savings in bottling time and effort. My Pig fits nicely in my mini fridge and I will continue to use it with new pouches until I can set up my kegging system.

Craig

CBBaron said:

Yes and no. I have seen someone put an air valve in the tail of the pig and serve using CO2 cartridges but that requires drilling and installing the valve. Otherwise you need to use the pouches which are about $4 per use.
If you don't have a kegging system I'd say they are definitely worth the free pigs, just for the savings in bottling time and effort. My Pig fits nicely in my mini fridge and I will continue to use it with new pouches until I can set up my kegging system.

Craig

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thx Craig.

Hey if it's free go for it....even if you dick up 1 or 2...they were still free! :fro:

#2 or 3 on my brewing project list is to make an acrylic disk the size of the Pig spout and screw in two CPC quick disconnects to allow this to be a small keg in the kegorator, or a convenient mini keg for parties.
I happily used mine until I got cornies early last year. Now I am realizing that 5 gallons isn't the only volume I need, and the wasted space and CO2 consumption of 1/2 filled cornies is a larger concern that one would think. If Cornies are still cheap to get where you are, that's great, but they are downright scarce in SoCal and the shipping from Ohio is a *****. The price starts to look really good when you compare it to a 2.5 or 3 gal. cornie.

Replacement bottles are about $9 and the rings to secure the the top are $7. Add a pair of CPC disconnects for about $10 and you are right about at the price of a 5 gal cornie.

Germey said:

#2 or 3 on my brewing project list is to make an acrylic disk the size of the Pig spout and screw in two CPC quick disconnects to allow this to be a small keg in the kegorator, or a convenient mini keg for parties.
I happily used mine until I got cornies early last year. Now I am realizing that 5 gallons isn't the only volume I need, and the wasted space and CO2 consumption of 1/2 filled cornies is a larger concern that one would think. If Cornies are still cheap to get where you are, that's great, but they are downright scarce in SoCal and the shipping from Ohio is a *****. The price starts to look really good when you compare it to a 2.5 or 3 gal. cornie.

Replacement bottles are about $9 and the rings to secure the the top are $7. Add a pair of CPC disconnects for about $10 and you are right about at the price of a 5 gal cornie.

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Good idea, I am going to pick these up since they are free.

I have used my 1 pig once. I got it for a b-day gift from my parents that wanted to get me some brewing stuff. It foamed like crazy, and I don't think I'll use it again. for 50 bucks, I could have gotten the refractometer I've been wanting.

Trodd said:

I have used my 1 pig once. I got it for a b-day gift from my parents that wanted to get me some brewing stuff. It foamed like crazy, and I don't think I'll use it again. for 50 bucks, I could have gotten the refractometer I've been wanting.

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You need to use less priming sugar in the pig. I always did well with their recommended amount. I would prime the pig and fill it, then prime the rest in a bottling bucket for bottles. There may also have been a problem with the insertion of the pressure reducer in the spout. I actually always found them to be too effective and would only insert them until they stopped going in easily. Other than those two things, there is nothing else the pig could have done to cause foaming... it may have just been that batch.

I'd bottle over pig for both price and quality. The PP bottles leak CO2 and sustained carbonation levels are hard to achieve.


I'd bottle, but then, I'd buy 16oz bottles...wait that's what I DID when I first started.

Less bottling!

:cross:

I actually bottle about 1-2 gallons from my keg batches now to save or give away and find that I don't mind it anymore...go figure.

I have used them for about 10 years and Like them...

I have had a couple problems in that time.

ONE: a few times getting the "pouch" to inflate was hard.
TWO once the pouch somehow blocked the tap.

I don't use them that often but I have seen some brewpubs filling them...