Party Pig

Hello all!

Midwest is promoting the party pug set up, which seems pretty cool.

Any feedback from the community?

Does the party pig negate the need to bottle and instantly add carbonation?

If so, can I skip the corn sugar step in the next couple weeks when I go to bottle my current batch?

Thanks!

Most people I know who own party pigs liked them, but wished they would have just spent the money on a kegging setup.

You bottle condition in the party pig so it isn't instant carbonation. There is a CO2 pouch inside that to dispense. I think thats how it works.

This is a common misconception about kegging vs bottling. No carbonation is instant. To force carbonate, you either apply pressure and wait a few weeks, or apply and shake, risking overcarbonation which causes the draft to dispense all foam.

You also need about 3x more CO2 to carb and serve than you would if you carbed naturally.

You can also prime and condition directly inside the party pig. I'd recommend this as the CO2 cartridges add up fast.

EDIT: Eh sorry, I'm thinking Tap-a-Draft.

With the party pig you add sugar to carbonate and then the CO2 pouch maintains pressure by taking up empty space as the beer is poured out so you don't have oxygen coming back in and making the beer stale. You still have to let it sit for 2-3 weeks to carbonate.

It's a good way to have draft beer without putting down the cash for a kegging system, especially if you lack the funds or space for a kegging set up. You might outgrow it if you do get a full blown keg system but it's always an easy way to take beer outdoors, to parties, etc. There's no glass involved so it's perfect for boats, pools, rivers, etc. where glass is not permitted.

So what I am reading here is regardless of bottling, party pig or kegging directly from my secondary I still need to:

1: add sugar
2: wait two to three weeks for carbonation to occur naturally?

Am I on the right track here?

can someone add a link to this contraption? i live in a small apt so the idea of not having to have a ton of bottles intrigues me but kegging is also out of reach for the amount of space and separate fridge needed to chill everything

EDIT disregard, I'm a moron for not simply googling it

Huh, I guess you no longer need CO2 cartridges.

"The package requires no CO2 tanks or cartridges because it uses a self-inflating pressure pouch. As beer is dispensed from the PET plastic bottle through an attached push-button valve, the internal pressure pouch expands and maintains a constant 15-20 pounds per square inch of pressure. This is accomplished by combining citric acid and bicarbonate of soda in a controlled manner to produce CO2 gas, which remains inside the pressure pouch and does not come in contact with the beer."

Bulldog21 said:

So what I am reading here is regardless of bottling, party pig or kegging directly from my secondary I still need to:

1: add sugar
2: wait two to three weeks for carbonation to occur naturally?

Am I on the right track here?

Click to expand...

Yep, the instructions are on the website.

Looks to be more robust than the Tap-A-Draft.

I just bought one. Filled it up for the first time on Sunday. Racked my brew as usual into my bottling bucket over the boiled corn sugar & water mixture. Filled the Pig up to the line, then bottled the rest of the 5 gal batch. Slid the pouch into the pig, pumped the pressure up with the supplied pump. Bag inflated no problem. Purged out all of the air till foam came out of the nozzle and that was it.....piece of cake! Still have to wait 3 weeks to drink but it will be cool to be able to easily bring places. I plan on getting a keg setup this summer, figure I can still use the Pig as a glorified growler to take places. One thing I did read is that the pouches have a shelf life. So don't buy a crap load of them if they're gonna be laying around for awhile.....

Another thing to consider is the amount of yeast in the bottom from "pig" conditioning. If you go portable with it, move it with ease like you would a bottle conditioned beer.

Excellent advice - thank you all for the feedback!

I am thinking of buying one. Do you know how long you could possibly condition the beer with it (with the pouch inside)?

And do you know how long you get pressure after starting to dispense ?