The Beer Box (Midwest Supplies)

[dstranger99]

Anyone seen this? Thoughts ?........

$199.99

The easiest, most portable way to bring draft homebrew everywhere, the BeerBox™ is built for spontaneity.


The BeerBox™ system splits a 5 gallon batch between two containers, so your brew can be on tap in two places at once. And its convenient size lets you serve cold draft brew from anyone’s fridge or cooler for your beer on tap anytime, anywhere. Built to withstand the most raucous homebrew adventures, the BeerBox™ features food-grade HDPE and Made-in-the-USA construction. Plus the BeerBox™ is 100% light-proof and fits in your cooler, perfect for outdoor events.


Simpler than kegging—just prime and go—with less effort than bottling to clean and fill 2 boxes instead of 48 bottles. The BeerBox™ starter system is fully loaded so you don’t need extra equipment. Ever. And it’s so much more convenient than kegging! Each 2.75 Gallon box fits perfectly in a fridge or cooler and has a built-in handle to grab-and-go.


The tap on each BeerBox™ is raised just above the sediment line to ensure clear pours. Savor a clear, cold, perfect pint of your homebrew wherever you want, whenever you want.


Each BeerBox™ System includes:



Two-2.75 gallon BeerBox™ containers (9.925" H x 6.5" W x 15.9" L)

One-CO2 injector

Five-CO2 (16 gram) cartridges

One-Hose Tap Adaptor with Hose & Tap

2 coasters and 2 stickers

 

[RonPopeil]

Interesting idea. For the money you'd be half way to a kegerator or keezer project depending on where you sourced parts.

 

[DaNewf]

Same concept as the pressure barrel that seem so popular in the UK.

A youtuber named tubedinoz made a 10l DIY pressure barrel that would be just as portable as the beer box units. Don't know if he did any long term testing but it seemed like a solid rig.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACn7i_-8zhw

 

[TXjayhawk]

My wife bought me one of these....not for $199 though....about $70 cheaper.

It really made bottling day MUCH easier. With my first batch I bottled in the BeerBox, I have a great, foamy head on the beer, but the beer is flat. I have not heard of other issues with this, so I am trying to figure out what I did wrong.

And I like the portability of it as I will take it to my Fantasy Football draft coming up soon.

 

[dstranger99]

My wife bought me one of these....not for $199 though....about $70 cheaper.

It really made bottling day MUCH easier. With my first batch I bottled in the BeerBox, I have a great, foamy head on the beer, but the beer is flat. I have not heard of other issues with this, so I am trying to figure out what I did wrong.

And I like the portability of it as I will take it to my Fantasy Football draft coming up soon.

And the same thing happens with the picnic mini keg, it will go flat within a day or so. The C02 cartridge is not enough to keep these things fresh, it needs constant PSI pressure from a tank...

 

[dyqik]

My wife bought me one of these....not for $199 though....about $70 cheaper.

It really made bottling day MUCH easier. With my first batch I bottled in the BeerBox, I have a great, foamy head on the beer, but the beer is flat. I have not heard of other issues with this, so I am trying to figure out what I did wrong.

And I like the portability of it as I will take it to my Fantasy Football draft coming up soon.

Oops, that reminds me to post an answer to your thread on that.

Quick version, I don't think you let the beerbox sit in the fridge long enough to get the CO2 produced during carbonation to dissolve back into the beer.

 

[phyllobeddo]

I got the email from MWS on these today. I remember seeing these at some point when I was researching kegging earlier this year. I don't recall them being this expensive, though. What instantly turned me off was that you have to prime these boxes for carbonation. I did not want to bother with priming. I ended up getting a 3 gallon keg setup and loved it. I bought two more kegs (5 gallon) a few weeks ago. This product was not for me.

 

[dyqik]

Same concept as the pressure barrel that seem so popular in the UK.

A youtuber named tubedinoz made a 10l DIY pressure barrel that would be just as portable as the beer box units. Don't know if he did any long term testing but it seemed like a solid rig.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACn7i_-8zhw

The problem with that idea is that it's impossible to get anything to fit the UK pressure barrel style CO2 valve here in the US. It's a nonstandard (even for Europe) metric thread (M20x2.0 from memory), and you can't get anything to adapt it to a US CO2 connection - even the US 8g CO2 cartridges won't fit the holder that's available for the valve, and you can't easily ship the appropriate CO2 containers to the US. My solution was to convert a Speidel fermenter to take a CO2 line to the top threaded connection via a spigot, but that's only good for lightly carbed English ales (below 5 psi pressure in the barrel).

Of course, you could DIY a similar setup to the Beerbox from US sourced parts, but it's probably not that cheap to do.

 

[Teromous]

It looks pretty cool, and I'm not denying that it will be useful to people, but as a competitive shopper:

Used 3 gallon keg: $49.99 x2 = $99.98

CO2 Keg Charger: $18.99

16 gram CO2 Cartridges (6-pack): $11.99

Picnic Faucet Assembly: $11.75

CM Becker Gas MFL Ball Lock Disconnect: $5.99

Total: $148.70

The biggest benefit is that not only is it cheaper, but you get two stainless steel kegs. Granted that they are used, but many homebrewers have used kegs (myself included) and they work great.

Simpler than kegging—just prime and go—with less effort than bottling to clean and fill 2 boxes instead of 48 bottles. The BeerBox™ starter system is fully loaded so you don’t need extra equipment. Ever. And it’s so much more convenient than kegging! Each 2.75 Gallon box fits perfectly in a fridge or cooler and has a built-in handle to grab-and-go.

I'm not sure how this is simpler than kegging. I'm not sure if these BeerBoxes have a secret door for cleaning but I can fit my arm into the opening of a keg. Kegs are easy to use.

The tap on each BeerBox™ is raised just above the sediment line to ensure clear pours. Savor a clear, cold, perfect pint of your homebrew wherever you want, whenever you want.

Kegs do have a concave bottom where the dip tube rests. You can always cut or buy a smaller dip tube. I leave the dip tube as-is and just draw off a few yeasty pints (if I have yeast in there) and it's smooth sailing from there.

(I know those weren't your words, just marketing speak, I just quoted them from your post)

 

[Weezy]

I like the idea of a used fridge as a kegerator, just having to open the door and pull the tap of the beer you want. I have no issues with bulk priming and carbing, but I would want them on regular co2 gas, not the cartridges. I imagine you could attach a ball lock gas in connection.

Kinda pointless though, due to cost. These would be nice at $30 w/o the CO2 charger. I could see a Craigslist full size fridge with three rows of three of these at $30/ea.

 

[NJbeer]

to be fair....these are pinlock kegs, you would need to purchase some conversions

It looks pretty cool, and I'm not denying that it will be useful to people, but as a competitive shopper:

Used 3 gallon keg: $49.99 x2 = $99.98

CO2 Keg Charger: $18.99

16 gram CO2 Cartridges (6-pack): $11.99

Picnic Faucet Assembly: $11.75

CM Becker Gas MFL Ball Lock Disconnect: $5.99

Total: $148.70

The biggest benefit is that not only is it cheaper, but you get two stainless steel kegs. Granted that they are used, but many homebrewers have used kegs (myself included) and they work great.



I'm not sure how this is simpler than kegging. I'm not sure if these BeerBoxes have a secret door for cleaning but I can fit my arm into the opening of a keg. Kegs are easy to use.



Kegs do have a concave bottom where the dip tube rests. You can always cut or buy a smaller dip tube. I leave the dip tube as-is and just draw off a few yeasty pints (if I have yeast in there) and it's smooth sailing from there.

(I know those weren't your words, just marketing speak, I just quoted them from your post)

 

[Teromous]

to be fair....these are pinlock kegs, you would need to purchase some conversions

Ah good catch! I hadn't noticed that. You could always buy the pin lock connectors instead of the ball lock ones.

If you wanted to buy two conversion kits ($9.99 ea.) the total cost would still only be $168.68.

 

[NJbeer]

any more opinions?

 

[NJbeer]

they lowered the price to $180....but still pretty expensive. I dont know what i would pay for the boxes alone, $35 a piece?

 

[Weezy]

I actually emailed these people a few months ago. I told the. to male a growlers sized one. 64oz or 128oz at most. How awesome would that be to keep a microbrew fresh?

 

[Teromous]

I actually emailed these people a few months ago. I told the. to male a growlers sized one. 64oz or 128oz at most. How awesome would that be to keep a microbrew fresh?

Deep Woods has some pretty cool products:

Gas Cap for Growlers: $25

They have these 2L Growlers that look like kegs too: $34.50

I think they're pretty cool looking.

 

[sch21c]

any more opinions?

I don't own this, so I don't have an opinion. But I wanted to point out this is being discussed in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/beer-box-461141/

FWIW, seems like some people have reported issues with the product. A homebrew shop in FL that had sold them has stopped carrying them due to complaints.

 

[Weezy]

Deep Woods has some pretty cool products:

I think they're pretty cool looking.

Yeah, I hear ya, and I have some stuff that does the same thing. But keeping them pressurized and a container with a tap that you can dispense from on a shelf in your fridge that you don't have to move are two very different things.

 

[sch21c]

Yeah, I hear ya, and I have some stuff that does the same thing. But keeping them pressurized and a container with a tap that you can dispense from on a shelf in your fridge that you don't have to move are two very different things.

Granted, it's made for their growlers, so much smaller than the brewbox capacity, but this is pretty cool (if it works): http://deepwoodbrew.com/accessories/37-party-tap.html

 

[Teromous]

Yeah, I hear ya, and I have some stuff that does the same thing. But keeping them pressurized and a container with a tap that you can dispense from on a shelf in your fridge that you don't have to move are two very different things.

Ah I see what you're looking for. They have this combination dispenser and pressurizer/depressurizer cap too:

 

[Weezy]

Nice! but probably pretty tall and ~$100 for the combo

 

[sch21c]

Nice! but probably pretty tall and ~$100 for the combo

Yeah, but how bad-ass would you be if you rolled up to the next BBQ with that bad boy under your arm?

Seriously, it's not cheap, but I don't think it's overpriced. You've got a tap, custom fitting to the keg, stainless keg growler, and CO2 delivery system there.

I'm not buying one right away, but that's going on my "Cool list of things I want but don't need that I'm going to get when I hit the lottery."

 

[Teromous]

Yeah, but how bad-ass would you be if you rolled up to the next BBQ with that bad boy under your arm?

Seriously, it's not cheap, but I don't think it's overpriced. You've got a tap, custom fitting to the keg, stainless keg growler, and CO2 delivery system there.

I'm not buying one right away, but that's going on my "Cool list of things I want but don't need that I'm going to get when I hit the lottery."

Probably a better purchase than that stupid chocolate fountain I bought...

 

[Weezy]

I already have one of those tiny 1.75 gallon corny kegs from Williams. It fits in an oversized, soft sided lunch box. Works awesome for picnics and tailgates. I can pull off a gallon or more from a full size keg, using a cobra tap and dip tube, in a couple minutes.

 

[sch21c]

I already have one of those tiny 1.75 gallon corny kegs from Williams. It fits in an oversized, soft sided lunch box. Works awesome for picnics and tailgates. I can pull off a gallon or more from a full size keg, using a cobra tap and dip tube, in a couple minutes.

That's a great idea. I think that's going to have to go on to the lottery list, and probably on the "I actually would have a use for that" list.