The good folks at Heineken, whom you may have noticed have been advertising their new Draughtkeg system on Giz recently, thought it would be a good idea to send us one of them to “review”. I reluctantly agreed.The Heineken Draughtkeg is so simple that even the drunkest of drunkards can operate it, which is probably a good thing if you happen to drink all five litres in one sitting. The first step, ironically, is also the hardest: you need to stick the keg in a fridge – for 10 hours. It makes sense, but doesn’t make the wait for sweet, amber liquid on a Friday afternoon any easier.
Once your beer is cold, you pull out the plastic fitting on the top of the keg, rinse the tap, and then clip the handle onto the notch in the centre of the keg. Then you place the tap in the groove, push down a bit, and when you’re ready pull the round tap lid back like you’re pulling a real beer at the finest pub in Amsterdam.
The first beer out of the Draughtkeg – for me – turned out to be 50% head, and had me preparing my razor sharp wit for a scathing review. However, every subsequent beer has had just that perfect amount of head on it, making it easy and pleasant to drink.
Heineken claims that the Draughtkeg will last up to 30 days after opening – although it’s only been a week since I cracked mine, so I can’t tell you if that’s true or not. I probably won’t be able to either – 5 litres of beer only goes so far, and on a beautiful Friday afternoon, the urge to pull a fresh one off the near-empty keg is mighty high.
Obviously the question of whether or not you want to opt for a keg or a case the next time you head to Dan Murphy’s will depend largely on your taste in beer – while I quite enjoy Heineken, it’s far from my favourite beer. If I could grab, say, a James Squires Amber Ale Draughtkeg, I’d be all over it every week – there’s something about the ability to pour your own beer that’s incredibly refreshing. Which means that if you happen to be a Heineken fan, then the $35 (ish) Draughtkeg is a seriously good option.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m calling it beer o’clock. Cheers…