The uKeg Pro growler is a must have for the avid craft beer lover or homebrewer. Whether you are picking up beer from a local brewery, sharing homebrew with friends or transporting beer to your homebrew club, this growler will ensure your homebrew makes it there in the possible condition.
Product Details
Volume - 64oz (128oz size available)
Price - $179.00
Link - Growler Werks
Features
- VPR Cap – automatically regulates pressure to optimally carbonate beer. Choose your desired carbonation level, from zero (off) up to 15 psi.
- Vessel – durable, double-wall vacuum-insulated stainless steel.
- Pressure Gauge – easily read the pressure inside the growler.
- Dispenser Tap – easily pours beer any time, without removing cap. Plus taplock to prevent dispensing.
- Interchangeable Tap Handle – handle can be changed to personalize or represent your favorite brewery.
- Sight Glass – shows contents of uKeg and how much is left.
- CO2 Cartridge – uses low cost, food-grade CO2 cartridges.
Accessories
CO2 Cartridges - Link
Tap Handle - Link
Cleaning Tablets - Link
Gifting Guide
This growler is a perfect gift for any craft beer fan but especially one who likes to try beer from local breweries. It would also make a great gift for a homebrewer, as a way to transport and share kegged beer.
At the $180 price point this can seem a bit steep but you can often find it on sale through various retailers online. As for justifying the cost, this growler will make its money back in just a few trips to your local craft brewery since you won’t be dumping flat beer a week later. It’s also a better long-term investment than a glass growler which will inevitably get bumped and shatter in your garage. Having a durable build that keeps your beer fresher longer means this growler is worth the investment.
To round out the gift, throw in some fun accessories like the Tap Handles or extra CO2 Cartridges to ensure that it can be used for many times to come.
Key features
CO2 Pressurization system
This growler comes with one key feature that makes growlers a viable option for transporting beer: a CO2 pressurization system. One of the main drawbacks of a regular growler is that it goes flat in your fridge after a day or so, leaving you with a sub-par product that will likely get dumped. This can really kill the enthusiasm you had when you were sitting in the tap room drinking a delicious pint and decided to buy enough to take home. With the uKeg Pro, you can keep the beer under pressure until the beer is fully consumed, up to two weeks. You can even dial in the pressure with the CO2 pressure knob and gauge, allowing the system to adjust for different styles.
Locking tap
Another key feature is the locking tap. The tap is a major upgrade from pouring from the top of a regular growler and adds a feeling of legitimacy to the beer. To make it so the tap won’t spontaneously pour into your car/backpack/fridge, there is a locking pin just below the tap handle to ensure that it can’t open unless you want it to.
Sight Glass
Finally the last key feature is the volume sight glass. This is a simple but super helpful feature that lets you see how much is left. Perfect for convincing yourself to finish that last 12oz.
Homebrewing Uses
Carbonating Homebrew
With the CO2 system on this growler, you can actually carbonate your beer directly without any other equipment. Simply add clear beer straight from the fermentor and pressurize. Toss it in the fridge and after a few days it will be perfectly carbonated and ready to serve. This is handy for brewers who haven’t invested in full sized keg equipment but want to carbonate their beer quickly without bottle conditioning.
Transport to Homebrew Clubs
Show up to any homebrew club meeting across the US and you will find at least one of these growlers being used to share homebrew. Homebrewers who normally keg at home need a simple way to transport homebrew that will ensure it arrives in as close to the same state as possible, essential for reviews or beer judging. The uKeg Pro checks all the boxes. The tap makes it easy to pour samples and the sightglass helps to ensure you can divide up the remainder evenly.
Sharing with friends
Sharing your beer is one of the simplest joys of homebrewing. What makes it not fun is showing up to a barbecue with flat warm beer. Walk in with this growler and not only will people want to try your beer but also it will be experienced in the same way you intended.
Criticisms
Overall, the uKeg Pro is a great product but there are a few issues that you should be aware of. The first is that in practice the CO2 cartridges really only last for a single use. In theory you can get multiple uses out of one cartridge if you fill it immediately after finishing the beer but if you’re like most people then the growler will sit for a bit between uses and the CO2 will escape. It’s not a huge issue since cartridges are cheap but it seems like they should last longer.
The other criticism is that the tap is hard to get fully clean. It seems like the growler needs to be cleaned again after it’s been sitting empty for a bit. The trick is to not let the liquids dry after use and to clean it immediately. You can also pump some soapy water through the tap with the pressure system or by blowing into it and then rinse.
Conclusion
The uKeg Growler Pro is an essential item for any beer enthusiast or homebrewer looking to take his beer on the go.
Cheers!