Guinness now available in 1/6 (20 liter) in Mass!!!!!

[molibra]

Just talked to my neighborhood wine and spirits, they have the 20 liter Guinness keg. Little pricey, $95. Still will be a great option for me once fall rolls around again as I'll be able to have three beers on tap.

Just wanted to pass along the Guinness availability.

[KillianBoy]

Guinness now available in 1/6 (20 liter) in Mass!!!!!

Thanks member scootermsp (the OP of first thread) for the info on Guinness 1/6, I did a search and couldn't find stores carrying this keg. But did find MM has the keg listed on the coupler list and surprise, surprise it is a "A" coupler and not a "U" coupler.

So if you don't mind can you confirm it is a "A" and is it a standard steel keg? (search on 'net came up with a reference to Guinness changing to plastic kegs). Honestly this is pretty important thread, members have been screaming for a smaller Guinness keg.
KB

[KillianBoy]

molibra,
Thanks for info, if you post region might be helpful to general membership, if you do get it, can you post what container and coupler it uses?
KB

[molibra]

molibra,
Thanks for info, if you post region might be helpful to general membership, if you do get it, can you post what container and coupler it uses?
KB

I live in Omaha.

I probably wont get another Guinness keg until fall. Been drinking it all winter, so will be drinking domestic and summer beers until then.

[aerovan]

It's available in Southern California also, the half keg is a much better value here.

[Stoj]

Guinness now available in 1/6 (20 liter) in Chicagoland (Bonus: my long story)

Hello - this is my first time posting but I wanted to share this in case anyone was interested.

Most liquor stores in my area (Chicago & O'Hare) have been able to confirm that the 20L keg of Guinness is now available upon request. The prices I am hearing are right around $100. I know that isn't a discount, but from my understanding not many 1/6 kegs are priced in our favor.

Some stats on the Guinness 1/6 (20L) Keg:

Weight: 57 lbs
Height: 23 inches
Width: 9.3 inches
Shape: Round, Steel Drum
Coupler: "U" system coupler (same as other Guinness kegs)


Long story about what led to this discovery:

I am building a house, and have been searching for that "perfect" built-in kegerator, as I have no skills of my own. I believe the last thing I built was a 1ft wooden cross when I was 12, and even that was pre-cut. I have been looking for something that meets my needs, which is basically a dual tap, front-venting, under-counter unit that can take a wood panel overlay for the door (our cabinet guy will make it). It also HAD to be able to accommodate a keg of Guinness. And of course, it had to work perfectly with zero to minimal "mods", because again, I suck at everything. The main issue I was concerned about was cooling the tower and noise.

My search for "the best" led me to many places, including these forums. From reading, the common theme was that the Perlick faucets were some pretty sweet faucets, so I thought "Hey I wonder if they make a complete unit?". Turns out, they do. And it apparently met all of my requirements. Sadly, after some discussion with the company, it turns out that the Perlick HC24 can only handle quarters and sixths that utilize a low-profile coupler, and currently there is no low-profile "U" coupler on the market (not that I know of, at least). So Perlick was a swing and a miss.

Next up was True. Man they have a sweet residential unit - the handcrafted TUR-24DD. And according to their spec sheets, the dual tap unit COULD handle a sixth AND the "U" coupler. Oh man now it was time to shop around for the best deals. That is when I discovered the fact that many of these places protect the hell out of their pricing. No deals to be had. Most people would not ship out of their "sales area", no discounts, etc. So I was just trying to find someone who would either not charge for shipping, or charge something less than the IL sales tax (8.75%). I was about to just suck it up and purchase from a local store when I figured I would triple-check the capacity of this thing. So I wrote to True and ended up talking to their "beer geek". He informed me that the online documentation was misleading, and that True was in the same boat as Perlick. A low-profile coupler is necessary for anything taller than the short quarter barrel.

At this point, I was pretty bummed. The bar is basically one of the only "rooms" that I get to "go nuts" with. My media room idea was squashed. My "solar lights" idea was laughed out of the building. Thankfully I never approached the wife with my Geothermal heating & cooling scheme or my heated driveway dreams. But the bar - I get to do whatever I want. Authentic tin panel ceilings? Yup. Chicago-style bar rail instead of the builder's "hey look I made a kitchen counter for you and let's call it a bar" setup? Yup. Premium bar-top of my choice? Uh-huh. And a dual-tap kegerator? Sure. But I was helpfully instructed that a) it cannot be super loud, b) it should fit nicely in with the cabinets without having to cut vents in the front, and c) it better not break in a couple of years.

So, I can't (won't) build one. My plan to grossly over-pay (yes I am aware I'd grossly overpay for either of those) for the premium ones was thwarted because won't fit any tall kegs without a low-profile coupler. Then someone pointed me towards the Marvel 61HKT. It seemingly could do it all - it met all of my requirements to a tee. I even wrote to Marvel, making them confirm several times in writing that it was all true - all of these wonderful things. And they assured me that yes, YES!, this is the one for me. This is probably what I will end up getting. I am aware that the tower cooling issue may exist, so I'll probably rig up a little fan per previous forum post suggestions.

Anyway, I had heard rumblings in this forum that the 1/6 Guinness keg was starting to show up on the east and west coasts, and I have been hounding the suppliers around here to lean on their guys a little bit to get these in Chicago. I doubt my phone calls had any effect on this, but I must say it was not long after I kept calling them that they finally had some good news for me - that the 20L COULD be ordered.

Thanks to everyone who posts here - I've been able to find a ton of information in this forum and a few others, and it has been tremendously helpful.

-Stoj

[PointPleasantNJBeerguy]

Already been discussed....
http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-e...iter-mass.html

[Stoj]

Actually that thread was my "inspiration" - it seemed like people were only finding it on the coasts - us flyover suckers were sitting here waiting.

[ldobson]

Hello - this is my first time posting but I wanted to share this in case anyone was interested.

Most liquor stores in my area (Chicago & O'Hare) have been able to confirm that the 20L keg of Guinness is now available upon request. The prices I am hearing are right around $100. I know that isn't a discount, but from my understanding not many 1/6 kegs are priced in our favor.

Some stats on the Guinness 1/6 (20L) Keg:

Weight: 57 lbs
Height: 23 inches
Width: 9.3 inches
Shape: Round, Steel Drum
Coupler: "U" system coupler (same as other Guinness kegs)


Long story about what led to this discovery:

I am building a house, and have been searching for that "perfect" built-in kegerator, as I have no skills of my own. I believe the last thing I built was a 1ft wooden cross when I was 12, and even that was pre-cut. I have been looking for something that meets my needs, which is basically a dual tap, front-venting, under-counter unit that can take a wood panel overlay for the door (our cabinet guy will make it). It also HAD to be able to accommodate a keg of Guinness. And of course, it had to work perfectly with zero to minimal "mods", because again, I suck at everything. The main issue I was concerned about was cooling the tower and noise.

My search for "the best" led me to many places, including these forums. From reading, the common theme was that the Perlick faucets were some pretty sweet faucets, so I thought "Hey I wonder if they make a complete unit?". Turns out, they do. And it apparently met all of my requirements. Sadly, after some discussion with the company, it turns out that the Perlick HC24 can only handle quarters and sixths that utilize a low-profile coupler, and currently there is no low-profile "U" coupler on the market (not that I know of, at least). So Perlick was a swing and a miss.

Next up was True. Man they have a sweet residential unit - the handcrafted TUR-24DD. And according to their spec sheets, the dual tap unit COULD handle a sixth AND the "U" coupler. Oh man now it was time to shop around for the best deals. That is when I discovered the fact that many of these places protect the hell out of their pricing. No deals to be had. Most people would not ship out of their "sales area", no discounts, etc. So I was just trying to find someone who would either not charge for shipping, or charge something less than the IL sales tax (8.75%). I was about to just suck it up and purchase from a local store when I figured I would triple-check the capacity of this thing. So I wrote to True and ended up talking to their "beer geek". He informed me that the online documentation was misleading, and that True was in the same boat as Perlick. A low-profile coupler is necessary for anything taller than the short quarter barrel.

At this point, I was pretty bummed. The bar is basically one of the only "rooms" that I get to "go nuts" with. My media room idea was squashed. My "solar lights" idea was laughed out of the building. Thankfully I never approached the wife with my Geothermal heating & cooling scheme or my heated driveway dreams. But the bar - I get to do whatever I want. Authentic tin panel ceilings? Yup. Chicago-style bar rail instead of the builder's "hey look I made a kitchen counter for you and let's call it a bar" setup? Yup. Premium bar-top of my choice? Uh-huh. And a dual-tap kegerator? Sure. But I was helpfully instructed that a) it cannot be super loud, b) it should fit nicely in with the cabinets without having to cut vents in the front, and c) it better not break in a couple of years.

So, I can't (won't) build one. My plan to grossly over-pay (yes I am aware I'd grossly overpay for either of those) for the premium ones was thwarted because won't fit any tall kegs without a low-profile coupler. Then someone pointed me towards the Marvel 61HKT. It seemingly could do it all - it met all of my requirements to a tee. I even wrote to Marvel, making them confirm several times in writing that it was all true - all of these wonderful things. And they assured me that yes, YES!, this is the one for me. This is probably what I will end up getting. I am aware that the tower cooling issue may exist, so I'll probably rig up a little fan per previous forum post suggestions.

Anyway, I had heard rumblings in this forum that the 1/6 Guinness keg was starting to show up on the east and west coasts, and I have been hounding the suppliers around here to lean on their guys a little bit to get these in Chicago. I doubt my phone calls had any effect on this, but I must say it was not long after I kept calling them that they finally had some good news for me - that the 20L COULD be ordered.

Thanks to everyone who posts here - I've been able to find a ton of information in this forum and a few others, and it has been tremendously helpful.

-Stoj

I have been looking out for these in both PA and MD, I live In York, PA but work in Baltimore, MD, so far I have failed to locate Guinness in anything less than a 1/2.


On another note, have you looked at the Beverage Air BM23? Perhaps a little big for your needs, but a rock solid unit with no after market mods required to make it work as intended, and makes doing dual product a breeze!

[Stoj]

On another note, have you looked at the Beverage Air BM23? Perhaps a little big for your needs, but a rock solid unit with no after market mods required to make it work as intended, and makes doing dual product a breeze!

I actually spent several days trying to figure out to make the BM23 work for our bar, but in the end could not. I read so much about it and know that it is the "preferred" model for those who aren't building from scratch. I love how the tower is cooled via the built-in hose. But I'm pretty sure 1) We'd have to vent it out the front of the bar, 2) it might be too tall, and 3) it wouldn't integrate as well with our bar. If we build anything outside I am guessing I will go with one of their outdoor units though. I've read nothing but good things about their products.

As for the Guinness - try and get one of the large chains to CALL their distributor. I bet that it is available, but it does not show up as an option on their price sheet at this time. But if they call, I bet they can get it.

[KillianBoy]

To OP and others,
I guess I'll close thread another member started similar thread here:

http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/kegerators-kegerator-kits-home/14036-guinness-now-available-1-6-20-liter-chicagoland-bonus-my-long-story.html

Also it seems that it will take the same "U" coupler, MM decided to change to "U" from "A", apologies to OP.
KB

[KillianBoy]

I've decided to close the other thread, the OP seemed to take exception to being asked to link to photo thread instead of posting all his pics at every post, tried to apologize, but OP seems to have left forever deleting nearly all his posts as he left.

Stoj,
Can you confirm size of keg? At your dimensions, it would add a 3rd euro keg size to the mix (maybe it isn't a euro keg, if isn't then why the "U" coupler), so if you can, say where and how confirmed (personally measured, company/distributor who confirmed).

Have you thought about a remote dispense or even a DIY on wheels? If you want ideas, start a thread with what you have to work with and specifications.
KB
I looked through 'net and crunched numbers and came up with that, this size (dimensions) isn't a 20 liter, to hold 20 liters it would have to be slightly bigger, so either it is a true 1/6 keg or very odd sized euro keg that looks like a 1/6 but has a different way it hold beer at this dimension.

[Stoj]

Sure - the guy sent me the following:

image001.jpg

image002.jpg

These were sent to him from the distributor (he just forwarded me the email). Oddly enough, the guy who provided the dimensions to him - I just googled him, and it says he's the "National Account Manager at Micro Matic USA". Either that or your guys shares the same name as a Diageo Guinness distributor in Chicago. (Mr. Galvin).

That's very close to standard 1/6 dimensions, no? Maybe they rounded the height?

[KillianBoy]

Stoj,
OK, yeah really doesn't make sense that it is a 20 liter, OK:

Your post:
23 inches x 9.3 inches 20 liter (5.28 gallons)

MM dimensions:
23 inches x 9 1/4 inches (9.25) 1/6 (5.16 gallons)

So if they can fit 1/10 of gallon in .05 difference of width (and what they can get in extra space at top and bottom), then it is a 20 liter. In my opinion, it really can't be this size and be a 20 liter, I think they rounded off the width and just assume it is the same size as a 1/6 since numbers are close.
So either their dimensions are totally wrong or Guinness is kegging 1/6 beer kegs (I don't think they brew Guinness anywhere else other than Scotland) in US 1/6 kegs with a "U" spear, I think their dimensions are wrong.
They originally posted in the store that the "20 Liter" takes a "A" coupler and all of a sudden it is a "U", without even a note to forum about a question that is pretty important (many members have asked for a smaller Guinness keg).
Best thing for you to do is check with the store you plan on ordering from and see if they can order one to see and what the exact dimensions are in person, most stores can return unused kegs. Maybe check to see if they have any 20 liter Guinness empties.
KB