Perfecting your pour from the Heineken Draught Mini Keg
I was lucky enough to receive a Heineken Draught Mini Keg from Heineken in New Zealand to write a review on recently.
If you have read previous articles on this site you will know I am already a huge fan of the mini kegs so decided to focus this article on how to perfect your pour as this is the only real issue I have found with the mini kegs, ie that unless you get a good technique going you end up with a huge amount of head.
One of the Heineken websites gives this advice:
"I’m getting a lot of foam. What should i do?
Some foaming during the initial pour is normal. It should settle down after that. For best results, the beer should be cooled for at least 10 hours at 2-5 degrees Centigrade. Do not store at temperatures above 35 degrees Centigrade. We strongly recommend that you do not shake the keg before use, and always allow DraughtKeg to settle before use. Rinsing and cooling your glasses also assists in reducing excessive foam."
However even after doing the above you still need to perfect your technique or you still get loads of head.
Heres a video of a very bad pour even with the glass on a reasonable angle to prevent head, btw excuse my fat beer gut…
What I have found is that increasing the angle of the pour seems to help, having the keg on a slight angle as well as putting as much angle on the glass as possible definitley improves the pour, my second attempt while still far from perfect is alot better.
Remember you still actually want a slight head as this prevents the full taste and aroma of the beer escaping.
Anyway let me know what you think and head on through to the Official Heineken Site for more info about the Heineken Mini Kegs
January 30th, 2008 at 20:46:44
Never thought I would say “I hate a lot of head”, but this keg is pissing me off.
March 2nd, 2008 at 15:49:56
Im about to go try that. I was tipping my glass but not the keg. I figured I could find help for this dilemma on the Interwebs!
March 2nd, 2008 at 16:05:57
Ok I tried it and still got about half a glass of head. Not sure what is going on. I even rinsed the glass out before hand. Well it’s still pretty full so I’ll keep trying
March 31st, 2008 at 12:21:34
First keg worked perfectly for Lawrence. Didn’t have to tilt the keg, just held the glass at a very sharp angle and poured with less than fastest speed. Delicious. However, on my second day with the same keg, the beer seemed aa little flat - almost no foam. Maybe the tap handle should not have been kept in the down position opposite the pouring position (pushed flat backwards)? Should the tap handle be left at an angle after pouring? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!
April 14th, 2008 at 08:04:34
i have a question that will prolly be answered way after i have finished drinking the keg but.. can you store them lying down even after your first use?!?!!? dont have room to stand it up