It has to be said, there's nothing as good as a nice cold beer on tap but the set-ups can be quite cumbersome if you want to take your favourite craft beer or homebrew with you on your next camping trip.  The advent of the pressurized growler or, mini-keg has alleviated this problem to some degree and Growlerwerks have taken that philosophy to the next level with the release of their uKeg range of pressurised beer kegs.

Our Growlerwerks uKegs arrived right at the height of the coronavirus restrictions so it was a case of back yard camping for most of us and whilst we would have loved to have had our new growlers filled at out local craft brewery before heading out to our favourite camping spot we had to suck it up and entertain ourselves at home.  We received two uKegs for our evaluation, one 64 Oz copper plated unit and a 128 Oz black chrome model.  I was super excited to get my hands on these as stock is very low and placing backorders with your retailer seems to be the only way you can get them and the black chrome is no longer in production.  The packaging of the product is super slick with a nice glossy printed box that lends itself to the uKeg being a great gift to your craft beer-loving friends.  Upon opening the box the first thing you see is a well-produced glossy brochure that gives you al the information you need to take care of your uKeg growler, along with a maintenance tool that allows you to completely dismantle the uKeg for cleaning and seal replacement as required.  You also get to Co2 cylinders of the style that gets used in soda streams and whipped cream dispensers, 8 gram for the 64 Oz growlers and 16 gram for the 128 Oz growlers.  These are available from Growlerwerks retailers here in Oz but they are expensive and cheaper versions of the same thing are available online.  The aftermarket units retail for between a dollar or two, about a quarter of the price of the branded items and given that each cylinder is good for about two fills you will need a few of them.

Removing protective packaging from the top of the box reveals one last layer of protection, a lightweight black drawstring carry bag.  You'll need to hang onto to this for future use, not only to protect the growler when transporting but also for leaving your favourite craft brewery.  I found out the hard way that the law prevents you from leaving licensed premises with packaged alcohol that isn't covered up in some fashion.  With bag removed I just looked at the uKeg for the longest time, it is without a doubt a thing of beauty.  From the quality finish and style of the vessel itself to the brass carry handle and tap unit that runs up the outside of the growler.

Before heading down to Mudgee Brewing Company to get some of their finest I removed the caps and rinsed out the growlers with hot water, lots of it.  I also inserted a gas cartridge to each and pressurized the units, enabling me to open the tap and flush some hot water through the lines.  The benefit of using hot water is that it allows the unit to dry a little bit quicker, lest you should dilute your favourite drop.  The filling process can be a little tricky of the person doing the job doesn't share the same passion for beer as they can't see how full it is like with they can with a glass growler style bottle.  There is a trick that helps, they need to place a filling hose onto their tap and run it into the base of the uKeg, this helps prevent foaming of the beer and lets you see it rising to the top of vessel little better.  The other thing that sets the Growlereks uKeg apart that also aids the process is the handy little site glass in the side of the tap riser tube.  It's important to leave about 30-40mm at the top of the uKeg as the cylinder is mounted on the base of the cap and if you fill it right to the top it will simply flood over the side.  Once the growler is filled, turn the chrome dial on the top of the little clockwise until you have just under 5 psi on the pressure gauge, turn the gas back off and undo the lid very slowly until you hear a hiss.  Quickly re-tighten the lid and re-pressurize.  This forces the oxygen out of the top of the uKeg and helps keep your brew fresher, longer.

With the double-walled design of the uKeg helping to keep your beer cold for up to 8 hours, it's not really necessary to race home and get it in the fridge.

**Work in Progress*  

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