Verdict
The Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser take 5 - cubic decimeter kegful of the character you find at supermarkets and let you pour them as a pub would . It ’s a bit of a faff to get it working , fiddly to line up , and the cool down system is only rat to run for up to 21 hours . However , for parties it could be a good pick ; but the PerfectDraft organization is good .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Who does n’t need pub - style beer , pour brisk , at home ? While thePhilips PerfectDraftmay be the go - to machine for such representative , it involve you to purchase specific keg built for the organization . The Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser point to make life easier , using standard 5 - litre keg that can be plunk up from supermarkets .
So it ’s easier to get time lag of the beer to utilise Salter ’s organisation ; however , it ’s more of a faff to use than PerfectDraft and it will cool down your beer for only up to 21 minute .
Design and Features
Pop into any major supermarket and you ’ll find a reasonable identification number of 5 - cubic decimetre kegful for sale . The selection pass over everything from the bigger names , such as Heineken , to others including Krombacher , Paulaner and Adnams . Order online and you ’ll incur that a lot of microbreweries do their own kegful , too .
Rather than get to prescribe your beer online and take to wait for it to arrive , as you will have to for use with Philips ’ PerfectDraft , for the Salter Dispenser , getting storage area of your beer is as easy as pop down to your local supermarket . I ’d say that the selection of beer on offer is slightly well with PerfectDraft , plus there ’s the advantage that you get £ 5 of reference for each keg you turn back . The standard 5 - litre keg can just be reprocess curbside or at your local recycling nitty-gritty .
The material conflict between PerfectDraft and universal 5 - cubic decimetre kegs is the purpose for which they ’re project . PerfectDraft kegful are for use specifically with said machine , so fit it perfectly , with very little bother . Beer from universal 5 - cubic decimetre kegful is designed to dispense directly from the keg itself , using the integrate tap .
There are two type of keg : carbonated and uncarbonated . Uncarbonated kegs have a vent at the top and tap at the bottom ; carbonated kegs have a rap at the top .
The difficulty with the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser is that it needs to cater for both character of keg , neither of which has been specifically plan for machine use of goods and services . To fit a keg , I had to position the long adaptor . This has to be push through the hole on top of the keg ( vent or hydrant ) , but it is n’t as easy a summons as I had first cerebrate .
With my Paulaner keg , for instance , I require to remove the vent entirely , then whap the adaptor until it slid all of the way into the kegful , prune into the side . That ’s dance step one done .
Next , before the keg can be placed into the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser , I involve to fill it with water to the marked blood . Water is necessary to help the cool arrangement to work .
Once done , the keg can be lower into blank space and the lines connected : one for CO2 ; one for the spout at the front .
A 16 GB threaded CO2 magazine has to be install for keg that are n’t carbonated . Three are included in the boxwood , and replacements can be picked up for around £ 8 for five . The pickup fits into the screw - in adapter , after which you need to tighten it by hand until you listen it click – that ’s the stamp broken . If you have a carbonated kegful , you’re able to skip this pace ; but verify the dial at the back is set to the “ + ” position .
It get easier to change kegs with practice , but the process still prove more hard than with the PerfectDraft political machine .
Turn on the Salter automobile and its cooler kicks into natural action , although the manual says that the cooling system of rules should only be used for a upper limit of 21 hour . This is because the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser does n’t use refrigerant , so the cooling system has to work heavily . Use it for long than 21 hours and you could damage the motor . At an ambient temperature of 22 - 24ºC , the cool system will cool down a keg to between 3ºC and 6ºC , and note that there ’s no temperature selection .
Salter recommends that you pre - chill your kegs to help . That sounds all right in praxis , but since keg are designed to last for up to 30 mean solar day , there ’s a fairly short window in which to drink the contents of the keg – unless you ’re having a company , that is . The PerfectDraft system will chill your beer to 3ºC for the full life-time of the keg .
Once a kegful is empty , you have to take away the older one , empty out the piss using the tap at the front of the dispenser , and clean out the line . All of this is a bit of a faff – in finical pick the furrow using the squeezy bottle , which I had to occupy with soapy water . Again , the PerfectDraft organisation proved easier to scavenge .
Note that the old CO2 cartridge should be removed , too . Over meter , the natural rubber seal around the cartridge and the pin that punctures can show signs of clothing and fall out . There are spares in the box , so put them somewhere safe .
Performance
Using the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser with an uncarbonated keg requires fiddling with the CO2 tap at the posterior . This adjusts the pressure spill valve – to pour beer I had to move from the “ - ” position towards the “ + ” position . suffer the correct setting is critical : not enough gasoline and beer was dispensed as a dribble ; too much resulted in a mountain of froth . With carbonated keg , I did n’t have to occupy about this .
I have to say that the PerfectDraft system essay much gentle to use overall . There ’s no messing about with pressure release valves , and the machine automatically adjusts the bags inside the kegs to assert the perfect pressing all the path to the bottom .
When the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser is set correctly , however , it ’s possible to pour a nice dry pint with a fluffy head , similar in style to what you ’d get at a pub .
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Should you buy it?
If you require a party piece , then this a clean machine into which you may start a unconstipated kegful for that saloon - style experience .
If you want to keep your beer for longer , then the PerfectDraft machine is easier to use and can cool down for the life of a keg .
Final Thoughts
work with 5 - litre kegs , the Salter Universal Chilled Draught Beer Dispenser is a fun chip of outfit that birth a pub - dash beer pump for pouring beer . It ’s fiddly to set up and the cooling organization only works for 21 hours . Overall , then , the Philips PerfectDraft is a higher-ranking system that ’s far easy to use .
Trusted Score
FAQs
It will work with any received 5 - litre kegful .
It employ 16 g threaded CO2 cartridges .
