Filling Your Mini Keg

In short, you can fill your mini keg with any drink you like!

How long your drink will stay fresh depends on what beverage it is, and the method you used to refill.

Google "local breweries" or "batch cocktail producer" or "cold brew coffee supplier" or "local kombucha maker"and contact them. Most will be very happy to refill your keg.

The map below is beer breweries we've collaborated with, or have friendships with staff, and who've confirmed they fill iKeggers. This can change due to staff or policy over time.

We're a tiny team and can't continually update a map with over 1500 breweries, cideries and distilleries in Australia. Especially as some close, and new ones open every day!

How To Fill Your iKegger

Best Practise For All Filling Methods

Cleaning & Sanitising

Make sure your keg is clean and sanitised before filling but do not use dishwashing liquid (which will wreck the head on any beer you put in it afterwards).

See a video on sanitising your keg here

The best product to clean is sodium percarbonate which will remove any set on sediments / stickiness etc if you forget to rinse your keg out after it's empty.

The best sanitiser is a phosphoric acid based no-rinse sanitiserwhich takes 2min to kill any bacteria and doesn't leave any odour of flavour.

We also have a package that includes both of those plus spare o-rings and lubricant to maintain them here

Chill The Keg First

The fastest way to chill you keg is swirl ice water around inside it. It's always best to get the keg cold before filling, you can also put it into the fridge or freezer (with the lid off).

For any carbonated drink especially (beer, cider, kombucha, soda, G&T, rum and coke etc) it's best to chill the inside of your keg before filling. This will prevent foaming and loss of carbonation when the liquid hits warm metal.

For nitro drinks you MUST have the liquid as cold as possible, as nitrogen dissolves more easily into cold liquid and hardly at all into room temperature liquid. To aid this chill the ingredients and the keg first.

With an insulated keg it's always best to chill inside the keg before filling as otherwise you may warm your drink a bit and once it's in the keg it takes a long time in the fridge before the inside starts getting any colder again.

Gas Flushing The Keg

It's best to flush the inside of the keg with CO2 or nitrogen before filling it to avoid your drink touching oxygen (it's only really important for beer, but it's best practise for all drinks).

You can do this by injecting CO2 into the open mouth of the keg or though the gas post and pulling the gas release valve a few times. CO2 is heavier than air so imagine your keg is now filled with liquid, the heavier liquid (your drink) goes to the bottom and lifts the lighter liquid (CO2) on top of it as you fill. This prevents your drink touching oxygen while you fill.

See a video on gas flushing an open mouth keg here

See a video on flushing a mini keg with ball lock posts here

Filling Methods

Can you fill from bottles and cans?

Absolutely! There are good reasons why you might want to.

Ideally we'd also like your iKegger to reduce the use of bottles and cans, by refilling at local businesses too.

Why Fill From Cans & Bottles?
  1. Draught Beer Is Better. Most people prefer a pub quality draft beer over drinking from a can or bottle.
  2. Avoid Breakages. Glass bottles around the pool are not a great idea, especially clear glass.
  3. No Buying Ice. Our insulated kegs stay cold all day (at least 10 hours) without ice thanks to Thermos like double wall construction.
  4. Save Your Back. No need to cart around a 40kg cooler full of ice and bottles with an insulated keg either.
  5. Simple Cash Back. Buying beers somewhere with a return and earn station nearby? Pour all the beer into your keg, get cash back for the cans on the spot. No need to have them pile up at home till "it's worth driving to get rid of them"
  6. Less Space & Weight. Great for 4WD, campervans and caravans. No carting rubbish around.
  7. No Rubbish To Take Home. Don't need to bring any empties home with you (if you are going into a national park, camping, on a boat etc).
Filling From Cans & Bottles
  • Chill the keg, with lid off for an insulated keg.
  • Flush the keg with CO2
  • Tilt the keg and pour slowly and with as little splashing as possible down the inside wall of the keg.
  • Screw the lid on, attach your regulator to the gas post and put more CO2 in while pulling the release valve a couple of times to get rid of any air that did get in.
  • Pressurise to the correct pressure for your drink (about 12-14psi for beer, 15-17psi for soda / mixed spirits).
  • You can now disconnect your regulator till ready to drink.
  • This method has the most chance of oxygen contact and you should be aware that craft beer may start to go bad within 48hours if you aren't careful (bulk breweries like Tooheys, XXXX, Carlton etc heat treat their beer and it will last longer).
  • For canned and bottled sodas and RTDs (and making your own mixes) like G&T, Scotch & Dry, Rum & Coke etc a bit of oxygen contact will have no affect, just maintain the pressure in the keg and they will stay fresh and carbonated.

Can you fill from taps at pubs / breweries or on kegerators?

Of course, this was why we designed iKegger!

To take home delicious beverages from your local producers, without the rubbish, as fresh as possble, and avoiding the cut taken by middlemen.

Basic Hose Fill Method
  • Sanitise your keg
  • Chill the inside of your keg (if at a brewery ask them to put it in their fridge or swirl some ice around in it before filling.
  • Flush your keg with CO2 (many breweries will do this themselves but ask them beforehand and do it yourself with your regulator if they don't. Unless you plan on drinking the keg within the next 24-48 hours).
  • Attach a hose to the tap that reaches the bottom of the keg so you are filling within the "cushion" of CO2 and with minimal splashing.
  • Once filled (it will probably overflow with foam for a bit before it's liquid to the top) screw in your cap or even better screw in a spear and again flush the filled keg and pressurise to 13psi approx.
  • You can now keep the keg in the fridge till you want to drink it, the more careful you were to have no oxygen contact the longer the beer will last. At worst 24 hours for an unsanitised, unflushed keg up to weeks for a properly sanisited and carefully filled flushed keg.
Counter-Pressure Filling
  • Sanitise, chill and flush your keg with CO2.
  • You will need to leave your spear on the flushed keg and pressurise the keg to approximately 12psi.
  • Ideally flush the filling line with CO2 as well.
  • Disconnect your regulator and attach the iKegger Auto-Filler to the gas post.
  • Attach the liquid post or spout of the iKegger 2.0 to the filling tap via the included line.
  • Turn on the filling tap and adjust the valve on the gas post till it is allowing a slow steady flow of gas to escape as the liquid fills the keg.
  • The flow will stop automatically once the keg is full so simply turn off the tap and disconnect everything once done.

See The Auto-Stop Filler Here!

Got a kegerator at home? Brew your own beer / kombucha or coffee?

It's super easy to fill an iKegger. No need to buy cans to take out when you've got a iKegger to fill and take with you.

From A Keg or Fermenter
  • Sanitise, chill and flush your keg
  • Pressurise the empty keg to just below the source keg or fermenter pressure.
  • Connect the liquid posts together
  • Attach the iKegger Auto-Stop filler to the gas post of the empty keg.
  • Wait for the transfer to finish
From A Commercial Keg

Very similar to filling from a ball lock keg or fermenter, just that you add ball loock posts to the coupler so you can connect iKegger mini kegs easily.

See a video here

Filling Your iKegger | How & Where

Filling Guide

How & where to fill your iKegger.

In short, you can fill your mini keg with any drink you like. How long it stays fresh depends on the beverage and the method you use to refill it.

Search "local breweries," "batch cocktail producer," "cold brew coffee supplier," or "local kombucha maker" and get in touch — most are happy to refill your keg.

Start Here

Best practice for all filling methods

Cleaning & sanitising

Make sure your keg is clean and sanitised before filling — but don't use dishwashing liquid, which will wreck the head on any beer you put in it afterward.

The best product to clean with is sodium percarbonate, which removes any set-on sediment or stickiness if you forget to rinse the keg out after it's empty.

The best sanitiser is a phosphoric-acid-based no-rinse sanitiser, which takes 2 minutes to kill any bacteria and doesn't leave any odour or flavour behind.

Chill the keg first

The fastest way to chill your keg is to swirl ice water around inside it. It's always best to get the keg cold before filling — you can also put it in the fridge or freezer with the lid off.

For any carbonated drink especially (beer, cider, kombucha, soda, G&T, rum and coke, etc.) it's best to chill the inside of the keg before filling — this prevents foaming and loss of carbonation when the liquid hits warm metal.

For nitro drinks you must have the liquid as cold as possible, since nitrogen dissolves far more easily into cold liquid than room-temperature liquid. Chill the ingredients and the keg first.

With an insulated keg, always chill the inside before filling — otherwise you'll warm the drink slightly, and once it's in the keg it takes a long time in the fridge before the inside starts getting cold again.

Gas flushing the keg

It's best to flush the inside of the keg with CO2 or nitrogen before filling, to keep your drink from touching oxygen (most important for beer, but good practice for any drink).

Do this by injecting CO2 into the open mouth of the keg, or through the gas post while pulling the gas release valve a few times. CO2 is heavier than air, so as you fill, the heavier liquid sinks and lifts the lighter CO2 layer above it — keeping your drink from touching oxygen while you fill.

Filling Methods

Three ways to fill your keg

From cans & bottles

Absolutely, you can fill from bottles and cans — and there are good reasons you might want to. Ideally, we'd also like your iKegger to reduce bottle and can use by refilling at local businesses too.

Why fill from cans & bottles?
  • Draught beer is better. Most people prefer pub-quality draft beer over drinking from a can or bottle.
  • Avoid breakages. Glass bottles around the pool aren't a great idea, especially clear glass.
  • No buying ice. Insulated kegs stay cold all day (at least 10 hours) without ice, thanks to their thermos-like double-wall construction.
  • Save your back. No need to cart around a 40kg cooler full of ice and bottles.
  • Simple cash back. Buying beer somewhere with a return-and-earn station nearby? Pour it into your keg and get cash back for the cans on the spot.
  • Less space & weight. Great for 4WDs, campervans, and caravans — no carting rubbish around.
  • No rubbish to take home. No empties to bring back from a national park, campsite, or boat.
Filling from cans & bottles
  1. Chill the keg, with the lid off for an insulated keg.
  2. Flush the keg with CO2.
  3. Tilt the keg and pour slowly, with as little splashing as possible, down the inside wall.
  4. Screw the lid on, attach your regulator to the gas post, and add more CO2 while pulling the release valve a couple of times to clear any air that got in.
  5. Pressurise to the correct level for your drink (about 12–14 psi for beer, 15–17 psi for soda or mixed spirits).
  6. Disconnect your regulator until you're ready to drink.

This method has the highest chance of oxygen contact — craft beer can start to go off within 48 hours if you're not careful (bulk breweries like Tooheys, XXXX, or Carlton heat-treat their beer, so it lasts longer). For canned or bottled sodas and RTDs (or your own mixes like G&T, Scotch & Dry, rum and coke), a bit of oxygen contact makes no difference — just maintain the pressure and they'll stay fresh and carbonated.

From a pub-style tap

Of course you can fill from taps at pubs, breweries, or kegerators — this is why we designed iKegger. Take home delicious drinks from local producers, without the rubbish, as fresh as possible, and without the cut taken by middlemen.

Basic hose fill method
  1. Sanitise your keg.
  2. Chill the inside of your keg — if at a brewery, ask them to pop it in their fridge, or swirl some ice around in it before filling.
  3. Flush your keg with CO2 (many breweries will do this for you — ask beforehand, or do it yourself with your regulator if they don't, unless you plan on drinking it within 24–48 hours).
  4. Attach a hose to the tap that reaches the bottom of the keg, so you're filling within the "cushion" of CO2 and with minimal splashing.
  5. Once filled (it'll probably overflow with foam for a bit before it's liquid to the top), screw in your cap or spear, flush the filled keg again, and pressurise to approximately 13 psi.
  6. Keep the keg in the fridge until you want to drink it — the more careful you were to avoid oxygen contact, the longer it'll last: at worst 24 hours for an unsanitised, unflushed keg, up to weeks for a properly sanitised and carefully filled one.
Counter-pressure filling
  1. Sanitise, chill, and flush your keg with CO2.
  2. Leave your spear on the flushed keg and pressurise it to approximately 12 psi.
  3. Ideally flush the filling line with CO2 as well.
  4. Disconnect your regulator and attach the iKegger Auto-Filler to the gas post.
  5. Attach the liquid post or spout of the iKegger 2.0 to the filling tap via the included line.
  6. Turn on the filling tap and adjust the gas post valve until it allows a slow, steady flow of gas to escape as the liquid fills the keg.
  7. The flow stops automatically once the keg is full — just turn off the tap and disconnect everything.

From a large keg or fermenter

Got a kegerator at home? Brew your own beer, kombucha, or coffee? It's super easy to fill an iKegger — no need to buy cans to take with you when you've got an iKegger to fill instead.

From a keg or fermenter
  1. Sanitise, chill, and flush your keg.
  2. Pressurise the empty keg to just below the source keg or fermenter's pressure.
  3. Connect the liquid posts together.
  4. Attach the iKegger Auto-Stop filler to the gas post of the empty keg.
  5. Wait for the transfer to finish.
From a commercial keg

Very similar to filling from a ball-lock keg or fermenter — just add ball-lock posts to the coupler so you can connect iKegger mini kegs easily.

Where To Fill

Breweries that fill iKegger mini kegs

Confirmed filling venues we've collaborated with, or have friendships with staff who've confirmed they fill iKeggers. We're a small team and can't keep a map of 1,500+ Australian breweries, cideries, and distilleries fully up to date, especially as venues open and close. Searching "breweries near me" and asking directly is always a good backup.

Ready When You Are

Get your own iKegger and start filling.

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