Filling Your iKegger | How & Where
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.
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.
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
- Chill the keg, with the lid off for an insulated keg.
- Flush the keg with CO2.
- Tilt the keg and pour slowly, with as little splashing as possible, down the inside wall.
- 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.
- Pressurise to the correct level for your drink (about 12–14 psi for beer, 15–17 psi for soda or mixed spirits).
- 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
- Sanitise your keg.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Sanitise, chill, and flush your keg with CO2.
- Leave your spear on the flushed keg and pressurise it to approximately 12 psi.
- 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 gas post valve until it allows a slow, steady flow of gas to escape as the liquid fills the keg.
- 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
- Sanitise, chill, and flush your keg.
- Pressurise the empty keg to just below the source keg or fermenter's 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 add ball-lock posts to the coupler so you can connect iKegger mini kegs easily.
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.
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