UKEG PRO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

About uKeg:

How long does the beer stay fresh?
Like a mini keg, the uKeg will keep your beer fresh for weeks.

How long does the CO₂ cartridge last?
The CO₂ cartridge dispenses one uKeg full of beer, with some pressure left over that you can use to clean the growler with water, and pour through the tap.

What type of CO₂ cartridges does the uKeg cap use?
All uKeg growler caps use standard unthreaded food-grade CO₂ cartridges. Our regulator cap can accept 8g or 16g cartridges. Check out our guide to Approved CO2 Cartridges.

Where can I get the CO₂ cartridges?
Food grade CO₂ cartridges are readily available on our website, online via Amazon, and at kitchen stores and GrowlerWerks retailers.

How much does the CO₂ cost?
The 8g CO₂ cartridges can be found on Amazon for as low as $0.50 each. We list them here on our website for $1 ea. With about 5 x 12 oz. beers in a growler, that's just 10-20 cents per fresh beer.

Where do I fill my growler?
With an internal volume line, you can take your uKeg growler to any store or bar that currently fills growlers. Growler laws vary state-by-state, and are rapidly changing to remove old restrictions. The Brewers Association provides a helpful directory:

http://www.brewersassociation.org/government-affairs/laws/growler-laws

Can the uKeg be used for other carbonated beverages besides beer?
You can put soda, water, or other carbonated beverages in the uKeg, such as sparkling wine or homemade cocktails (just add rocks glasses for a party). One of our team members even uses it for carbonated apple cider for his kids!

Does the uKeg come with a warranty?
Yes, each uKeg comes with a 1-year warranty for parts and defects. We also have a tech support team that can help you, and we offer spare parts and accessories. The uKeg is built with high quality parts and will last a lifetime with proper maintenance.

Usage:

How can the uKeg be cleaned?
Cleaning the uKeg is easy. Click here for instructions.  Rinsing with warm water after each use is the best practice. Any leftover CO₂ can be used to flush the tap with water, but turning the uKeg upside down works too. The cap can be removed to easily clean the inside of the stainless steel vessel. Click here to buy food-safe growler cleaning tabs.  The tap assembly, sight glass and pressure gauge can be fully dissembled for deeper cleaning when needed. 

What pressure range does the regulator cap provide?
We designed this version of our regulator cap to go between zero and 15 psi. Zero psi corresponds to the "off" position when the regulator is closed, and the cap will not dispense the contents of the CO2 cartridge. The off position is for taking the cap on and off the vessel. 15 psi may be good for force carbonating homebrew or other beverages, or highly carbonated stuff.

Can the uKeg 64 be used to force carbonate Homebrew?
The uKeg 64 is capable of force carbonating beer and other beverages. Turn your homebrew, cider, wine or juice into a delicious carbonated beverage within just 2-3 days. To ensure you have enough CO₂ onboard we recommend using a 16g cartridge for the uKeg 64. The uKeg 64 comes standard with an 8g cartridge holder and additional 16g cartridge holders are available on our website.

Can the uKeg 128 be used to force carbonate Homebrew?
The uKeg 128 currently uses a 16g CO₂ cartridge. This may be sufficient, however, we're not confident that's always enough CO₂ to both fully carbonate and dispense your beer to your liking. To ensure you can fully dispense, the cap can be easily removed to replace the cartridge after carbonating and before dispensing.

Can the uKeg be used with nitrogen cartridges?
You can get various mixtures of beer gas in 8g and 16g cartridges. These will work with the uKeg, however there isn't normally enough volume in these gasses to fully empty the uKeg at the pressure you'd want, even using a 16g cartridge.

Can the uKeg be used for non-carbonated beverages like draft wine?
If you use an inert gas like nitrogen or argon instead of CO₂, the uKeg can dispense non-carbonated beverages just fine.  For lightly carbonated beverages such as beer served on "Nitro", you can set the pressure low between 3-5 psi which is just enough to dispense the beer without overly carbonating.

How does the sight glass work?
Beer (or other beverage) travels through an inner dispensing tube within the sight glass, that connects to the tap, while the sight glass is an extension of the vessel with openings at both the top and the bottom. The pressure gauge measures pressure near the bottom of the vessel.

Can I use a regular size tap handle with the uKeg?
You can use a regular tap handle but you would need a tap handle adapter.

Can I place an order to be shipped internationally?
We are not taking any international orders and if you choose to try and use a third party shipping company we are in no way responsible for paperwork or ensuring delivery once it leaves our facility.

FAQs for Kickstarter Backers:

When will my reward arrive?
We have almost completed our Kickstater project by delivering uKeg rewards to nearly all Backers. We have sent an email to all US Domestic backers to confirm your shipping address.  If you have not received an email from us -- please send an email to info@growlerwerks.com with your name, backer number, and your current shipping address and we will send your rewards.

Why did it take so long?

Production Scale-Up
As first-time inventors and entrepreneurs, we had a steep learning curve. While very exciting, the journey became even more challenging when the success of our campaign required us to rethink and dramatically scale up our manufacturing plans.

Finding Manufacturers & Suppliers
Our first step was finding a factory that could meet our high-quality standards and produce on the scale we needed. We couldn’t find a U.S. company with the capabilities or interest in producing a vacuum-insulated stainless steel bottle. We learned that nearly all vacuum-insulated stainless steel bottles are manufactured in China.  The process of finding a factory capable of producing this complicated, new technology took several months. In addition to finding the right factory to assemble the product, we had to source the high-quality materials we needed and identify other factories that could manufacture our key components.

High Quality Standards
The uKeg is an engineered piece of equipment thus quality is important to its function. Quality is also a core value at GrowlerWerks as we strive to produce the best products possible.  Part of scaling up manufacturing is ensuring that quality standards are being met, and it takes time to get everything dialed.

Why was the uKeg available on Amazon before all backers have received their rewards?

Timing
A portion of uKegs that have been produced have been sold to Amazon. The proceeds from these sales helped to fund the production of more uKegs and rewards for Kickstarter Backers to successfully complete the project.

The GrowlerWerks Beginning & Marketplace Launch Plan
An Amazon rep for Launchpad discovered Brian Sonnichsen with our uKeg prototype at the September 2014 Oktoberfest in Leavenworth, WA.  As the GrowlerWerks team was preparing to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund production, Amazon offered to support us by ordering 400 to sell on Launchpad if the product was funded. Launchpad is Amazon’s program showcasing cutting-edge products from start ups. We were thrilled. Like everyone, they had to wait for the product to go through development and production delays. That caused them to remove the product from the site, until they had a more concrete timeline for delivery.

When the founders came together and knew they had potential to build and grow a successful brand, they set to work preparing the business plan that included a Kickstarter campaign to fund production and the standard launch strategy for the market place. The group set about building customer (retail partners/wholesale customers) relationships to gauge interest. One of the earliest retail partners showing support for our product was with another Oregon-based company, Kitchen Kaboodle. If we could get the product made, they wanted to be among the first retailers to carry it. A small handful of these wholesale customers were early supporters who loved the concept so much they became Kickstarter backers, as well.

Our wholesale customers include high-end retailers, online stores, breweries, home brew shops, bottle shops, beverage resellers like BevMo.  At launch we wanted to have our product available to all consumers to position GrowlerWerks for success. While we knew the Kickstarter campaign was succeeding, we didn’t imagine it would succeed by more than 20 times beyond predictions. Initially, we also planned to have production complete for backers by May 2015 and planned to ship uKegs committed to retailers by August 2015.

With production delayed by six months, it meant we owed backers and customers simultaneously. When we realized the level of the demand and production scale-up could affect production deadlines, we stopped selling to wholesale customers.

Allocation
The first shipment we received from the factory was sent entirely to backers. We allocated our next shipments to backers, pre-orders and Amazon to fulfill commitments.

Fulfilling Commitments
The support from our backers and customers has been exciting and humbling and we are thankful to all of you who supported us from our start. We are close to completing the project by delivering uKeg rewards to nearly every Kickstarter backer.  We were disappointed when we learned we wouldn’t have most product delivered in a timely manner and it pains us to disappoint all who hoped for the same.

How do I change my shipping address?
Please send any change of address as soon as possible to: kickstarter@growlerwerks.com

How do I find my backer number?
We can look it up for you. Email us at: kickstarter@growlerwerks.com

Need answers to other questions?
See emails and links below.
Please refrain from sending duplicate messages to multiple addresses, as this will prolong our response time. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

• Product Questions: kyle@growlerwerkscanada.com
• KickStarter Questions: kickstarter@growlerwerks.com
• Wholesale Questions: Go to our Wholesale page
• All Other Questions: Go to our Contact Us page and submit your question.