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| BeerTender from Heineken and Krups B95 Home Beer-Tap System | 
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| Brand: Krups
Category: Kitchen
List Price: $400.00
Buy New: $290.00
You Save: $110.00 (28%)
New (16) Used (1) Refurbished (1) from $249.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 1087
Color: Black/Chrome
Shipping Weight (lbs): 17.5
Dimensions (in): 19.5 x 12 x 18
MPN: B95
Model: B95
UPC: 010942205296
EAN: 0010942205296
ASIN: B00132J8RA
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 29 | | NEXT » |
 Heineken BeerTender Tap System October 9, 2008
I love this product. Some reviews have said it is difficult to pour without too much beer foam, but if you learn how to do it properly it works great. I take a very cold glass, or fill a glass with ice and water swished around for a bit and pour out the water and ice. Then with a cold glass place the glass right on the pour spout, about an inch down from the glass rim. Hold the glass any way you want as long as the beer comes out and into the glass without splashing. Hold so that it touches the glass as it pours. Works every time. Make sure to follow directions on handling the keg, it has to sit 10 hours I think. But I buy 2 at a time, keeping one in the BeerTender and 1 in the fridge. Love it! Love it! Beer on tap at home. Great.
Awesome September 29, 2008
The BeerTender has to be the best thing I have ever bought for my man (in his opinion) lol! And I want to state for the record that the reports of excessive foam are ONLY true if you shake it or DON'T let it get cold enough before trying to drink it! Patience pays off, and this time it pays off with a great ice cold beer (foam free)!
 If You Really Like Heineken and Really Like Draft Beer... September 28, 2008
...then you will probably like this product.
I've had the BeerTender for a few months and several mini-kegs so far, and will share some observations and experiences:
o The BeerTender is just a small refridgerator with a simple tap lever and spout. There is no CO2 system associated with the BeerTender; the special Heineken mini-keg has some kind of internal pressurization that is actviated when the keg is tapped.
o You do not need a BeerTender to get beer out of the special Heineken mini-keg. Each one comes with a manual tap that can be used if the mini-keg is stored in a normal refridgerator.
o The manual tap supplied with the mini-keg is not usable with the BeerTender. You must purchase single-use tubes to tap the mini-keg for use with the BeerTender. With some care, the tubes are re-usable (see product reviews for the BeerTender tubes).
o In addition to the initial cost of the BeerTender, the Heineken mini-kegs are not particularly economical. Where I live, Heineken in bottles and cans is usually less expensive, ounce-for-ounce, than the mini-keg.
o Despite being another plug-in appliance, the BeerTender does not appear to be an energy hog. Once a keg is cooled to the set point temperature, it only uses about 20 watts to maintain temperature (measured by a "Kill-A-Watt" meter). It seems well-insulated, though is not Energy-Star rated.
o Pour quality is very inconsistent. Some kegs have worked as advertised: first glass all foam, and the rest of the glasses 1/4 or less foam. Some kegs foamy for the first half, then OK second half of the keg. And one or two that produced 1/2 a glass of foam over the whole keg.
o I've tried many of the suggestions from Heineken and other reviewers for a good pour. This is my opinion what is important: beer temperature below 40 F, fully open the tap, tilt the glass at 45 - 60 degrees, use a clean/rinsed/cool glass, make sure the spout is clean, allow the mini-keg to settle after moving. I always have bad results if I don't keep the spout in contact with the glass and beer while pouring, which is contrary to Heineken's recommendation.
o On my last two kegs, I slightly kinked the tube from the mini-keg to the tap instead of trying to keep it mostly straight. This will happen if you align the opening in the top of the mini-keg with the BeerTender tap lever. Both kegs have poured very well - maybe because the kink in the tube goes down into a colder part of the BeerTender, or because of some flow restriction. In any case I hope it is not a coincidence.
The BeerTender is about as easy to set-up as a beer tap system gets. I have experience with other mini-keg taps using external CO2 cartridges, and they also take some practice to get proficient with. And "full-blown" tap systems are considerably more difficult to set up and use, but offer other benefits. Trying to compare these different systems is like "apples and oranges."
Overall, I deducted two stars for the inconsistent pour performance since that is what this whole thing is about. The unit itself has worked fine in terms of keeping the beer cold and indicating how much is left in the keg.
 Foamtender September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have now gone four mini-kegs on this thing and it continues to be all foam. I've let the keg rest for four hours - kept it in fridge for it too cool before installation - nothing works. It stinks. If you prefer to wait 10 minutes after pour for the foam to subside or you enjoy having 20% beer and 80% foam - this is the product for you.
 Great potential.... September 22, 2008
I Have the B95 and overall, I love it. However I've noticed that a can get a more crisp and less foamy pour when using the packed in plastic tap that comes with the keg than I can by going through the BeerTender. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but it must be something about the tubes for the BeerTender.
I wish that Krups/Heineken would address this and redesign the tubes.
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