Miller Lite Home Draft - Reusable for a home brewer?

I recently noticed the Miller Lite came out with a "Home Draft" system that looked very similar to the "Tap-a-draft" system my brewing buddy was interested in.  The tap a draft system seems like a nice idea, but I was a little unsure of it for the cost involved.  When I saw this, I had to get one and check it out.

Luckily, Ohio is part of a test market so you may not be able to get these yet but if you can, you should read on!

I purchased one for $20 from a local liquore store.  It was warm and I had to chill it.   Being that is was only miller lite, I had a few drinks out of it and then realized how horrible Miller Lite is after you have become acustom to home brews and better beers.  A few beers into it, I decided I had to jump to my origional plan and find out: "Can it be reused for home brewing?"

I took the Home Draft outside and twisted the entire top unit off slowly to release the pressure.  After releasing the presure, I poured out the miller and got to work.

The picture to the right shows the main system.  There is a dip tube with a weight, just like a model airplane gas tanks, a CO2 cartridge, and the tap.    My biggest concern was the CO2 cartridge. Miller put a mechanisim between the threds that made the cylinder only want to twist in to puncture the CO2 Cartridge, but it would not twist out.  I thought for sure the first Home Draft would be wasted in an effort to figure out how it worked..

I was wrong.  I thought I would try some pliers against the ring and twist against the one-way locks and I figured for sure I would break it.  Amazingly, I heard a snap.  It was the one-way pieces breaking loose.  I was able to unscrew the CO2 cylinder and disasemble and reasymble the enitre thing without any problem.

Knowing this now, I'll be sure to buy one when I have a poker party or friends over.  I know I'll be able to reuse it and save myself from the issues of bottling without the big Corny key that needs it's own Kegerator.

Conclusion:

The Draft Key is a reusable small kegging system that does not require a spereate refrigerator and can be reused.

Pros:

It's reusable

It Fits in a normal Fridge

It's Cheap

Cons:

(The Obvious one) It comes with Miller Lite!

You could break it and loose your investment if you are not carefull about tearing it down.

Happy Brewing!