Blade Beer Dispenser – compact quality draught beer

The Blade

Beer Budget Rating - ££££

8.8

Value for money

8.0/10

Ease of use

9.0/10

Quality of draught beer

9.0/10

Life of beer

9.0/10

Professional pour rating

9.0/10

Pros

• Simple to use
• Lots of beer per keg - 14 pints worth!
• Great value pints
• Great for a home bar / parties
• Compact and doesn't take up lots of space

Cons

• Pricey device
• Beer range a little limited
• Keg sometimes needs adjusting
• Beer not widely available
• Specialist kegs only

The Blade Beer Dispenser

What is the Blade Beer Dispenser?

Another wonderful creation from Heineken. The Blade Beer Dispenser is a top-quality beer tap that is really top-of-the-range when it comes to home bar equipment.

I’ve even seen some of these in small shops and cafes where the need for an expensive keg and lines set up is not required but they are still able to sell quality draught beer to customers.

We could almost say that this beer tap is The Sub’s big daddy as it uses similar-looking torps but on a much larger scale so they get branded as kegs! Each Blade keg will hold 8 litres of pure gold. In turn, this will deliver you a whopping 14 pints from each keg.

The machine again does not require CO₂ cartridges. instead, the beer tap system uses compressed air to force out the beer once the tap is open. Like most machines, pre-chilling of the kegs in the fridge is essential for a plug-and-pour experience as otherwise, you are going to be waiting a fair while.

The Blade will chill the kegs down to 2 degrees and keep the beer cool for as long as it is turned on. It will not need any maintenance or real cleaning, you simply pop the keg in and pour to your heart’s content.

What’s great about it?

The main selling point about it is volume. 14 pints out of one keg is brilliant and with a Heineken keg coming in at roughly £32, you get decent value at roughly £2.35 a pint. If you host a lot of parties it’s a perfect addition to a home bar and won’t see you regularly having to change kegs. It’s also great for anyone involved in small events/enterprises as it gives you a really easy solution for you to be able to deliver beer on tap for your customers.

In terms of beer choice, most of the kegs available are Heineken-owned brands i.e. Heineken, Birra Moretti, Tiger etc. All in all, I’ve seen around 12-15 brands on offer which is a decent number but not as many options available as other keg machines. Also, the kegs aren’t widely available so you would need to order from selected retailers.

You would expect the Blade to take up a lot of space however with vertical loading of the kegs you only need slightly more than 30cm² to fit the machine in. This means you can get 8L of beer in a relatively small space which is a great selling point. Plus like most keg machines, the beer stays fresh for 30 days.

In terms of features there are dials to show the level of beer left in the keg as well as a temperature scale so you know when the beer is sufficiently cold. There is also a light to give the keg a bit of a glow which is a smart little feature.

How does it work?

For a keg based device it really is super simple to set up and use and replacing kegs is an absolute doddle, simply insert connect the tap and pour. To see how easy it is take a look at the Blade setup video below…

Beer budget?

Now with a device that ticks so many boxes, there is a price tag to reflect it. The Blade is one of the premium products on the market and gets a ‘££££’ from us.

Check out the best price at Beerwulf

The Verdict

The Blade is a fantastic piece of kit albeit with a bit of a hefty price tag attached. If you are not going to be using it a lot then this probably isn’t the one for you. If you can afford it and will have lots of use out of it then go for it. It’s simple to use, not too bulky and delivers quality draught at a reasonable price per pint value.

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