Our Story

How a farmer invented the Keg Mate Easy Beer Tap

Hi, I'm Jack,

Firstly, it's fair to say that I love beer.

Even so, I'd always been content going to my local bottlo and picking up a slab or two.  If I was really honest, I'd admit that I'd never really thought about getting a keg.  

In my mind, kegs were just not worth the hassle.

Don't get me wrong, I think kegs are awesome, but I'd seen expert barman struggle to tap kegs.  I'm the type of guy who doesn't like to muck around especially if it means wasting drinking time and beer!  

I would've continued drinking my regular stubbies in complete ignorance if it weren't for some clever blokes who opened up this amazing brewery in my local town.

Their beer was sensational and I just wanted to drink it all the time!  Problem was, the brewery didn't bottle their beer.  It dawned on me...

If I wanted to enjoy their beer outside the brewery, I would have to enjoy it from a keg.

So, I started researching keg tapping systems.

I just wanted a gas tap (otherwise I knew the beer would go stale after only a day or so) that was quick and easy to set up, didn't involve a heap of bulky equipment and offered a simple solution to refill empty gas cylinders.

I discovered an easy tapping system like that just didn't exist.

A little discouraged, but determined, I went ahead to design my own, and the Keg Mate Easy Portable Beer Tap was born.

My brief: a compact, no hassle, gas tap that anyone could set up and use.

It fair to say that a lot of beer was consumed in the research and development phase!  It took a lot of beers to iron out the kinks and get it working right.  I played around with different components and added features like pressure release valves and flow control to make tapping and pouring easier.

I also had to solve that pesky problem of refilling specialty gas cylinders.

The solution?  Don't use a specialty gas cylinder!

The Keg Mate Easy Portable Beer Tap uses affordable, off the shelf gas cylinders readily available from supermarkets, service stations and some newsagents.  Think SodaStream and you get the idea.

After about 4 prototypes, I finally got it right.  It worked a treat and many more beers were consumed celebrating my achievment!

I could now enjoy my local breweries finest whenever & wherever I liked.  

Awesome, right?

Keg Mate 1.0

Only problem was, now all my mates wanted one as well!

One of my mates had a son's 21st birthday to cater for, another wanted to take it camping, and another thought it would be perfect for his end of season staff Christmas party!

I realised I had to either devote all my spare time to making taps for friends, or I had to get serious and team up with someone who could help me make this available to all blokes who love their beer.

And so I got serious!

After patenting my design, I teamed up with Australian manufacturing company, JGM Engineering, and started production.  Our first batch of taps sold out in months and then Covid hit and everything changed.

We almost gave up...

Covid lockdowns put an end to keg parties, but even worse was the impact on our supply chain.  2 crucial components were no longer available and after waiting 8 months for 2 deliveries of incorrect parts, we nearly tossed in the towel.

Then fate intervened!

A chance connection with the amazing team at Keg King led to a partnership that solved all our manufacturing woes!  The Keg Mate Easy Beer Tap 2.0 is now being manufactured and distributed by our new mates at Keg King!

So if you love beer as much as me, do yourself a favour and get your Keg Mate Easy Beer Tap today!

Take it easy and have a cold one for me!

Cheers,

Owner and Founder of Keg Mate