happy hour at home
WITH WAREHOUSES IN BELLAMBI, BERLIN AND AUCKLAND, IKEGGER APPEARS LIKE A BIG OPERATION. BUT IN REALITY, ITS TWO FOUNDERS DAVID THACKRAY AND ONER NALCIOGLU ARE THE BRAINS AND MUCH OF THE BRAWN BEHIND THE HOMEGROWN MINI KEG BUSINESS.
Interview Ali Millgate, alimillgate.com.au
Who is iKegger for? Our tagline is ‘any drink, on tap, anywhere’. We supply tennis clubs that have kombucha on tap after a game, small bars with cocktails on tap, breweries, and home users who want to have beer on tap, or who want to have a cocktail party. We’ve even had a bunch of jillaroos who wanted cold water while they rounded up cattle.
How did the idea for iKegger come about? We were working in a craft beer bar where they refilled glass bottles that you can take home. Bottles would arrive broken from suppliers, and they would start going flat as soon as you opened them. We just figured there was a better option out there, so we created it: a refillable mini keg that you can take to your local breweries and they fill them up. You slide it into your fridge at home and then you have a keg on tap in your fridge.
How has iKegger evolved? Since we started in 2015 we’ve made a series of updates to our product, like the ability to use it for coffee or cocktails, and changing the gas that it used from carbon dioxide to nitrogen. We went through 15 or 20 iterations of the previous model. What we ended up with was three different kits: one that was for nitrogen, one for CO2, and one that was a push-button, easy-to-use battery-powered kit.
We’ve shrunk them all down and combined them into one single kit. iKegger 2.0 lies down in your fridge and has a push-button pour that can use nitrogen or CO2 for carbonated drinks, coffee, beer, or kombucha.
Tell us about your recent Kickstarter campaign. iKegger 2.0 was a brand-new product and we needed to pay for all the new tooling. There was a whole bunch of machinery that needed to be altered and made in order to manufacture in bulk. We were aiming to crowdfund $25,000 to make those moulds and help pay for the first 500 units, but instead, we hit a quarter of a million dollars in over three weeks. We reached $100,000 in 24 hours and met our target in 45 minutes. It was quite a shock!
Where can we buy iKegger? For the most part, we’re an online business. You can order at ikegger.com, or people are welcome to come into our warehouse in Bellambi to have a chat or have a look.
What has the response from the local community been like? It’s been fantastic, you couldn’t ask for more. It’s great to be in a community like this – we’ve got Wolf & Woman Distillery in the same warehouse district as us and they have been super supportive. Almost all of the local breweries fill our kegs. You can take them into Principle Brewing, Seeker Brewing, The Barrel Shepherd, Stoic Brewing, Resin Brewing – basically most of the little craft breweries in town
Founders David Thackray and Oner Nalcioglu
Find iKegger online at ikegger.com or in person at Unit 82/6 Bellambi Lane, Bellambi