Handsome looking beer dispenser, comes with everything you need.

I purchased this unit at a local wholesale warehouse. Bringing the unit home, I was greeted by a number of oohs and aahs from neighbors, and comments such as "Now we know where the partys at." Plan to become at least a little bit more popular once your friends know you own one.

Onto the details. The unit's countertop stands about 34" tall (35.5" with casters installed), 23.5" wide, and 22.5" deep. It includes the following accessories: Chrome beer dispensing tower and standard tap, basic black tap handle (more on this later), Co2 cylinder (shipped empty), Keg tap (american sankey type), hose cleaning kit, all hoses and clamps, cylinder retainer, chrome guardrail, drip tray, casters, and various hardware to assemble the unit, including wrenches.

The tap is a standard tap, such as installed at any bar. This means it will accept any standard tap handle to replace the plain black handle included. You can easily find these on Ebay.

Also included are two wire shelves to convert into a refrigerator, and an insulated plug to cover the hole in the countertop where the dispenser tower installs. One thing to note, if you use this as a refrigerator, it does not have a light inside, like most purpose-built refrigerators.

The unit will accomodate 1/2 barrel kegs (which is what most people speak about when they say "keg", such as the kegs supplied and stored in a trash can full of ice when you attend a "keg party", which contain 15 gallons), 1/4 barrel kegs, and "pony" kegs.

One nice feature is a stainless steel floor on the unit. A full keg of beer weighs about 160 lbs! This stainless steel floor definitely helps prevent damage when wrestling those beasts into the unit.

The only things required after you assemble this unit are the following (1) A keg, preferrably with beer in it. (2) A fill-up of CO2 gas. This can be obtained at either a gas supply shop, such as one which supplies welding gas, or, some stores which specialize in sales of beer kegs may be able to refill the CO2 canister. I buy my kegs at a local beer depot which does on-site CO2 refills. You can expect one CO2 refill to last from 4 to 5 kegs worth of beer. The fill only costed me $10, so its no big deal.

I ran into a few minor snags when assembling my unit. Out of the box, I had a few problems with the directions in the manual. For reference, the manual included with my unit lists an issue date of December 2003 on the outer rear cover.

It's also notable that you are provided with a toll-free support number for help with any trouble you may have, but I did not need that number. I will describe the issues that I have had when installing mine.

The first topic in the assembly instructions is installing the casters. They do not mention that you need to remove the preinstalled plastic feet, so I spent several minutes trying to screw the casters into the feet. Thanks to a friend helping me out, he told me to remove the feet, and subsequently made fun of me for trying to screw casters into feet. A wrench is included in the accessory bag to perform this operation.

The instructions detail how to install the CO2 regulator, but they do not tell you how to adjust the pressure. In the regulator included with my unit, there is a screw protruding from a thick black assembly. Turn this screw by hand clockwise to increase pressure, counter-clockwise to decrease. I can understand omitting this detail if Haier ships the unit with a variety of regulators, but if this is the case, the manual should note this. Better yet, the instruction manual for the regulator should be included.

You will also notice a plastic tray atop the compressor unit, when viewed from the rear. At first I thought this was some kind of protective insert to prevent shipping damage. It is removable, so I thought it should be removed. DON'T REMOVE IT. The instructions fail to tell you that this is a condensate drip tray. The unit features an automatic defrost, and the condensate from defrosting collects in this tray. When the compressor is running, its heat evaporates the collected condensate.

The cleaning kit included is pretty easy to use, and includes a wrench to remove the tap from the dispensing tower, however it does not mention that the nut is reverse threaded when you are facing the tap from the front. You turn it clockwise to loosen it and remove the tap for cleaning

By the way, the manual, and most online resources recommend cleaning after every keg change. Along with the cleaning kit, it also includes a starter bottle of cleaning detergent.

Other then these details, the other chapters in the manual are excellent. It includes a full troubleshooting section to determine why your beer is tasting strange (if it is) and includes a number of remedies to cure it. It seems Haier concentrates on making the troubleshooting steps centered around the taste of the beer versus the operation of the unit. Regardless it is very thorough in that aspect, even telling you the proper procedures to clean your beer glasses and how to properly draw your beer. It is clear that a beer connoisseur wrote it.

One thing you must keep in mind with this unit, once the keg is tapped and inside the unit, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR except to change kegs. Do not use this as your refrigerator and kegerator at the same time. Keeping the door closed is vital to maintaining the temperature of the beer. Draft beer is NOT pasteurized, and will go sour if allowed to warm up.

In conclusion, aside from my technical issues described above, this is an extremely well constructed item, made of quality that feels like it is going to last a long time. The manual states an in-home service warranty period covering all defects in workmanship or materials for a period of 12 months labor, 12 months parts, and 5 years on the sealed system (parts only).