PerfectDraft Cider Kegs: The Best Draught Cider for Your Machine in 2026
PerfectDraft cider kegs solve a narrow but very real problem: you want draught cider at home — properly cold, properly poured, from a tap rather than a…
PerfectDraft Cider Kegs: The Best Draught Cider for Your Machine in 2026
PerfectDraft cider kegs solve a narrow but very real problem: you want draught cider at home — properly cold, properly poured, from a tap rather than a can — without committing to a pub-sized cask you’ll never finish. A sealed 6-litre keg slots into a countertop machine, chills inside it, and pours through the front tap. Because cider tends to be drunk cold and in company, the format arguably suits cider even better than it suits lager.
The trade-off is choice. The cider side of the PerfectDraft range is deliberately short — a handful of well-known names rather than the dozens of craft beers the system also carries — which makes the shortlist easy to write but means every keg in the line-up has to earn its place. This guide covers the three named cider kegs in the range, plus the mix-and-match Cider Keg Pack, with the per-pint maths, the machine compatibility details, the freshness caveats and the UK retailers that stock them.
Quick picks: which PerfectDraft cider keg to buy
| Best for | Pick | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Best all-rounder for most households | Thatchers Gold 6L Keg (4.8% ABV) | around £25–£30 per keg |
| A fuller, fruitier pour | Orchard Pig Reveller 6L Keg (4.0% ABV) | around £25–£30 per keg |
| Sweet, crowd-friendly pouring | Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime 6L Keg (4.0% ABV) | around £25–£30 per keg |
| Best value for a session or a party | Cider Mixed Keg Pack (mix and match 2 or 3 kegs) | around £25–£30 per keg, bundle pricing to confirm |
All prices in this guide are approximate and worth re-checking on the retailer’s own page before you order, because keg pricing moves with promotions.
What a PerfectDraft cider keg actually is
PerfectDraft is a countertop draught system that uses sealed, pressurised 6-litre kegs rather than bottles, cans or a traditional homebrew pressure barrel. You load a keg into the machine, close the door, and the unit chills it and dispenses it through a tap at the front — the same principle as a pub cellar line, scaled down for a kitchen worktop.
The detail that matters most to cider drinkers is that the keg is a sealed, one-way container. There’s no priming, no secondary fermentation, no sediment to disturb and no CO₂ canister to manage. The keg arrives carbonated and ready to pour, which removes the single biggest source of frustration in home draught setups: a keg that pours froth for a week because the pressure is wrong.
The 6-litre format, and why 10.6 pints is the number that matters
Each keg holds 6 litres, which is 10.6 UK imperial pints — not 10.5, and not the figure you’d get using smaller US pints. Every value calculation in this article rests on that number, so it’s worth fixing in your head before you compare formats: a keg is roughly ten and a half proper pints of cider.
Two kegs is a decent session with friends; three covers a long weekend. Kegs are considerably smaller and lighter than a full pub cask, and the internal bag collapses as the keg empties, keeping oxygen away from the cider — which is why the manufacturer can make the freshness claim discussed below.
How the price works out per pint
Kegs typically retail at around £25–£30 for a 6-litre keg, which works out at approximately £2.40–£2.85 per imperial pint. That is the headline figure, and it only becomes a bargain if you already own the machine, because the keg price doesn’t include the hardware.
It’s worth seeing that against the alternatives:
| Format | Typical price | Approximate cost per pint | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6L PerfectDraft keg | around £25–£30 | approx £2.40–£2.85 | Requires the PerfectDraft machine |
| 4 × 500ml Thatchers Gold cans | around £6–£7 at major supermarkets | approx £3.00–£3.50 | No chilling, no draught pour |
| 20L Westons polypin (bag-in-box) | around £40–£50 | roughly £2.00–£2.50 | No chilling, no pressurised pour |
The keg is materially cheaper per pint than supermarket cans if the machine is already on your worktop. The polypin undercuts both, and it’s the honest answer for anyone purely chasing the lowest cost per pint — but a polypin gives you no integrated chilling and no pressurised pour, which is exactly what you’re paying the machine for.
Machine compatibility
The 6-litre kegs fit both the PerfectDraft original (Philips HD3620) and the PerfectDraft Pro (HD3750), so cider kegs are not restricted to one generation of hardware — worth confirming on the perfectdraft.co.uk compatibility page before you buy if you’re on an older unit. PerfectDraft also operates a keg deposit scheme, so kegs are returned rather than binned; the current deposit amount is listed on the site and is worth checking, because it forms part of your effective cost per keg.
Freshness: the manufacturer’s claim versus owner experience
Handle this one carefully, because the marketing number and the real-world number are different things. The manufacturer states that a tapped keg stays fresh for up to 30 days, attributing this to the collapsing internal bag that keeps oxygen out. Treat that as a manufacturer’s claim, not a guarantee.
Owner communities are more conservative. Reddit’s r/Homebrewing and r/beeruk frequently report that cider in practice holds its best quality for closer to 10–14 days once tapped, rather than the full 30. The practical upshot is still positive: you can pour a pint on a Friday without feeling obliged to finish the keg that weekend, but you shouldn’t plan a month-long slow drain and expect the last pint to taste like the first.
Dietary filters and seasonal ordering
PerfectDraft’s UK range is organised by brewery, country and style, and includes dietary filters such as vegan kegs, plus a small seasonal category worth checking if you’re buying around Father’s Day or Christmas. The brand has previously flagged that courier delays over the Christmas period can push orders back by a day or two, so order early if the keg is a gift. Vegan status isn’t automatic across every cider, which is why each entry below names the spec page to check rather than assuming.
The best PerfectDraft cider kegs reviewed
Thatchers Gold 6L Keg — the best all-rounder
Best for: households buying their first cider keg, or anyone who wants one keg that will please most people in the room.
Thatchers Gold is the safest recommendation in the PerfectDraft cider range. It’s a Somerset cider produced by Thatchers Cider Co. at Myrtle Farm, Somerset, and the keg version delivers the profile drinkers already know from the pub: medium-dry, apple-forward, lightly sparkling and clean on the finish.
- ABV: 4.8% — the strongest of the three named cider kegs here, so pour for pour it carries more alcohol than the 4.0% options below.
- Format: 6 litres, or 10.6 UK imperial pints.
- Provenance: Thatchers Cider Co., Myrtle Farm, Somerset.
- Dietary: vegan status should be verified via the Thatchers spec page rather than assumed.
Standout strength: its versatility. It’s dry enough to satisfy a traditional cider drinker and smooth enough not to alienate someone who normally drinks lager, which makes it the natural choice for a mixed crowd.
Honest caveat: safe isn’t the same as exciting. If you’re after a bold, fruit-forward pour with real character, Thatchers Gold is the least adventurous keg on this list — and because the cider range is small, there’s no craft-style alternative sitting next to it on the shelf.
Verdict: the cider keg to buy first, and the one most households will keep re-ordering.
Where to buy: sold first-party via perfectdraft.co.uk, with fulfilled listings typically available through Amazon UK and periodic keg multi-packs appearing at Costco UK.
Orchard Pig Reveller 6L Keg — the best for a fuller, fruitier pour
Best for: drinkers who find standard medium-dry cider a bit thin and want more body in the glass.
Orchard Pig Reveller comes from Orchard Pig Ltd in Somerset, and it pitches itself differently from Thatchers Gold: fruitier, fuller-bodied and with a touch more character. If Thatchers Gold is the sensible default, Reveller is the one you buy when you want the cider itself to be the talking point rather than the dispense method.
- ABV: 4.0% — a gentler strength than Thatchers Gold’s 4.8%, which suits longer sessions.
- Format: 6 litres, 10.6 UK imperial pints.
- Provenance: Orchard Pig Ltd, Somerset.
- Dietary: described as vegan and gluten-free — verify both against the Orchard Pig spec page before relying on them.
Standout strength: body. The extra fruit weight gives it a rounder mouthfeel than a standard medium-dry keg cider, and it’s a genuinely different drinking experience from the other two ciders in the range rather than a variation on the same theme.
Honest caveat: the sweetness and fruit-forward profile won’t convert a committed dry-cider drinker, and at 4.0% ABV it’s a session-strength pour rather than a heavyweight. If your household splits between dry and fruity preferences, don’t expect one keg of Reveller to satisfy both camps.
Verdict: the pick for anyone who wants their cider to taste like something, and the most interesting of the three named kegs.
Where to buy: perfectdraft.co.uk first-party, with Amazon UK fulfilled listings typically available and Costco UK worth checking for periodic multi-packs.
Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime 6L Keg — the best crowd-pleaser
Best for: parties, gatherings with non-cider drinkers, and anyone who wants a sweet, easy-pouring fruit cider on tap.
Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime is the outlier here, and it’s the keg most likely to disappear fastest at a barbecue. It’s a Swedish-origin fruit cider at 4.0% ABV, and its vegan status is confirmed per Kopparberg’s UK spec, with gluten-free listed — both worth verifying on the spec page yourself if the keg is being bought for someone with a dietary requirement.
- ABV: 4.0%.
- Format: 6 litres, 10.6 UK imperial pints.
- Origin: Swedish.
- Dietary: vegan-confirmed per Kopparberg UK spec; gluten-free to verify on the manufacturer’s page.
Standout strength: accessibility. Sweet, strawberry-and-lime-forward and very crowd-friendly, it’s the keg that appeals to people who’d never order a traditional cider — which matters when you’re buying for a mixed group rather than for yourself.
Honest caveat: it is emphatically not a traditional cider, and sweet fruit cider is polarising. Anyone expecting a dry Somerset pour will find it cloying by the second pint, so it’s best treated as a keg to share rather than a keg to work through alone.
Verdict: the safest buy for a party and the worst buy for a purist — but it does something the other two kegs can’t.
Where to buy: perfectdraft.co.uk first-party, with Amazon UK fulfilled listings typically available.
Cider Mixed Keg Pack — the best value if you’re buying more than one
Best for: anyone who wants to try the range before committing, or who’s stocking up for a weekend with guests.
The Cider Mixed Keg Pack lets you mix and match two or three kegs rather than buying the same cider twice, which is the sensible way to work out whether your household is a Thatchers Gold house or a Reveller house before you commit to repeat orders. Two kegs is a solid session; three is a long weekend, and three also takes you into the territory where delivery terms tend to improve.
- What’s included: your choice of two or three 6-litre cider kegs from the available range.
- Flexibility: mix and match — you don’t have to take all three kegs of the same cider.
- Delivery: free-delivery thresholds apply to larger bundles, but verify the current threshold against the delivery page on perfectdraft.co.uk before ordering, because the terms can change.
Standout strength: value per keg plus flexibility. Bundling removes the risk of being stuck with three kegs of a cider you don’t love, and it’s the cheapest route to a mixed fridge.
Honest caveat: the bundle is only as good as what’s in stock — because the cider range is short, a mix-and-match pack has fewer combinations to draw on than the beer equivalent, and if one cider is out of stock your options narrow quickly.
Verdict: the smartest purchase for a household that drinks more than one keg at a time, provided you check the delivery threshold first.
Where to buy: perfectdraft.co.uk, with Amazon UK fulfilled listings worth checking for individual kegs and Costco UK for periodic multi-pack stock.
Alternatives to PerfectDraft cider kegs
If the per-pint maths is your priority rather than the draught pour, three alternatives are worth weighing.
Pinter takes a bag-in-box approach and involves no machine lock-in, so you’re not buying into a dispense system to drink cider at home. The trade-off is that you give up the integrated chilling and pressurised tap that define the PerfectDraft experience.
A 5-litre Thatchers mini-keg, typically around £12–£15 at supermarkets, is the cheapest way to buy Thatchers in volume. It’s a smaller format than PerfectDraft’s 6 litres, so you get fewer pours, and it has no integrated chilling — you’ll be managing temperature yourself and drinking it faster than you would a machine-chilled keg.
A 20-litre Westons polypin typically costs around £40–£50, which works out at roughly £2.00–£2.50 per pint — the lowest per-pint figure in this article. But a polypin gives you no chilling and no pressurised pour, and 20 litres is a serious volume to get through.
The pattern is consistent across all three: lower cost per unit, no integrated chilling, no pressure-pour. The PerfectDraft machine is what you’re paying for.
Where to buy PerfectDraft cider kegs in the UK
Three retailers matter here:
- perfectdraft.co.uk — the first-party store and the place to verify delivery terms, the keg deposit amount, keg compatibility and current availability. Always check the delivery page at the point of ordering, since thresholds and terms change.
- Amazon UK — fulfilled listings exist for the main cider SKUs; check Prime eligibility, because a keg arriving late defeats the purpose.
- Costco UK — periodically carries keg multi-packs; verify current stock, as this is a rotating line rather than a permanent listing.
The range and pricing above reflect manufacturer and retailer listings checked in early 2026. If a keg has been delisted since then, it simply won’t appear in the cider filter on perfectdraft.co.uk, so confirm the current line-up before you plan a bundle around a specific cider.
Frequently asked questions
How many pints are in a PerfectDraft cider keg? A 6-litre keg pours 10.6 UK imperial pints. Use the imperial figure, not 10.5 and not the larger number you’ll get from US pint conversions — US pints are smaller, so American sources will overstate how many pints you actually get in the UK. At approximately £2.40–£2.85 a pint, that’s the foundation of every comparison in this guide.
How long does a tapped PerfectDraft cider keg stay fresh? The manufacturer states up to 30 days once tapped, thanks to the internal bag collapsing as the keg empties and keeping oxygen out. Owner communities on Reddit’s r/Homebrewing and r/beeruk frequently report cider holding its best quality for closer to 10–14 days in practice. Plan on the shorter figure if you’re buying for quality rather than convenience.
Will cider kegs fit my PerfectDraft machine? Yes, if you own either the PerfectDraft original (Philips HD3620) or the PerfectDraft Pro (HD3750) — the 6-litre cider kegs are compatible with both. It’s worth confirming on the perfectdraft.co.uk compatibility page if your machine is an older or less common model. There’s no separate cider-only hardware requirement.
Are cider kegs cheaper than buying cans? Per pint, usually yes — a keg works out at approximately £2.40–£2.85 a pint against approximately £3.00–£3.50 a pint for supermarket cans, with a four-pack of 500ml Thatchers Gold typically around £6–£7 at the major multiples. But that saving only exists if you already own the machine. If you’re buying the hardware from scratch, factor that in before you congratulate yourself on the maths.
Are PerfectDraft cider kegs vegan and gluten-free? It varies by brand, which is why each entry above points to a spec page. Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime is vegan-confirmed per Kopparberg’s UK spec, with gluten-free listed. Thatchers Gold’s vegan status should be verified via the Thatchers spec page, and Orchard Pig Reveller is described as vegan and gluten-free — verify both against Orchard Pig’s own page. Vegan status isn’t automatic across every cider, so check rather than assume.
Do I have to return the kegs? PerfectDraft operates a keg deposit scheme, so kegs are returned rather than thrown away, and the deposit forms part of your effective cost per keg. Confirm the current deposit amount on perfectdraft.co.uk before you order, because it’s added at checkout and refunded on return. It’s a genuine part of the running cost rather than a rounding error once you’re buying several kegs a year.
Can I mix different ciders in one order? Yes — the Cider Mixed Keg Pack lets you mix and match two or three kegs, so you’re not tied to taking the same cider three times. Free-delivery thresholds apply to larger bundles, so verify the current threshold on the perfectdraft.co.uk delivery page before you finalise. Because the cider range is short, check that each cider you want is in stock at the time you build the bundle.
