Big News

By Charlie

This year has given Rachel and me lots of time to reflect. We talk about our life together and how much we are looking forward to the years ahead. We talk about what’s important in life and we’re making plans.

Most of our friends already have children. And just about everyone in Mongolia over the age of 25 has at least one kid. Mongolians often ask us if we have children. When we say, “No,” Mongolians ask, “Why not?”

And so we have some big news.

Our family is getting bigger. Yes, we are now the proud parents of a 12.5 liter mini keg of Chinggis pilsner. Meet the Keggy.

For a $100 equipment deposit and slightly less than $25 in beer cost, I brought the Keggy home on Monday. I took an amazing tour of the Chinggis brewery last Friday, which is when I learned that we could have our own Keggy. The brewery is only one block away, so I strolled over there, paid my money and got the Keggy.

By the way, we did not come up with the name. “Keggy” is the trademarked name used by the brewery to describe this unique and wonderful product.

As any frat boy will tell you, kegs can be big pain in the ass. The biggest problem is that beer in a conventional keg does not have much of a shelf life. Once you tap the keg, the beer is good for the next day or so and that’s it. As you pump the tap, oxygen fills the keg and the beer starts to spoil.

Not so with the Keggy. I don’t really understand it, but the Keggy apparently uses some advanced beer dispensing technology developed in Europe. As you open the tap and fill your glass with silky pilsner, nitrogen counter-fills the Keggy. This keeps pressure in the Keggy without letting oxygen spoil the beer. Beer in a Keggy will keep indefinitely.

The Keggy is perfect for small pubs, casual drinkers and serious entertainers. We are all of the above.

It’s customary in Mongolia to arrive at a dinner party with some kind of alcohol. Wine, vodka or a few cans of crappy Korean beer will do. But imagine showing up with a Keggy! We did just that last night and the Keggy was a huge hit. We were so proud of him.

Figuring that a pint of beer at a UB pub will cost at least 2,500 tugrugs ($2), we figure that the Keggy saves us about $28 per filling depending on the prevailing retail price per pint.

To wit:

1 liter = 0.26 gallons
8 pints = 1 gallon
12.5 liters = 3.25 gallons = 26 pints
1,210 tugrugs = $1
@ 2,500 tugrugs per pint, 26 pints = 65,000 tugrugs = $53

It costs 30,000 tugrugs to fill the Keggy. That’s about $25, or half the cost of the per pint retail cost.

So here’s to you, Keggy. Welcome to the family. We love you.