returnable plastic kegs for bars?

[hogg]

Is there such an altenative to steel kegs? I have seen one way plastic kegs at up to 30 litres. Is there anyone doing plastic returnable kegs to bars?

[TAPMAN]

Miller uses some rubber kegs. I don't see how plastic would stand up to the rigerous sanitizing that it would take to reuse them.

[twoodward15]

Yes, they are in the industry now. They are way lighter and hold up just fine. I believe "plastic kegs america" is their name.

[BrewGuru]

The 'Rubberized' kegs that you see in the SAB Miller fleet are not plastic, they are a standard stainless steel shell, they have just been coated in rubber. There are also some floating around out there that just have rubberized chimes, top and bottom, but the center is exposed stainless.

There are two major plastic kegs coming to use in the industry - the standard reusable ones mentioned above and the new disposable (recyclable) one way 'key kegs' which are intended for one-way shipping, mostly for imports, where it isn't efficient or cost effective to send empty shells that take up just as much room back overseas on a boat.

[Scott Zuhse]

There are some innovative "one way" disposable, recyclable plastic kegs available. They are being utilized with certain import products and may begin to become available with some domestic brewers.

One unique aspect of a design feature is that the pressure source against the keg does not come in contact with the beer. This is very advantageous as product quality will be not be compromised, less exposure to the dispensing system.

These packages will become more prevalent once they become cost effective. For now, it is difficult to compete with the stainless kegs as they can be in service for decades and have paid for themselves many times over.

[BrewGuru]

Scott, the key kegs are available in two different forms - All of them use a PET Plastic (the same as a 2L soda bottle) for the outer shell. The 20L versions look either like a very large soda bottle, tall and skinny, and are pushed direct with CO2 or mixed gas as a standard keg. And there is the internal bladder style, where no outside gas comes in contact with the beer. These are completely spherical... And they can be pushed with atmospheric air, no more worries of maintaining carbonation levels, etc... Pressure is set to control dispense speed.

20L of beer in a plastic sphere looks weird, esp as the bladder begins to shrink. From what I gather, they couldn't get the tall skinny ones to work with the bladders, as they would bind up before all the beer was dispensed, but the spherical ones work well with the bladder system.

These are dropping now in markets with good import volume from some known breweries, but I don't expect to see the disposable / recyclable kegs used by any domestic producers for quite some time...

[Scott Zuhse]

Beerdog out of Scotland and other Euro imports are utilizing this system. It is a matter of time before this keg system picks up speed. It does require a specialty coupler and we will be inventorying them shortly. The part number is 713-051.

[twoodward15]

Ok, type Plastic Kegs America into your search bar and you'll see that this company actually makes a plastic keg. There is no bladder in them and they are pretty much the same as a stainless keg made of plastic. No rubber here, just a sankey keg made out of plastic. They are not a one time use keg....although the company is developing them for use in areas where you may not ever see your keg again.

[BrewGuru]

Originally Posted by twoodward15

Ok, type Plastic Kegs America into your search bar and you'll see that this company actually makes a plastic keg. There is no bladder in them and they are pretty much the same as a stainless keg made of plastic. No rubber here, just a sankey keg made out of plastic. They are not a one time use keg....although the company is developing them for use in areas where you may not ever see your keg again.

Correct,

These have been in use for some time now, many local and regional microbreweries are utilizing them because they are lighter, clean up well, seem pretty durable, and well, they are available, unlike traditional stainless cooperage which has been of spotty avialability for some time now...

Which is why I said above:

Originally Posted by BrewGuru

There are two major plastic kegs coming to use in the industry - the standard reusable ones mentioned above and the new disposable...

Scott,

I'm very excited to see the BrewDog stuff coming over on draft, they put out some fantastic specialty products. I was lucky enough to have a chance to speak with the owners/brewers and their importer about several topics on one of their recent visits to this side of the pond and will be very happy to see their products hit, no matter what form they come in!

[Scott Zuhse]

Is the keg that they are utilizing the Key Keg?

[BrewGuru]

Yes, they are coming over in the key kegs, also heard that with the initial success with them to the US they will begin using them in the broader UK, which seems kind of backwards (US first, then broader UK), but might help them retain their traditional cooperage and keep their float down in their local market and prevent permanent keg loss.

[Scott Zuhse]

The conglomerate of companies who put this together are based in Europe. It will slowly but surely build presence here in the US.