Empty Kegs. Where to buy?

[Zanpa]

i want to be able to keep my keg for weeks or more, as long as the beer lasts. i also travel around the world alot and have had a hard time aquiring one in japan. again, what is so wrong with me wanting to own my own kegs? money is not really an issue......bet that would change a few peoples mind.

[cubby_swans]

i want to be able to keep my keg for weeks or more, as long as the beer lasts. i also travel around the world alot and have had a hard time aquiring one in japan. again, what is so wrong with me wanting to own my own kegs? money is not really an issue......bet that would change a few peoples mind.

Wait a second, are you talking about just keeping the kegs as long as the beer lasts, or are you talking about having a collection of empty kegs that you wish to keep forever that you can point at and say "Look, here's my collection of kegs"???? Your initial post, as well as the title of this topic, indicates that you wish to have a collection of empty kegs. But your recent additions to this topic indicate that you simply wish to have a full keg of beer at the home that you can drink.


If you're talking about keeping a keg of beer a few weeks or even a few months while you drink the beer, you can get them at practically every liquor store in the entire United States. You just take it back when you're done with it and get another one. I have heard that their hard to get in Japan. Not so here.

It's not unheard of. But commercial kegs don't really tend to be the best option for home brewers. Old soda kegs are what most of us use. The soda kegs are easier to clean and fill and are perfect for 5 gallon batches.

What I was talking about, was homebrewers taking the commercial 1/2 barrels, and cutting the top off, and using it as a brew pot.

[Zanpa]

So you dont have to return the keg the next day?

[psychodad]

No you don't. Keep it until the beer is gone.

[cubby_swans]

So you dont have to return the keg the next day?

Not at all. I usually take 3-4 weeks to finish a keg. Just return it when I'm ready to pick up another.

[Zanpa]

ive never seen that service. I always have to take the kegs back in 24 hours unless i own my own keg and swap it out upon pruchase of the beer. now that i own one keg, i can drink it at my leasure and just swap it out when i want more beer. if you dont have to return right away as in your case, there is no need to own your own keg. do you see why i need my own kegs now?

[cubby_swans]

ive never seen that service. I always have to take the kegs back in 24 hours unless i own my own keg and swap it out upon pruchase of the beer. now that i own one keg, i can drink it at my leasure and just swap it out when i want more beer. if you dont have to return right away as in your case, there is no need to own your own keg. do you see why i need my own kegs now?

That's the way it is everywhere, in the US, as far as I know. You have basically an EXTRA, and return the empty, while keeping the full one. It's not really OWNING it. You're still returning it eventually. There's no need to do that here in the states. Everybody pays a cash deposit, and just returns the keg when they're done.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you don't return it in 24 hours and you don't have an empty to swap it out? Do they send the beer police to your house in the middle of the night?

[Zanpa]

That's the way it is everywhere, in the US, as far as I know. You have basically an EXTRA, and return the empty, while keeping the full one. It's not really OWNING it. You're still returning it eventually. There's no need to do that here in the states. Everybody pays a cash deposit, and just returns the keg when they're done.

Out of curiosity, what happens if you don't return it in 24 hours and you don't have an empty to swap it out? Do they send the beer police to your house in the middle of the night?

yes actually.

[Scott Zuhse]

Food for thought on this subject. Most breweries require up to six kegs in the float for every one that is tapped. Some breweries have several hundred thousand of these packages. A huge issue facing them is the loss of their cooperage either by theft or folks hanging on to them longer than necessary.

With the cost of stainless going up like everything else, kegs have increased from an average of about $80 a decade ago up to $135 or better now. If they continue to lose these kegs, they will simply pass on the replacement cost onto the customer.

The reason that the retail store could care less is that they pass on the same deposit paid to the wholesaler. Remember when deposits were only around $12?

[pie4himm]

Empty Kegs Where to Buy?

I just acquired an empty keg at an estate auction today and it come with other items I wanted and I don't need this keg and would like to sell it..how do I sell it?

[B17fe]

I just acquired an empty keg at an estate auction today and it come with other items I wanted and I don't need this keg and would like to sell it..how do I sell it?

I bought a couple on Craigs LIst.
It cost you nothing to list it there.

[thomasedwin]

I tried to find out how to legally purchase and own a 15.5 gallon SS beer keg. Every major brewery that I contacted has said that if their name is on the keg they still own it and they do not sell kegs and that they only sell beer in kegs and the keg must be returned for deposit as they still own the kegs. I asked if they sell old kegs that are damaged and not fit for their use anymore, They said, NO, any old kegs that are not usable anymore are smashed flat and shipped back to the manufacture for recycling. I asked, How do I know if an old keg I find for sale at a flea market or on ebay ect is not stolen property or how do I tell if a keg has been DECOMISSIONED? and is legal to purchase and own by private persons. They said there is no such thing as a decommissioned keg and they will always be the property of the brewing company who's name is stamped or embossed on the chime or dome of the keg. So how does a person legally purchase and own a beer keg????? The only legal way I see to own one of these kegs is to purchase them directly from a manufacture brand new that have no brewing companies name stamped onto them and maybe have them emboss the keg with The purchaser's name or a serial number and then have a more or less paper title that says this keg was sold to customer #123456. to prove ownership. Otherwise if you have a name brand keg that you are using for kegging your own beer or you are using it for a brew pot boiler or for distilling water ect, you are technically and illegally in possession of stolen property. Not only that but if you have cut the top out of the keg or modified it in any way for your personal use you can also be charged for vandalism for destroying the keg. One brewery told me that if you have 1 or 2 old kegs and using them for what ever reason that I shouldn't worry about it too much but this doesn't change the fact they are still property of the brewery. I even tried to purchase a keg from local scrap metal junk yards and was told that they don't except SS beer because they belong to the brewery or are stolen property and the scrap yards that do except them will not resell them because once they hit the scrap pile they are scrap and they don't sell scrap to the public they only buy it. I'm thinking that if you have your own small personal brewery in your garage and one day for some unforeseeable reason the police visit you and they see a beer keg with a brand name on it they don't have to prove it's stolen property and they can take the keg, charge you with receiving stolen property and then you have to prove that it's not stolen property and with a name brand keg this would be impossible. Even if the brewery that owns the keg doesn't care that you have the keg the police will not care and will use any means to extract money and property from you. I purchased a used beer keg from ebay and I looked up the brewery name stamped on the keg and found that the brewery was sold to a larger brewing company and then sold again to even another company So the only thing I could say is that the company that originally owned the keg does not even exist anymore but the keg will still belong to whoever purchased the company name stamped on the keg. So for all you guys out there that have these kegs you are in possession of stolen property and can technically get you arrested and put in jail when you thought you purchased them legally.

[djc]

Welcome Thomas. You do realize that this thread is at best 7 years old and had already run it's course?