If I was just starting out, I would go with these kegs

If I was just starting to keg, I would go with these kegs and sanke couplers. Kegworks has them now at a reasonable price. $59.99

http://www.kegworks.com/5-gallon-pe...oupler-fitting-778-p178096?ecid=mybuysprodrec


I have a pretty good supply of cornies, but I still might get a couple...

OMG! It is plastic and you are going to put beer in there???

Just kidding. It looks interesting if I did not also have ball lock kegs and all the hardware.

The 11" OD would totally croak my six-faucet keezer. For that matter, it'd cut at least one keg from my cold-carb/holding fridge, too.

Can't have anything mucking with my trusty pipeline. I'll stick with skinny ball locks...

Cheers!

I'm sure there will be skeptics but that looks like a great option for those starting out. It's nice that there is more variety instead of searching for cornies.

I am about ready to start kegging. Had not realized these were fatter than ball lock...does that mean they are shorter too and thus may be easier to fit into keezers?

I'd still be able to get 4 in my keezer.

Some breweries are using this now and the bars are recycling them. If you are friends with a bartender or owner you might be able to get some for free or real cheap, too.

Cornies can be pretty temperamental. I think these might be easier to use and less finicky. They may be the way homebrewers go in the future.

They are

Specs
Dimensions: 11” Diameter x 23 1/2”H

Sanky couplers are about the same cost as QDs for cornies too.

BTW, I have no affiliation with the co that makes or sells these, I just like the idea of them

CGVT said:

They are Specs Dimensions: 11” Diameter x 23 1/2”H Sanky couplers are about the same cost as QDs for cornies too. BTW, I have no affiliation with the co that makes or sells these, I just like the idea of them

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My LHBS is selling them and I've been considering going that way.

They have these at my LHBS I walk by them every time and think if only they were the same size as 1/6 bbls I would own several

eric19312 said:

I am about ready to start kegging. Had not realized these were fatter than ball lock...does that mean they are shorter too and thus may be easier to fit into keezers?

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11” Diameter x 23 1/2”H makes them 2.5" fatter and 1.5" shorter than a true ball lock keg. A typical sanke coupler would probably make up most if not all that vs a typical plastic ball lock QD (which adds an inch) but you can get low-profile couplers. You'd have to do the math to see if they'd fit without a collar...

Cheers!

Just a little article on plastic kegs and some recent problems.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121021/GJNEWS_01/121029899

Clearly that story is about a totally different type of keg...

Cheers!

Why on earth would anyone want plastic kegs when stainless steel is cheaper and infinitely more durable? That makes absolutely zero sense to me. Just because Sankey?

This could be half the price of stainless steel and I'd still skip. It's a neat idea though.

The problem is over pressurizing the commercial plastic kegs.

$60 for plastic vs $35 for SS corny keg. I'm taking the corny keg every time....

CGVT said:

Cornies can be pretty temperamental. I think these might be easier to use and less finicky.

Click to expand...

Yep...the sanke D-coupler is pretty much bullet proof...I've never read, "my sanke keg leaked 5 gallons in my keezer", yet have heard quite a few tales of corny involuntary discharge.

I use Sanke kegs and like them, I will also be on the lookout for some of these plastic kegs second hand on the cheap / free if I see any at the local pubs.

These plastic kegs do look nice and light...the inner vessel is like an over sized soda bottle...likely a pound or two.

SpeedYellow said:

Why on earth would anyone want plastic kegs when stainless steel is cheaper and infinitely more durable? That makes absolutely zero sense to me. Just because Sankey?

This could be half the price of stainless steel and I'd still skip. It's a neat idea though.

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NervousDad said:

$60 for plastic vs $35 for SS corny keg. I'm taking the corny keg every time....

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When you find those consistently priced $30 and $35 cornies that don't need $20 worth of poppets, gaskets, lids, and posts, let us know.

The days of cheap cornies is pretty much over.

This is a pretty good alternative for about the same amount of money as the average ball lock corny and about half the price of a stainless 1/6 sanke.

As more breweries go to these they will become more available and the price will most likely come down.

I suppose you're free to purchase whatever you like, but the fact that one of these killed someone is probably enough to keep me in stainless: http://discussions.probrewer.com/sh...es-Statement-Regarding-Fatal-Brewery-Accident

Even if it was this type of keg (and it is not)...

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121121/GJNEWS_01/121129786/-1/fosnews

OSHA concluded the brewery was at fault in the death because its equipment for emptying kegs was operating at a pressure that exceeded the maximum threshold recommended by the manufacturer of the plastic keg.

Looks like a decent alternative for some folks, if you can score for free from somebody like a bar owner or something getting rid of them. Don't know that I'd pay 60 new for something thats going to have an unknown life cycle. Also would worry about sanitation over time if the inner lining is plastic with scratches or whatnot from cleaning, but with cornies being ever more expensive and a pain in the posterior to find, glad somebody out there is trying to come up with new ideas.

Edit: Also, looking at how these assemble now, seems like you kind of get the worst of both ends. Not enough of an opening on that inner PET bottle to really get all the way down in there if you need to like in a corny, and they also have a notice saying that you can't use standard commercial keg cleaning equipment through the sanke connection like you would on a stainless keg. I guess if they sold the inner bottles for a cheap price and you could just toss those and replace if you needed to that would help. Again, happy to see folks trying to come up with new ideas for the industry.

I would be skeptical about the PET plastic. Typical reusable food grade containers are HDPE. PET is the plastic the you can't leave in the car or sun for too long or it will leech into the liquid. I'm fine with using HDPE buckets and other things but PET is not ok in my book. Not all plastics are the same.

WissaBrewGuy said:

I would be skeptical about the PET plastic. Typical reusable food grade containers are HDPE. PET is the plastic the you can't leave in the car or sun for too long or it will leech into the liquid. I'm fine with using HDPE buckets and other things but PET is not ok in my book. Not all plastics are the same.

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PET and the water bottle in the hot car is an urban legend promulgated in e-mails and on websites like this.

Even if it was true, I just don't see leaving my kegged beer in a hot car for so long that the beer itself would becomes warm.

eric19312 said:

PET and the water bottle in the hot car is an urban legend promulgated in e-mails and on websites like this.

Even if it was true, I just don't see leaving my kegged beer in a hot car for so long that the beer itself would becomes warm.

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There have been real studies on this. While what you're saying is true, that antimony leaching for brief storage even at heat was not enough to trip acceptable health levels, long term storage (11 months at ROOM TEMPERATURE) was enough to put it outside the safety zone. It's fact that chemicals DO leach from PET, the question is how much.

I wouldn't want to store beer in these for a long time. Here is the link backing up my statements:
Journal of Environmental Monitoring Issue 4, 2012 http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2012/EM/c2em10917d#!divAbstract

Yep, and aluminum pots will give you Alzheimer's. There are studies, dammit!

BTW, I apologize for my sarcasm, but I'm not too worried about these things exploding, leaching chemicals or turning into flesh eating zombies, which I assume will be the next claim.

There are plenty of things to kill me in this world that I worry about. PET bottles are not one of those things.

As I said before, I have no dog in this fight other than I think these are a good idea and an alternative to the elusive affordable corny keg.

Buy them if you want or don't because,

[ame]http://youtu.be/eu15ApoD72A[/ame]

what other fittings would you need to get up and running with this keg?

All you would need is a Sankey coupler. I have a few of them. New they run about $20 to $35 or so, but they show up on Craig's List all the time for a lot less.

I'm not able to get concerned about the PET bottles leaching antinomy. These types of bottles are everywhere already - must be a couple dozen different products in my kitchen alone packed in PET. I'd guess even if there is an issue the surface area to volume ratio would swing so far with these kegs as to reduce it back to non-issue. (the cited paper noted that larger fills were associated with less leaching)

As for price I just have never ever ever seen a used corny keg for $30. Usually a lot more like $65, maybe $55 if I buy 4 at a time, and new ones are more like $120+.

Exactly as the OP stated...I am just starting out. No investment in any fittings yet. I really like the idea of being able to use an off the shelf kegerator for my home-brew, or alternatively if I build a custom kegerator, I like the idea that I could easily use it to serve commercial beer (craft of BMC).

I think this idea has merit and am waiting to hear from the early adopters to see if they have problems with durability. I do really like the idea of the inner bottle being replaceable.

Well we can all agree that consumer choice is a wondrous thing.

I'll pass on a $60 plastic bucket, stainless conies are cheaper, more durable and have a smaller footprint.

I followed the link, saw the pics of the "cutaway", but where are you seeing the info about the "inner bottle being replaceable"?

I prolly' overlooked it..........

It was on the kegworks site

The Kegworks site doesn't actually make a claim that the liners will be available separately...

Cheers!

It is listed as $71.75 on the website...

edit: Nevermind it's listed in Canadian dollars for me.

I looked into these things before. The company that produces them was only selling in large quantities, mostly to breweries. The liners were available.

The price in the link (that I got in an email from kegworks) in the first post has them at 59.99.

I really don't give a crap if any of you guys buy these things or not.

As I said before, buy them it you want. Don't buy them if you want. For whatever reasons you want.

I just wanted to point out that they were available now without having to buy a pallet of them from the company that makes them.

They are not a corny keg. They are a different size. They are made of plastic. They use a sankey coupler, not ball lock or pin lock connectors.

There would be pros and cons to using them.

IF I was just getting into kegging, I would seriously consider using these. That would be my choice. You would be free to choose otherwise. It would not make my choice or anyone else's choice to use these or not use these wrong

From the responses in this thread you would think that I was suggesting that we make homebrew kegs from the skin of sacrificed virgins...

CGVT said:

From the responses in this thread you would think that I was suggesting that we make homebrew kegs from the skin of sacrificed virgins...

Click to expand...

I don't know. Seems like a pretty typical thread to me.

Why are you getting upset, this is a discussion board after all?

Someone posted a study on plastic, you posted a sarcastic song about cancer.

Not upset, just shaking my head.

I could have posted about six different links disputing the chemical leaching claim and/or danger of a trace amount of antimony the same as I could for every aluminum causes Alzheimer's post that comes up. I chose to counter it with humor. Sorry if you didn't like it.

As I said, if you don't want to buy the things don't, but I'm pretty sure that you can't find cornies for $35 very often, the pet bottles won't kill you with chemicals or explode and they probably won't be the cause of the zombie apocalypse.

CGVT said:

All you would need is a Sankey coupler. I have a few of them. New they run about $20 to $35 or so, but they show up on Craig's List all the time for a lot less.

Click to expand...

i have put off getting into kegging forever and this looks like a good route to me. it's almost like the sankey system was designed for beer and not mixing syrup with water.

Methinks someone doth protest butthurt too much.

Own it.

Cheers!