so i was offered...

Tonight i was at a wine tasting and commented to the director of the venue about the four kegs i saw when i pulled in to park. He said they were leftover empties from a frat event they hosted at the site (college town). Anyway, he said that he had called the frat and they hadn't bothered to come pick them up and that since the semester was over he was going to take them to the recycling center in town.

My question is this.

I know that getting a hold of kegs can be a bit of a gray area, but if he really called the frat and offered them first dibs and he'll recycle them otherwise... should i claim them?

I'd be on that in a heartbeat.

I don't really NEED the four kegs as i got a kettle at xmas. but still, it's four kegs...

think....4 15G fermenters. Just take out the spear, grab a drilled stopper with Airlock and you're set.

Take 'em all and what you don't need place on ebay or craigslist for $40 each. Use the money as a recycling, a project with the money put back into your brewery. Ihat's what I would do. I need two more Anhauser Bush kegs, too many off brands with different diameters that I can not cut and butt weld together. The price of stainless has gone low again hrer on the left coast as well other metals like copper.

Pick em up!

sigh




-bn

BeernuT100 said:

sigh




-bn

Click to expand...

just sigh?

But... but... but it's wrong.

I admit I'd take 'em.

Chief of police here said I could have a couple he confiscated from some underage heathens.

Pick them up. If your conscience troubles you, contact the keg owners, whoever has their stamp on them. Tell them what you did and ask if they want them back. If they do, I believe that you are within the guidelines of fair play if you asked to be reimbursed for any expenses you incurred. At $220 - $250 (depending on what you believe) replacement cost, they should jump on it and be more than willing to offer a "finder's fee". You can always wave the fee or donate it to charity if your moral code would be insulted by getting money for "doing the right thing". Finally, don't let good kegs go to a recycle yard. Everyone (except the recycler) gets screwed. The owner has to replace and that charge is just passed down to the consumer. This is just my opinion and some of it is written tongue in cheeck. But, I firmly believe the part about everyone getting screwed. Let us know what you decide. Luck - Dwain

I'm wanting a bigger boil kettle and I told my wife the other day that I was going to convert the next commercial keg we killed and her comment to me was: "no you're not, your conscience won't let you." And you know, she was right. That's just me though. I certainly wouldn't throw stones at you. In fact truth be told, I'm jealous of you and your find.

Damn it, I blame my parents for having such a tight and AR moral compus.

i haven't thought about it from a moral standpoint. I guess i could try to track down the liquor store they were purchased from. Really, though, the extent to which i'm involved is basically saving them from the junk man. I have no other issue than that and i'm not stealing them, so i don't really feel that guilty about it.

It's like finding a dog. If you put up signs, make an effort to find the owners and can't then i think it's fine for you to keep the dog if the alternative is having it put down. In fact, i think it's a good deed... think i can convince myself the comparison works for the kegs?

I like where your heads at.

If you call the liquor store they may offer you $30 (standard deposit) each for them. Keeping them from the recycler is a good thing, wether you use them or send them back to the brewery.

Years ago (before the price of SS went through the roof and came back down) the AB brewery here would sell you used kegs they considered unserviceable. (read: lots of big dents and dings) Typically around $10 but it really depended upon to whom you spoke.

Also the guy on thedock would be happy to give you O-rings, Springs, and seal rings if you asked nice.

They hold beer and pressure just fine even if they look bad.

I came into possession of a 20lb CO2 tank that clearly belonged to Coke. (Deadbeat tenant left it behind along with the rest of his junk. Let's just say he wasn't a homebrewer) It said there was a deposit but when I called them they said the time for collecting the deposit had expired. I would have thought they would want their tank back for the small sum of the deposit, but they wouldn't cough up. I gave them the tank back anyway and they gave me a couple of coupons for a case of Coke. Cheap bastards.

This discussion makes me wonder. It has been discussed many times. So, basically, it seems to me that everyone has a different idea of what's OK. I mean, keeping a keg for the deposit is wrong. AB has a contractor (I wrote and asked them) that they are supposed to get rid of all their kegs through.

Dear Dwain,



Thank you for taking the time to visit our Web site and e-mail Anheuser-Busch. We truly appreciate your interest in our draught packaging.



Please understand that once a keg is deemed unusable by one of our breweries, it's sent to a repair vendor, who inspects it and determines if it can be repaired. If it cannot, the keg is sent to a scrap vendor, who recycles the stainless steel.



Unfortunately, it is not our practice to re-sell or otherwise provide our kegs, and I sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may cause.



Again, Dwain, thank you for contacting Anheuser-Busch. Please let us know if you have additional comments or questions.

Click to expand...

If a distributor sells a scratch & dent, is that OK? Is keeping a keg more wrong than speeding on an open highway, even if you don't get caught? No matter how long a keg has been in a garage/shop, etc. doesn't it still legally belong to someone?
I love to argue and can take either side of this. All of us do things that are illegal or immoral that we have made ourselves OK with. At the end of the day, this is a home brew board, not a moral compass. Do what you're comfortable with and move on. Luck - Dwain

i guess i'm the bad guy. a local bar where i used to live the owners were really cool, i told them i was a brewer, they were interested. i asked how much would he charge me for a keg, he said just the deposit they charge me when i lose a keg. i said ok, heres your $30, thanks for the keg. i've looked other places and just can't seem to find them. i don't feel bad about it. maybe i'm wrong though.

i'd get the kegs and give the dude what he'd get out of them for recycling. he'd be happy, you'd be happy, hell i'd be happy for ya lol

whatever you decide to do, take the kegs. they are much better in your hands, deciding what to do, than a scrap pile.

Take the kegs. Read this. Just sayin' ...

Most places charge a deposit on kegs. Consider those kegs paid for. If the owner will give them over, take them. If you really are worried about the morals, call the place they are from and say, "Hey, I just found them on the side of the street. I home brew and want to keep them, but wanted to let you know." Most places will just respond, "Err.." and that will be it. If they really throw a fit, you can take'm back and ask for the deposit.

You guys talk about the 4 like they have tracking chips in them. The dude is throwing them away, TAKE EM!!!!!!!!!!

i'm going to pick them up in a bit. Still don't know what i'm going to do with them in the end.

Oh, and by the way, there are five of them.

The "wrongness" "stealing" factoid is such obscure trivia... Just pretend you never heard about it on the internet.

Well, picked them up today. I couldn't find any information about the store they came from or anything. The only thing i saw were born on days with barcodes and the raised lettering telling me they were AB kegs. They guy i got them from said he had called AB to come get them but they never showed up. Would AB give me any $ for them or could they care less?

Here they are.

I'm guesssing since they never showed up to pick them up for free, they won't pay you for them either, and that is ownership if I ever saw it. You gave the lawful owners (AB) the chance to come get them, they decided not to, they're yours. And I wish I lived closer cause I'd love 2. Put them on the classifieds here and either sell them, sell them cheap, or Give them to a fellow HBT'er

Didn't catch you were in MS. I'm gonna bet you are going to end up with them.

I've been in your shoes before and personally called Capital City Beverage and Southern Beverage.

They'll just kick you up the chain to corporate beverage or tell you to take them back to the store so they can pick them up.

I know Brookshire's or McDade's actually charges ~$80-$120 for a 1/2 bbl deposit when I lived in Jackson last year. Then again, SS was through the roof about then.

I'd call the store, but i can't find any evidence of which store they came from. This is a college town. I have to imagine there are lots of places to get kegs.

I have no problem keeping them, either. I'm just exploring my options.

What really surprised me was that i couldn't find any tags or anything on the kegs. Oxford, like many other places trying to curb underage drinking, passed a keg registration law. I thought this meant all kegs had to have identifying marks that could lead the police to the store of sale and they'd have records of who paid for it. But i couldn't find anything that could be used to identify one keg from another.

They do the tag thing here too. Even a drunken frat boy can rip the sticker off the handle.

I think you're WAY over-thinkin' this. Keep em and enjoy. +10 on using them as fermenters. I have two that I use as fermenters and I love them. I actually looking for a few more.

It's one thing if you go to a liquor store, buy a keg and drop down a $30 deposit with absolutely zero intention of bringing the keg back but it's an entirely different thing to fall into a few unclaimed kegs on their way to the scrap yard.

I'm not going to go as far as say something like "they're a big company, screw them" but let's be realistic for a second.... do you know how many millions of kegs AB has? And yeah, I get it... I honestly do... for every keg one of us homebrewers snatches, that's that much more we're going to end up having to pay for deposits or the price of Bud.... I dunno... I just don't find that to be that compelling of an argument.

Again... I'm NOT suggesting flat out stealing kegs but I just don't understand some people's moral hang up about grabbing ones on the way to the scrap yard without even blinking an eye.

Like I've joked on other threads like this... if you feel funny about keeping them... send 'em to me!!

I'm over the 'should I or shouldn't I'. It's done. I have them. Right now i'm considering options and one option is to return them for some kind of deposit. I personally don't need the kegs. I have two fermenters and a 10 gallon mega pot, so if i can get $150 by returning the kegs (5x$30 deposit) then that is money i can use and invest in the brewery. If i need to sell them elsewhere, then i'll consider doing that, as well, it's just more of a hassle than the first option. If i decide to keep them then i'll start to look around for ways of converting them to fermenters and such (by the way, anyone have a link to how to do it? I found one in the search but the link was dead).

I've even considered giving them to other brewers as a 'pay it forward' type of thing.

Just look at the options.

Sanke Keg Revealed!

It's really easy and takes about 45 seconds.

I didn't even bother to cut the top off. I just took out the diptube and use 'em like that.

- HOT water and PBW
- Systematic scrub with carboy brush
- Rinse & repeat
- two gallons of water, drop it on one of the burners on my rig and let steam scream out of it for 20-30 minutes
- Rinse
- Water & Star-san
- Shake
- Use

Works like a charm.

I also have a keg that I came by years ago. I talked to a couple of stores and they didn't want to take a keg that they didn't lease to you. I'm sure someone on here would pay for a/the keg/s and shipping, especially if they live close. Luck - Dwain

Personally, I'd just try to return/get the deposit back for 3/5, and keep 2/5 for myself. Then again, my moral compass only reads about 60%...

Back in Jackson once again, if they didn't have record of you renting the keg from them, they did not take it back. Bringing an empty keg would only work to negate the deposit when you go get another 1/2 bbl.

The work around was to leave them the empty keg and get a full new one, then bring the new keg back once it's empty and get a deposit back.

Somehow, I don't think you want 2.5bbls of commercial beer.

Just sell them to fellow brewers. There are lots of HBers that want/need keggles that can't get them without stealing them. Help them stay on the right path! LOL