The End of Ball Lock Kegs?

So, why are they still available from kegconnection.com, kegcowboy.com, austinhomebrew.com, northernbrewer.com, morebeer.com, etc?

 

Because they are 40-50+

Sabco had em for 30 with all new orings and polished!

 

Check out cornykeg.com. 4 pack of converted pin locks (new ball-lock posts, poppets and o-rings) for $104 plus shipping. If you want pin locks, the 4 pack is $75 plus shipping. Every once-in-a-while, they will have clearance pin locks for sale at $12 each.

 

My lhbs said this new limitation was due to most places that serve soda are going to in bag setups. It saves them tons of cash and keeps kegs outa our hands.

 

it sucks not being able to find great deals as often and having to pay 30-50 for a corny, but put it into perspective. It is still a 5G Stainless Steel container.

It's been know for a while that they're becoming scarce for use ones, so when you see them, buy what you can afford and twice what you need so you have a second round when the first runs out I have 6 with a planned capacity of 5 taps, I'd like to hold at least 10 if not 15 to have some for backups. I figure I have 40-50 more years of brewing in me, these are bound to wear out eventually right?

 

Going to bag setups? Haven't they been primarily bag setups for the last 15+ years? I worked at a movie theatre and restaraunts a lot in my youth, and it was all "bag in a box" for soda. I didn't know what a corny was until I started brewing.

 

Totally with you on this one AZ. I started brewing in 2006 and it was the same thing.. if anything it seems easier to get corny kegs now than it was when I started.

 

Where are they going?????????

 

Homebrewers, China, Scrap metal. Quite honestly we paid near scrap prices for cornies for a while. This is because soda companies have largely stopped using them and dumped them. Prices are typically $40-50 right now. In my opinion; at some point in the next couple years they will settle out to about $70. That will put them at about 60-70% of new price which will likely be equilibrium for the market.

AZ- you found kegs at $25...that doesn't mean it is the market price (unless you are selling them at that price too).

 

How many times to have to repeat myself?

The reason LHBS' aren't stocking them any more isn't because they are not available; but because they can't purchase a reliable supply and sell them at a profit -- when folks like me and others are able to find random deals on large quantities.

Again, they're out there. There are deals to be had. Just don't expect to pay $25 at your LHBS even though you can find them elsewhere for $25....

 

Sorry, I misread you I guess. There are deals out there, but current "deals" were what they were retail a few years ago. I expect current trends to continue. I hope I am wrong.

 

I agree with ya.

 

The prices of new cornies seem pretty high, but when you consider how long you are going to use them it really isn't that bad. If you are 25 now and brew for 50 years, that corny should last the full 50.

Also if all the used ones were gone, the volume of sales of new cornies would bring the prices down as more suppliers started to sell them.

Of course I have as many as I will ever need - I hope.

 

I am telling you my lhbs's CAN'T get them from their suppliers, they don't have any to sell to the lhbs stores for $25, $50, or any price. The only option in the near future is an online purchase which is fine be me.

 

My LHBS owner told me he could get them but would have to buy a pallet at a time and his cash flow is so tight he doesn't have the money to buy them in large lots. With the recent mortgage lending crisis, he can't get a line of credit anywhere for his business so all his purchases for inventory are pay as you go.

 

Group buy opportunity... If you could find out what price he can get them for and put together a group buy letting him take $1-$5 profit off each keg (middleman), it may be worthwhile. Just depends on the per keg cost. Might bring it up at a local homebrew club meeting.

 

Some shops have started selling pin locks converted to ball locks now as "low profile" kegs. Others who are huge players in the market only get pockets of kegs available from time to time. Ball locks definitely has won the format war for popularity so I would expect to see many retailers selling converted pin locks in the future to keep prices from rising too fast.

 

Sabco has them back again.They are cleaned, dents removed, seals, and polished. They also have the best shipping price. You should bea able to get 4 real nice kegs shipped to your door for $140.00.
http://www.brew-magic.com/keg_spec_bllocks.html

 

I have over 20 kegs and thats not enough. I do have a mix of disconnects so I can switch to whatever one I need. I would recommend not being hooked to the ball lock kegs, there are plenty of pin locks available, and personally I like them more.