$40 per keg for four ball lock kegs?

[rjstew]

Found someone who is willing to sell me four used ball lock kegs for $160 total, $40 each.

I'm not going to find a better deal than this, am I? Anything I should be asking/checking with the kegs?

This is my first foray into kegging.

 

[atoughram]

Thats a screaming deal - snap them up.

 

[PLOVE]

Nope. Used be able to find them for $25. Now you're lucky if you can find them under $50. I'd jump on it before someone else does!
P

 

[Remmy]

Great deal. At the most, you'll be spending $40 buying new posts, springs and/or o-rings to ensure there are no leaks.

 

[Rockn_M]

Sounds like a pretty good deal. Make sure that it hold pressure, you don't want to buy them and find an unrepairable leak.

Since your getting into kegging you'll also want to pick up extra gaskets and keg lube.

 

[Roadie]

Found someone who is willing to sell me four used ball lock kegs for $160 total, $40 each.

I'm not going to find a better deal than this, am I? Anything I should be asking/checking with the kegs?

This is my first foray into kegging.

Great price. Make sure the kegs hold pressure meaning have him put co2 in them and then listen for any leaking. Wait about 5 minutes and then pull up on pressure relief value to vent.

 

[soccerguy83]

Send them to me and I'll test them for ya!

 

[vincentAlpha]

Get em fast, I managed to get 5 pin locks for $20 each and thought the guy was joking!

 

[dcbc]

Give them a sniff. If you smell root beer, you will likely be investing in extra parts. Darned near impossible to get out.

 

[Silentdrinker]

Give them a sniff. If you smell root beer, you will likely be investing in extra parts. Darned near impossible to get out.

That's absolute bull crap advice.

I've dealt with every soda (and several ice cream flavor syrup) keg imaginable.

Strawberry syrup 1 gal taylor was by far worse than rootbeer. Every one of them cleans (it's freaking stainless steel man) with a soak in hot pbw. Worse case is he replaces the orings.

 

[augiedoggy]

a year ago midwest was selling unrefurbished pin locks kegs for 4 for $100 with shipping! I am still kicking myself for only buying 4 at the time...

I found 5 10 gallon firestone kegs for $20 a piece on craigslist but they were mostly missing posts and all were missing diptubes... still after ordering all the parts I couldnt find at my local brew supply I have about $200-$225 total cost for all five kegs... for 10 gallons kegs thats a steal.
I got lucky by just mentioning to basically everyone I come in contact with that I homebrew Two people who used to homebrew have given me 2 co2 tanks and 5 ball lock and 4 pinlock kegs now...

 

[augiedoggy]

That's absolute bull crap advice.

I've dealt with every soda (and several ice cream flavor syrup) keg imaginable.

Strawberry syrup 1 gal taylor was by far worse than rootbeer. Every one of them cleans (it's freaking stainless steel man) with a soak in hot pbw. Worse case is he replaces the orings.

the smell can be very persistent even after many cleanings (you wouldnt think) but it doesnt effect the beer...

someone just gave me 4 more pinlocks that are all still full of soda it seems I read the sode last forever as long as it isnt diet... I tasted one and it was fine besides being flat but I will likely be dumping it all soon since I'm running out of kegs for beer.

 

[RocketBrewer]

Try to make sure that you have a way to pressure test. You will not hear most leaks, but some starsan (or soapy water) in a spray bottle works well for leak testing. I have gotten several ball lock kegs that have had leaks around the beer out post mount (PITA, but can be fixed with solder).

 

[philipCT]

My local beer distributor sold me 4-5 gallon ball-locks for $35 each a few months ago. His staff even pressure tested them before I left. They were pretty gross on the outside, and did carry strong odor of ginger ale and other soda, but with some PBW and elbow grease all that got cleaned up. I also replaced a few o-rings but all-in-all if you are willing to do the work, check with your local beer distributor.

Mine's a great guy and always interested in what I'm doing. I bring him some homebrew from time to time. I remarked that he always seemed to be in a good mood, and he said, what have I got to stress about? I'm in the beer business!

 

[augiedoggy]

I heard rumors that one of our local beer distributors was actually a homebrewer and trades corny kegs for homebrewing supplies at the local homebrew supply store..... funny how things come full circle..

 

[Silentdrinker]

the smell can be very persistent even after many cleanings (you wouldnt think) but it doesnt effect the beer...

someone just gave me 4 more pinlocks that are all still full of soda it seems I read the sode last forever as long as it isnt diet... I tasted one and it was fine besides being flat but I will likely be dumping it all soon since I'm running out of kegs for beer.

1000% bull crap

I bought 30 three gallon Spartan kegs and 15 spartan 5 gallons kegs from a guy who had a soda maintenance company years ago.

The kegs sat in a warehouse for over 10 years before he finally sold them to me.

Each one still dirty with soda... They stunk like soda when I opened them.. Sprite, coke, diet coke, rootbeer...etc.

Every single one of those kegs are perfectly fine with nothing more than a soak in pbw and replacing the seals. They do not smell like soda or have any ill affect on the beer.

 

[augiedoggy]

1000% bull crap

I bought 30 three gallon Spartan kegs and 15 spartan 5 gallons kegs from a guy who had a soda maintenance company years ago.

The kegs sat in a warehouse for over 10 years before he finally sold them to me.

Each one still dirty with soda... They stunk like soda when I opened them.. Sprite, coke, diet coke, rootbeer...etc.

Every single one of those kegs are perfectly fine with nothing more than a soak in pbw and replacing the seals. They do not smell like soda or have any ill affect on the beer.

Apparently there more than a few other people who don't agree with you... enough where I only had to type half the question in Google for it to know what I was asking...

http://www.google.com/search?redir_...80&action=devloc&q=corny keg smells like soda
Maybe your sense of smell is not the gold standard you thought it was? BTW I'm not saying you can't get the smell out... just that my comment about some of the smells being persistent is not "1000% BS" I have read many times of some like the lemon lime being persistent with regular cleaning

 

[Silentdrinker]

Well guess I lucked out on every single one of those kegs and many others I've dealt with.

Yay me!

 

[dcbc]

That's absolute bull crap advice.

I've dealt with every soda (and several ice cream flavor syrup) keg imaginable.

Strawberry syrup 1 gal taylor was by far worse than rootbeer. Every one of them cleans (it's freaking stainless steel man) with a soak in hot pbw. Worse case is he replaces the orings.

Well guess I lucked out on every single one of those kegs and many others I've dealt with.

Yay me!

Yes, it was probably luck on your part.

I've had plenty of kegs, all used, all with soda still in them. The PBW soak usually did the trick. But root beer is tougher. The posts are where it's most persistent. I got it out, and it may be that I'm sensitive enough to that smell to notice it where some won't. But soaking in PBW and boiling parts in beer was not the fix. Replacing poppits and seals was the only thing that did it. But it's not as easy for the rest of the world as it apparently was for you.

Oh, and your beer smells like root beer.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I like my sixtels.$30 at any BD.If the pipeline runs low I can go hook up any commercial beer without changing any fittings.They had beer in them,off flavors is a non issue

 

[Silentdrinker]

Yes, it was probably luck on your part.

I've had plenty of kegs, all used, all with soda still in them. The PBW soak usually did the trick. But root beer is tougher. The posts are where it's most persistent. I got it out, and it may be that I'm sensitive enough to that smell to notice it where some won't. But soaking in PBW and boiling parts in beer was not the fix. Replacing poppits and seals was the only thing that did it. But it's not as easy for the rest of the world as it apparently was for you.

Oh, and your beer smells like root beer.

Well I don't know what to say. I'd buy rootbeer kegs any time of the day. I repaced the orings. Never bothered with poppets. Rootbeer was no more an issue than coke. And if you think Rootbeer is bad, the Taylor 1 gallon ice cream kegs are far far worse especially the strawberry one.

Root beer smell or not, my beer still gets me drunk.

 

[dcbc]

Well I don't know what to say. I'd buy rootbeer kegs any time of the day. I repaced the orings. Never bothered with poppets. Rootbeer was no more an issue than coke. And if you think Rootbeer is bad, the Taylor 1 gallon ice cream kegs are far far worse especially the strawberry one.

Root beer smell or not, my beer still gets me drunk.

Never tried to refurb an ice cream keg. I'll take you at your word on that one.

 

[Ski12568]

Got one this week for 25$

 

[beernbourbon]

Root beer smell or not, my beer still gets me drunk.

hmmmm......methinks we have 'rooted out' the cause of lack of olfactory comprehension. Last time I drank beer to 'get me drunk' was in my 20's. Don't know about anyone else here, but I drink beer, be it mine, "craft", whichever, because I like the taste, and I don't drink it to excess to be drunk. At that point, I might as well hang up my kettle and not spend so much time and money perfecting the art and science of my brews. I'll just go buy multiple cases of BMC (cuz it'll take that to get me drunk) and go all Homer Simpson and wrap my life around the pursuit of drunkenness. Oh, and I'll stop buying expensive bottles of bourbon and just 'go git me sum Old Crow cuz it ain't about what it tastes like, it just gits me drunk'

My apologies....

To the OP, yes, great deal, just read here, and know the pitfalls of what you are about to get in to, and go for it!

 

[rjstew]

The guy dropped off the kegs for me this morning. He works for a Soda Extract company and gave me his card, so it's a legit business. The kegs were pressurized and he released the CO2 when he handed them over. If I run into any issues, I'll just bring the kegs back to his business.

Only problem, he didn't realize the difference between ball lock and pin lock which is kinda confusing, to be honest. He had 5 kegs in his trunk, luckily 3 were pepsi kegs, but unfortunately 2 were coke kegs so I only got 3 for $40 each. He said he has a ton of stock, but would need to check and pull the kegs, so hopefully I can get one more Pepsi keg. Not sure if he'll deliver a single keg to me though. He wasn't too psyched to only get $40 for them (I haggled him down from $60/keg) and said that he had other guys who had offered $50-$60 and he was delivering to them today.

At least I got 3 for $40. I'm sure I can find a good deal on a single somewhere.

 

[vincentAlpha]

Even if you can't you still made out like a bandit, though I'd have taken the pin locks at that price too. Long as you get the threaded connectors it isn't like there is a whole lot of difference.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I like my sixtels

Tall 1/4's even better

 

[Silentdrinker]

hmmmm......methinks we have 'rooted out' the cause of lack of olfactory comprehension. Last time I drank beer to 'get me drunk' was in my 20's. Don't know about anyone else here, but I drink beer, be it mine, "craft", whichever, because I like the taste, and I don't drink it to excess to be drunk. At that point, I might as well hang up my kettle and not spend so much time and money perfecting the art and science of my brews. I'll just go buy multiple cases of BMC (cuz it'll take that to get me drunk) and go all Homer Simpson and wrap my life around the pursuit of drunkenness. Oh, and I'll stop buying expensive bottles of bourbon and just 'go git me sum Old Crow cuz it ain't about what it tastes like, it just gits me drunk'

That is so so so very interesting. I think the world should know. You definetly need to write a book about it; it will become a best seller and it is sure to be made into a block buster hit. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

 

[augiedoggy]

So anyway.... I was able to get all the missing replacement parts for the $20 craigslist ancient firestone challenger 10gallon kegs for about $100 between my local Lhbs and Chi company.... So I now have 5 functional 10 gallon kegs for $200 total cost... Up until recently I mostly brewed 5 gallon batches but now that Ive done a few 10 gallon I realized its really just about the same about of work and time as 5 gallons so why not? (at least with tested recipes I know are good) and I can still split the batches up if I want to try different yeast strains and use the 5 gallon kegs...
The only issue I have now is the 50/50 mix of pin and ball lock between the 20 or so kegs I have...

 

[cyberbrew]

So anyway.... I was able to get all the missing replacement parts for the $20 craigslist ancient firestone challenger 10gallon kegs for about $100 between my local Lhbs and Chi company.... So I now have 5 functional 10 gallon kegs for $200 total cost... Up until recently I mostly brewed 5 gallon batches but now that Ive done a few 10 gallon I realized its really just about the same about of work and time as 5 gallons so why not? (at least with tested recipes I know are good) and I can still split the batches up if I want to try different yeast strains and use the 5 gallon kegs...
The only issue I have now is the 50/50 mix of pin and ball lock between the 20 or so kegs I have...

^^This with regards to 10 gallons!

As for getting the soda smell out of my pin lock kegs the key for me has been not only to oxiclean/starsan the stainless, but also replace anything that seals. That includes not only the o-rings/gaskets but also the poppets (they can really stink!).