Guess what I found on the side of the road?

[JDGator]

who needs skool with all the new words ima learnin. LOL

 

[Shooter]

Actually, he said he's going to return the keg once it's empty, implying that he knows who the owner is.

To be fair, I believe his intent is to return it to the brewery, which doesn't sound very close to where he is at the moment.

 

[kombat]

Either way, corporate America won't miss a keg of beer.

So it'd be different if it were a Stone or Rogue keg?

It's OK to steal from the "big guys," but not the little guys?

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Drink the beer, they can't sell beer that's been sitting on the side of the road.

Drinking the beer will be your call, but I can assure you that the line above is true. Once it's out of their possession, they can't just take it back and resell it. It would be dumped, as there is no way for them to know if the beer's gone bad, how long it sat, etc etc etc. It's not worth it to them to save $20 of ingredients and risk having a bad keg of beer sold to a customer.

If it were me, I'd drink the beer (if it's good), then return the keg to the distributor.

As a customer, would you accept a T-bone steak that was returned to Kroger/Food Lion/etc?

MC

 

[CGVT]

He didn't steal anything.

 

[Shooter]

Drinking the beer will be your call, but I can assure you that the line above is true. Once it's out of their possession, they can't just take it back and resell it. It would be dumped, as there is no way for them to know if the beer's gone bad, how long it sat, etc etc etc. It's not worth it to them to save $20 of ingredients and risk having a bad keg of beer sold to a customer.

If it were me, I'd drink the beer (if it's good), then return the keg to the distributor.

MC

I agree, they likely won't be able to sell that beer, might be good to get their call on it first. My thoughts, take 'em or leave 'em.

 

[finsfan]

So it'd be different if it were a Stone or Rogue keg?

It's OK to steal from the "big guys," but not the little guys?

AB has 50% of the beer market, I think they can handle losing kegs here and there.

And yes it would be different if it were from Rogue or Stone. They are doing great things to the beer market and i think everyone here would return it to them, but it would probably be a small percentage who returns the AB keg. AB was just sued for watering down their beer, who knows how long that has been going on. How much do they think they stole during that period of watering down beers?

 

[kombat]

Like I said, I'm just surprised at how many people are the OP's side on this one.

Whenever someone comes in here bragging about how they scored a 15g stainless keg off Craigslist (almost certainly stolen) or paying a deposit and just keeping the keg, we admonish them and educate them about how costly that is to the brewery.

Yet here's a guy doing the same thing, but WITH THE BEER TOO, and we're supposed to high-five him?

With all the dictionary definitions being posted to this thread, could someone please look up "hypocrite?"

All I see is a lot of rationalizing. "Finders keepers! It's not technically stealing! BMC is rich anyway, they won't miss 1 keg!"

Come on, you're better than that. If you have kids, is this the kind of example you'd want to be setting for them? You know deep down it isn't right.

Character is how you act when no one is watching.

 

[unionrdr]

It's also illegal for a seller to take returns on foodstuffs. I also heard this from midwest when I talked to them about recieving the same order twice. Since they couldn't legally take it back for resale,I was allowed to keep it. The said to concider it a little payback for all the waiting on my order the first time with the big warehouse move. Might as well keep it.

 

[brewkinger]

I live over 200 miles away from the brewery. It is not a local brewery. For me to return the keg to them, would require a minimum of 5 hour round trip. If you took the time to look at the map, and notice where I live and where the brewery is you'd know that. Instead you jump to conclusions.

I don't know who the distributor is. There is more than 1 distributor in the area. Do you suggest I call them all up and ask who lost a keg yesterday? Why don't you start calling around for me since your the one worried about it.

That being said, I'm done with this conversation. I didn't mean for this to turn into the moral conversation about keeping/stealing kegs, but it did.

Instead of making a long drive to the brewery, why not make a short drive back to the beer truck that you saw on the side of the road?
You think it was coincidence that you saw that truck on the side of the road AND then you found a keg?

That is the conclusion that I jumped to. I never once thought you should drive back to a brewery that is so far from you.
I do conclude that you had no right to that keg.

Enjoy the beer.

 

[Shooter]

AB was just sued for watering down their beer, who knows how long that has been going on. How much do they think they stole during that period of watering down beers?

Sigh...

 

[Shooter]

Come on, you're better than that. If you have kids, is this the kind of example you'd want to be setting for them? You know deep down it isn't right.

Character is how you act when no one is watching.

I've certainly made decisions which, in retrospect, were the wrong call, but I appreciate the sentiment here!

 

[kombat]

AB has 50% of the beer market, I think they can handle losing kegs here and there.

And yes it would be different if it were from Rogue or Stone.

Son: "Daddy, why did you take that?"

finsfan: "Because, son, it belonged to a rich person, he won't miss it."

Son: "So it's OK to steal?"

finsfan: "No, no, of course not. It's only OK to steal from people so rich that they'll barely notice it."

Son: "But how do you know if someone is rich enough that it's OK to steal from them?"

finsfan: "That's the great part, son! You get to decide!"

 

[Chad_C]

Instead of making a long drive to the brewery, why not make a short drive back to the beer truck that you saw on the side of the road?
You think it was coincidence that you saw that truck on the side of the road AND then you found a keg?

That is the conclusion that I jumped to. I never once thought you should drive back to a brewery that is so far from you.
I do conclude that you had no right to that keg.

Enjoy the beer.

I did turn back toward the truck, (that was driving, not on the side of the road) but did not catch back up to it. I don't know which way he went.

For everyone's moral serenity, I just contacted the brewery. I was told to enjoy the beer and next time I'm in town, stop by and swap the keg for a case of beer and a tour.

While I did say that I was going to enjoy the beer from the get-go I never said that I was keeping the keg, or even implied I was going to. I still conclude that I did not steal anything, My conscious is still as clear as it ever was.

 

[JDGator]

it was fine for Robin Hood

 

[motobrewer]

AB was just sued for watering down their beer, who knows how long that has been going on. How much do they think they stole during that period of watering down beers?

wow.

also:

If anyone is interested in the actual law in this matter:

7-104. General theft provisions.

(a) Unauthorized control over property.- A person may not willfully or knowingly obtain or exert unauthorized control over property, if the person:
(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property;

jumping ahead a bit:

(3) In a prosecution for theft by possession of stolen property under this subsection, it is not a defense that:
(d) Control over property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake.- A person may not obtain control over property knowing that the property was lost, mislaid, or was delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient or nature or amount of the property, if the person:

(1) knows or learns the identity of the owner or knows, is aware of, or learns of a reasonable method of identifying the owner;
(2) fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner; and
(3) intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property when the person obtains the property or at a later time.

http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/criminal-law/title-7/subtitle-1/7-104/

i'm not a lawyer, but it seems pretty straightforward to me that this was "theft", by definition.

It's also "illegal" to drive 5mph over the speed limit.

 

[unionrdr]

Aaww c'mon guys. You tryin to tell me if you were in the same situation,that you wouldn't keep it?! They'd have to dump the beer legally anyway. And how could you know who lost it? I don't think the truck stopped in that spot,or he likely wouldn't have been able to walk away with it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I did turn back toward the truck, (that was driving, not on the side of the road) but did not catch back up to it. I don't know which way he went.

For everyone's moral serenity, I just contacted the brewery. I was told to enjoy the beer and next time I'm in town, stop by and swap the keg for a case of beer and a tour.

While I did say that I was going to enjoy the beer from the get-go I never said that I was keeping the keg, or even implied I was going to. I still conclude that I did not steal anything, My conscious is still as clear as it ever was.

Since we are all so moral high road in here you would do well to contact the distributor regarding the beer since the brewery, in fact, no longer owns the beer once the distributor took possession of it. Cause, you know, everyone respects the distributor.

 

[n240sxguy]

Just another thought, do kegs have serial numbers placed on them to track shipments? I'm just thinking if the brewery owns the keg, they charge a deposit fee to the distributor, the distributor loses it, who's to say you get it back to the right distributor? If you return it to the brewery, the distributor is out the deposit fee. If you return it to the wrong distributor, the one who paid the deposit won't get it back, and the other one will. The OP might be offered the deposit fee. Usually not without a receipt, but maybe. Is that his reward for returning it? What if he tells the story, and they give him the deposit anyway? If they can't take the beer back, maybe he should just go dump the keg back on the side of the road where he found it. What if a mower hits it when they now the side of the highway? There's a big difference in a person losing a wallet that contains very important and valuable items, and a keg that was found. It'd be like me writing my name on a dollar and then losing it. I don't expect anyone to bring it back to me. The OP said he was going to return the keg. That's good enough for me.

 

[Chad_C]

No but for the sake of arguing, the brewery does in fact own the keg, which is what is in question.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

No but for the sake of arguing, the brewery does in fact own the keg, which is what is in question.

The keg, yes.

The beer, no.

And this thread being about a beer or a keg was lost, some might say stolen, long ago.

 

[n240sxguy]

So, distributor failed to secure keg, lost profits from beer and deposit on keg. Could be worse. It could've killed someone coming out of that truck. Everybody wins.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I didn't mean for this to turn into the moral conversation about keeping/stealing kegs, but it did.

You don't know this place too well then.

 

[JoeyChopps]

How many people have stolen milk crates that they found on the side of the road?

For the record I would keep the beer and the keg. I have two sankes and I'm pretty sure they are both "stolen".

 

[Shooter]

For everyone's moral serenity, I just contacted the brewery. I was told to enjoy the beer and next time I'm in town, stop by and swap the keg for a case of beer and a tour.

I imagine they will reach out to their distributor or distributors in the area. Seems like they are satisified and, as many suspected, they don't want the beer back. Plus, you got a free case of beer and a tour. My opinion, you've done a good thing here!

 

[Shooter]

Aaww c'mon guys. You tryin to tell me if you were in the same situation,that you wouldn't keep it?! They'd have to dump the beer legally anyway. And how could you know who lost it? I don't think the truck stopped in that spot,or he likely wouldn't have been able to walk away with it.

I would probably call the distributor. I would be tempted to keep it though. I don't believe the OP was doing anything malicious here. Sometimes it's good to sit and think a second about the best course of action.

Many times I've been given change for a purchase that was more than I paid in the first place. I admit, as I walk out the door counting my money and realize I gave the lady $5 and she gave me change for a $20, I am tempeted to keep walking. I try to let the better part of me prevail and turn around and explain what happened. Have I always made the correct decision? No. Does this make me morally superior to anyone else? No.

 

[MadCnty]

This sorta of discussion makes me feel old... Years ago I bought a keg of beer and at that time the deposit was like $15.00... The thing was (and I did not know it at the time...) that the local package store would NOT take back the said keg after 10 days... So I just would trade that keg for each deposit thereafter... The last time I used the keg for a deposit was over 10 years ago and you can guess what it is being used for now...

 

[Shooter]

The last time I used the keg for a deposit was over 10 years ago and you can guess what it is being used for now...

Flower planter?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Have I always made the correct decision? No. Does this make me morally superior to anyone else? No.

I forget the details but, I was once buying some bulk speaker wire. Was supposed to be s'thing like $5 a foot and got rung up at $0.55 a foot. I saw the total and flat out said "That can't be right. Look at it and try again." And the very cute cashier re-rang the items up at $0.05 a foot. I said, "Are you sure about this" she said "Yes. Definitely!"

Yep. I walked.

 

[brewkinger]

OK, official apology to OP.
Sorry fellow brewer.

It is easier to look back now and see that your intentions were not malicious.
Once again I say to thee: "Enjoy the beer"