Where to buy 1/2 kegs?

[msh227]

If this question has already been asked I appologize but I didn't find it when doing a search.

Where can I get empty commercial 1/2 kegs? I would be interested in about 6 of them to make my own home brewery. Can you purchase emptys from the local beer distributor/store or would it be best to get in touch with a local brewery?

Thanks

 

[Caboose]

Ive also been searching for the same thing. So far what Ive found in older posts is to check with liquor stores or distributors. From what everyone has said is that they will charge you a deposit (usually $10) and its yours. Hopefully we both have that kind of luck!

 

[skylor60]

Sabco and the CHI company have them. Seems as if just not returning them to the local beer store is kinda frowned upon. IDK for sure but I would Imagine if we all just kept the kegs the deposit and the beer that's inside them when we get them would increase over time.So give those guys a try

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I believe it is quite illegal to keep kegs you put a deposit down for at a liqour store. They are owned by the brewery. That said, how are they gonna know?

 

[msh227]

Thats the beauty of Cash transactions, as long as they don't need personal information. I honestly never bought a keg of beer, always cases or 6-packs.

 

[GatorDad]

keeping the depot keg is inviting bad karma.... I wouldn't do it. What goes around, comes around.

buy 'em off ebay.

 

[DregAddict]

Technically, it's not illegal to keep a deposit keg for as long as you want. Presumably you could always return the keg to the liquor store/brewery. It becomes illegal when you alter the keg in any way. I would assume you're looking to turn them into keggles and use them as MLTs and HLTs, so if you used deposit kegs, that would be illegal. Obviously the authorities aren't spending their time chasing down black market kegs, but the better thing to do would be to purchase kegs that have been decommissioned. Tryout the local distributors and liquor stores, but also consider visiting a junkyard or scrapyard. They will sometimes have kegs. The problem there is that you may just be buying a keg that someone else "stole" and then sold to the junkyard, and because of this many junkyards/scrapyards don't buy kegs anymore.

 

[msh227]

I'll check my local distributor but I find it hard to believe nobody on here has done this before....

....or they haven't read this thread yet....

 

[mistercameron]

Go directly to the source... many breweries sell decomissioned kegs.

 

[GatorDad]

Uh, lesson #1 to be learned here: nothing you do or think about making beer is original. Someone here has done it before. Usually multiple times.

Further, what is the "this" you refer to here? Buy empty kegs? See my previous post: "ebay".

I'll check my local distributor but I find it hard to believe nobody on here has done this before....

....or they haven't read this thread yet....

 

[msh227]

I'll take a peek, I personally dislike ebay.

Thanks for the help though.

 

[trl2112]

Try craigslist

 

[JuanMoore]

I'll check my local distributor but I find it hard to believe nobody on here has done this before....

....or they haven't read this thread yet....

The reason you're not getting more replies is twofold. First, this question gets asked on a regular basis here and has been answered many times over. Second, these threads often deteriorate into arguments about the legality and morality of the various methods of acquiring kegs. The bottom line is that there are many ways to get a keg (many of them mentioned in this thread), and it's up to you to choose that one that YOU feel comfortable with.