[tschmidlin]

Has anyone used these kegs at all, or know anything about them?  Good price, not too far from here.
http://www.gopherkegs.com/c.aspx?n=Pricing

If you have other recommendations for keg suppliers let me know - we're looking for 1/4 bbl kegs for use with beer and soda, 20-30 of them.

[micsager]

Tom -

Here's a place that is a bit closer to you (Sumner)

www.ambrach.com

here is the sales pitch I got from them last week:

Hi- Just a heads up we are now stocking blank 1/6BBL’s and 1/2BBL’s in Sumner, WA and Portland, OR. The 1/6BBL is $86.00 each and the 1/2BBL is $116.00 each. These are available for pick up or delivery at and additional cost. We try to keep around 500 of each on hand at all times. They come with a five year warranty on the body and a one year on the valve which is a drop in. These are stainless steel kegs. The kegs usually ship in one to two days. Let me know if you have any questions.

I know nothing about them.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

You might want to consider looking into keg leasing, which is way cheaper than shelling out the dough for new kegs.  We are going to go through Keg Logistics for our 1/2bbl and 1/6bbl kegs.  They have pretty good monthly rates and at the end of the lease term, we have the option of buying the kegs at a discounted price.

[a10t2]

I don't have any personal experience, but they advertise on ProBrewer and the folks who have posted there seem happy. I like that they'll emboss even in small quantities, and that they post the pricing right up front. When suppliers don't make their prices public I wonder what they're hiding.

I'm planning on using Gopher for at least our initial order.

[Thirsty_Monk]

One thing to consider is that if you ship your kegs to the draught accounts you will loose some of them.
Keep a good track of them.

I have plastic kegs. They were fine to start with but I am not planning on buying more of them.
I do not know exactly how many kegs I lost.
I would say in 2 years about 20 or so. I have no idea where they are.
I am self distributing.

[tschmidlin]

We won't really be distributing outside of our own stores, so I'm not too worried about keg loss.  Although with some of these jokers you never know.

Thanks for the link Mic, I sent them a message about their 30L kegs.  We can fit them and then it's fewer I have to clean/fill each time.  The 1/2s are just too big to have a cold backup keg at each location, plus they are heavy as $#!+ and I have to cart them up and down stairs.  Nine stairs to be exact.  Each way.

Re: leasing, I have no idea what that would cost, but we're way too small for microstar.  I haven't heard of Keg Logistics, do you have a link?  My googlefu is failing me.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Every so often I get a flyer for leasing kegs. It is somewhere around $5 a keg a month. 1/6 BBL were cheaper. You are still responsible for any lost kegs thou.

[tschmidlin]

$5 per keg per month?  I think we could swing that.

[majorvices]

we lease SS kegs. I can assure you, it's a racket. If at all possible own then. The amount we needed we could have bought a new 30bbl brew house had we had the cash up front. But it is going to bite us in the ass over the long term. We pay more on the keg lease than we do to lease the facility.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Re: leasing, I have no idea what that would cost, but we're way too small for microstar.  I haven't heard of Keg Logistics, do you have a link?  My googlefu is failing me.

Ahem...http://www.keglogistics.com/

 

[kylekohlmorgen]

A local brewery rep recently told me they no longer fill 1/4 bbl kegs.

For most of their draft accounts (and they are a pretty big Indiana brewery), they either do not fit in the kegging system or the customer doesn't want a 1/4 bbl in place of a 1/6 bbl or a 1/2 bbl.

Now that I think about it, I don't see the 1/4 bbl very often anymore.

[hopfenundmalz]

A local brewery rep recently told me they no longer fill 1/4 bbl kegs.

For most of their draft accounts (and they are a pretty big Indiana brewery), they either do not fit in the kegging system or the customer doesn't want a 1/4 bbl in place of a 1/6 bbl or a 1/2 bbl.

Now that I think about it, I don't see the 1/4 bbl very often anymore.

There are now slim 1/4s that have the same height as a 1/2 or a 1/6.

[tschmidlin]

Re: leasing, I have no idea what that would cost, but we're way too small for microstar.  I haven't heard of Keg Logistics, do you have a link?  My googlefu is failing me.

Ahem...http://www.keglogistics.com/

 

Thanks - I must have mistyped it, because it pops right up now.

It looks like they only have 1/6 bbl, 1/2 bbl, and 50 L kegs.  I need 1/4 bbl kegs (the slim/tall ones).

I see the tall 1/4s around here a lot, but yes, many people just do 1/6s or 1/2s.  Since we are our own customer though, I know our customer prefers 1/4s.

[majorvices]

A local brewery rep recently told me they no longer fill 1/4 bbl kegs.

For most of their draft accounts (and they are a pretty big Indiana brewery), they either do not fit in the kegging system or the customer doesn't want a 1/4 bbl in place of a 1/6 bbl or a 1/2 bbl.

Now that I think about it, I don't see the 1/4 bbl very often anymore.

Exact opposite of what we have been told, that people are moving away from 1/6 to 1/4. We have gone almost exclusively with 1/4 and 1/2 and only use the 1/6 for very small specialty beers that we charge premium for.

[kylekohlmorgen]

Exact opposite of what we have been told, that people are moving away from 1/6 to 1/4. We have gone almost exclusively with 1/4 and 1/2 and only use the 1/6 for very small specialty beers that we charge premium for.

Yeah - these guys do a good amount of volume, so they most likely use 1/2 bbl almost exclusively. They have a small (but amazing) sour line that they probably do some 1/6, as well as a few high-gravity seasonals (IIPA, RIS, etc.).

I think tap houses that want the specialty beers will build their kegging systems with 1/6 bbls in mind. Older bars/restaurants probably have kegorators built before 1/6 bbls were a thing. Market-dependent, maybe?