Which Commercial Kegs Can You Legally Own?

[Jakechan]

Ive pretty much read through all the threads on here about kegs, and from what I can gather the standout kegs with legality issues are those from CUB.

But it seems there are a lot of Tooheys kegs that may be legally purchased? What others?

I dont want to get caught out with something I shouldnt be buying.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[white.grant]

If it has a brewery's name on it, it is a problem.

 

[buttersd70]

There are, from memory, some suppliers of legally purchased kegs, some of whom are retailers on this site (but I can't for the life of me remember who exactly...). AFAIK, the legit ones provide an assurance as to the provenance of the kegs in question...ie, they can prove (or at the very least affirm in writing), the legal origin of the goods. But it's something to be very cautious about.

 

[muckey]

As has been stated, be very wary of commercial 50l kegs and get written evidenc of pedigree.

I beleive most people use the 20litre 'corny' kegs - that's what Ive got. Easy to purchase, easy to get replacement seals and parts for and they work well for single batches.

I beleive that people who may have 50l kegs may not be willing to admit to it as the breweries do own their kegs afaik and they all have serial numbers.

 

[gros21]

i had some that had thooyes like all crossed out with x's i beleace kinda like this
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


then i've been givin some by a publician as we hired a few full ones he said long as u return my reg and gas bottle he is happy



why is there such a big drama about any ones mentioning a 50l keg

100 people here post pics showing there milk crates holding there bottles, hey im sure some tallie bottles have property of ...... brewary on them

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Lets put it this way... if there appears on the side of the keg the name of a brewery (even ones that have in the past been bought out by other breweries), the onus is going to be on you to prove that you bought it legally. In general, current shaped sankey style kegs, that have a brewery name printed or stamped on them, are going to be the property of a brewery unless you have paperwork to prove otherwise.

No brewery name = probably OK
Brewery Name = probably not OK, ask to see the written proof that its legal.

There are old style kegs, casks, etc etc that breweries have divested themselves of... but if its a "normal" keg, be careful if you are worried about staying legal.

TB

 

[Jakechan]

I did have some reservation about starting this thread because there is already quite a bit on AHB about them, but nothing specifically stating which kegs may actually be legal.

Good points about the names. Its hard to imagine a keg with a large brewery name on it being ok.

Soooo....the 80litre keg I saw this morning with NO names on it, and NO numbers, in the old cask shape (wider in the middle) is probably ok by the sounds of it.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[white.grant]

I did have some reservation about starting this thread because there is already quite a bit on AHB about them, but nothing specifically stating which kegs may actually be legal.

Good points about the names. Its hard to imagine a keg with a large brewery name on it being ok.

Soooo....the 80litre keg I saw this morning with NO names on it, and NO numbers, in the old cask shape (wider in the middle) is probably ok by the sounds of it.

Cheers,
Jake

You can never be too sure, tell me where you saw it and I'll check it out for you

 

[muckey]

I did have some reservation about starting this thread because there is already quite a bit on AHB about them, but nothing specifically stating which kegs may actually be legal.

Good points about the names. Its hard to imagine a keg with a large brewery name on it being ok.

Soooo....the 80litre keg I saw this morning with NO names on it, and NO numbers, in the old cask shape (wider in the middle) is probably ok by the sounds of it.

Cheers,
Jake

sounds like 1 of the old 18 gallon kegs that are no longer in use so could very well be fine. My main concern would be seals etc if you are thinking of using it to keg and dispense your brew. I dont know if replacements are available

 

[Jakechan]

sounds like 1 of the old 18 gallon kegs that are no longer in use so could very well be fine. My main concern would be seals etc if you are thinking of using it to keg and dispense your brew. I dont know if replacements are available

Thinking more of chopping the top off for a kettle or mash tun.

 

[white.grant]

They have a nice name, Roundlet.

 

[muckey]

Thinking more of chopping the top off for a kettle or mash tun.

Ahh seals are not a problem then - from what I hear they are the perfect size for a kettle but need insulating for a mash tun

 

[quantocks]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=19570

NNL Brewing were the ones selling legal kegs here not so long ago.

 

[unterberg]

You can get the 50l ones used for 149 Dollar here.
No affiliations and havent had anything from them yet.

 

[quantocks]

You can get the 50l ones used for 149 Dollar here.
No affiliations and havent had anything from them yet.

there are no prices under "Kegs" on that site except this:

This is a 20L commercial keg. We can custom make a range of 4 different sizes. 20L, 30L. 40L, 50L. The minimum order quantity is 10 units. We can also supply a range of different spear types to suit different couplers. Call us for more details.

which I highly doubt someone is going to order 10 50l kegs a go custom made.

 

[Daniel.lear]

Just a wee rant with absolutely no legal background,

If i bought a heap of housebricks, with my name and 'always reamins the property of' moulded and kilned on them and sold them by the pallet load at auction, then some years later went along to a heap of dudes houses and found that thier house was made of bricks with my name on them, i would be within my rights to gho along and chisel them out of thier wall?? i doubt it.

What is the staute of limitations on these sorts of things?

I certainly dont condone or encourage anyone to start going to back of thier local and stealing kegs, quite the opposite. However one must ask the question.

Leary

 

[schooey]

....and sold them.....

You killed your rant with those three words....

Breweries don't sell their kegs to the people they authorise to use them, they lend them. That's why they can legally place the statement "Always remains the property of' on them. Chep and BOC do a similar thing, except they 'rent' their pallets and bottles. So yeah, if you 'rented' your bricks you could do that, but I doubt you'd get too many customers...

 

[white.grant]

Just a wee rant with absolutely no legal background,

If i bought a heap of housebricks, with my name and 'always reamins the property of' moulded and kilned on them and sold them by the pallet load at auction, then some years later went along to a heap of dudes houses and found that thier house was made of bricks with my name on them, i would be within my rights to gho along and chisel them out of thier wall?? i doubt it.

What is the staute of limitations on these sorts of things?

I certainly dont condone or encourage anyone to start going to back of thier local and stealing kegs, quite the opposite. However one must ask the question.

Leary

No need to rant Leary. There is no limitation on theft, once something is stolen it remains stolen until returned to its rightful owner. Unless its a country or something big like that.

cheers

grant

edit: watching the tennis too slow for schooey

 

[himzol]

which I highly doubt someone is going to order 10 50l kegs a go custom made.

I've seen planty of bulk buys on this forum, why couldn't you do the same with this.

 

[real_beer]

sounds like 1 of the old 18 gallon kegs that are no longer in use so could very well be fine. My main concern would be seals etc if you are thinking of using it to keg and dispense your brew. I dont know if replacements are available

About 4 years ago I bought one 18 gallon, two 10 gallon, and two 5 gallon old style XXXX kegs over a period of 12 months from the local recycle tip at Redland Bay in QLD.

I had a discussion with the guy who had the recycling contract from the local council about the legality of ownership and he said that their standing was anything that hits the tipface lost any rights of ownership. If the breweries wanted the kegs back they would have to pay for them, the same applied to shopping trolleys from supermarkets that the council collected from parks and roadsides, if they wanted them back they had to pay a hefty fee. Most of them end up in containers shipped off for recyling in China.

I love the old kegs from my cellarman days and think it's a crime something so well made and beautiful should be scraped, anyway as I have all the gear for these kegs, spears and fittings etc I phoned up Castlemaine Perkins and asked if they had any of the plastic bungs left over I could buy. The guy was very understanding but said one of the main reasons breweries go after their kegs is in case people will use them for something there not designed for and cause injury through misuse. As a matter of fact when learning the cellar work with the old style kegs it was reinforced into people that a number of people had been killed over the years by releasing pressure on the spear with their head over the top :blink: .

I have bought all my kegs from recycle tips and just keep the dockets, it's easy to prove that these places sell them to the general public and if you end up in court, if you can look the Judge in the eye and tell them you didn't steal them (or recieve them illegally) you might lose the kegs but you should't get in any trouble. I think the main thing to remember is if you ever want to sell any of your kegs, do it through personal contact with people you know, don't advertise to the whole world because the breweries do keep a lookout.