Which Commercial Kegs Can You Legally Own?

[PostModern]

Recently bought a mixed trailer load of these:

and these:

quite legally.

 

[unterberg]

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



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

It says quite big on their main page:

SPECIAL NOW ON 50L Stainless Steel Kegs - ONLY $149!!!
We are now running a special on 50L stainless steel commercial kegs

We have a few pallets of these 50L stainless steel kegs that we are clearing at the moment. They are all second hand but only used a few times by a micro brewery, so they are in almost new condition. Call us now for details! Only limited number available.

Since they seem fairly new its probably a shame to do things to them

 

[Thunderlips]

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

There's no mention of needing to buy 10 on the front page, where the $149 50L keg is shown.
He's got a few pallets worth. I'm sure he'd let you buy just one.
I'd probably get one myself if I didn't already have a 40 odd litre ball lock keg.

For the others mentioned under the "kegs" section, he probably orders them in so needs certain numbers to make it worth his while.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

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.

Yeah... big words from a guy who patently has very little idea of his actual legal rights - he takes brand name kegs that are the property of a brewery, and then sells them; he is a receiver and seller of stolen goods. Big talk.... and if a brewery rep showed up at his tip, he would meekly hand over every last keg and hope to christ they didn't decide to press charges.

People can tit fart around with all the excuses in the world that they like - (with very occasional exceptions) branded current style kegs, belong to a brewery. Thats it. The kegs belong to the brewery. They are not yours, they are someone else's, and you either stole them or purchased stolen property.

If you are happy with that... fine. I couldn't care less if you have a keg or two in your shed that is technically someone else's. But don't kid yourself that its all above board, and maybe have a think before you advise other people about it... its not, you can have, and if the brewery is having a bad week, just might have; legal action taken against you.

 

[dr K]

Kegs are owned by the brewery, simple.
There are still a lot of kegs circulating stamped "Powers", now Powers may well have been bought out 20 years or more ago buth their new owners bought the kegs as well.
If you nick a keg and use it for your own beer dispense then you might argue that you borrowed it, stupid I know but not even a fraction as stupid as vandalising, destroying the keg by cuttin the top off to make a boiler or whatever. Bad shit. Bad for you if you get caught and bad for the HB community as a whole.
In this case Nike got it wrong...

K

 

[Carbonator]

if a brewery rep showed up at his tip, he would meekly hand over every last keg and hope to christ they didn't decide to press charges.

This a very "hot" topic.

But when are brewery "Reps" Police?


If you meet one, hide your kegs till the brewery police have inspected your premises!

Then ask yourself, "Who have I told about these kegs and do they have access to my IP address to find out who I am via my ISP?"

 

[hoohaaman]

Hmmm again people rationalizing why they are not thief's ,but in possession of stolen goods!


If someone stole from your house,all your kegs,beer glasses ect ,taps co2 lines.......would you be happy.
Would you ring the coppers,claim insurance?

I would,but I'm honest.I don't own stolen goods

 

[hoohaaman]

This a very "hot" topic.

But when are brewery "Reps" Police?


If you meet one, hide your kegs till the brewery police have inspected your premises!

Then ask yourself, "Who have I told about these kegs and do they have access to my IP address to find out who I am via my ISP?"

This is why we all pay more form a carton of milk to a loaf of bread.
Imagine if the petrol companies shipped in a popular container.

You just dont get it.It is not your property.

 

[drsmurto]

So the one i have that has DAB stamped on the side of it is not legal?

 

[Hashie]

And what about corny kegs? All mine have property of Pepsi stamped on the side of them. Yet I bought them Legally (?) from the states via Usedequip.

Are these also stolen goods?

 

[clean brewer]

And what about corny kegs? All mine have property of Pepsi stamped on the side of them. Yet I bought them Legally (?) from the states via Usedequip.

Are these also stolen goods?

Mine say the same..

 

[quantocks]

And what about corny kegs? All mine have property of Pepsi stamped on the side of them. Yet I bought them Legally (?) from the states via Usedequip.

Are these also stolen goods?

you'll find ever since drink companies went to the better/cheaper Bag in a Box method they sold all their old postmix kegs. So they are legally owned.

 

[Hashie]

I agree, they are legally owned. However they still have "property of Pepsi Co." stamped on the side.

It would appear that most of the debate in this thread and others, is that if a keg has "property of..." stamped on it, that it cannot be legally owned by any other than it's original owner.

I'm failing to see this as a legal stand point.

 

[PostModern]

Breweries don't sell their kegs to the general public. If they do sell kegs off to dealers, they have the brewery name on the chimes obliterated, x-out or whatever, and there are documents to show that they have been sold. My understanding tho, is that kegs that are no longer serviceable are scrapped, crushed and rendered useless simply to avoid a situation of not knowing who owns the vessel. They have millions and millions of dollars tied up in their hardware, and have no need to sell functioning kegs. Hence, any current style keg in this country, with a local brewery name on the chime or stamped on the top, is still the property of the brewery.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Well, it's pretty hard to take out the etching on a corny- and it's common knowledge that they have all been sold- nobody uses them for postmix any more. However, it is common knowledge that breweries do not sell their kegs.

 

[brettprevans]

you'll find ever since drink companies went to the better/cheaper Bag in a Box method they sold all their old postmix kegs. So they are legally owned.

Quants is right on the money.

You could own a CUB/Tooheys IF CUB/Tooheys were willing to sell it to you. But they wont as thye still use kegs and would recycle it as scrape probably rather than resell it to the public.

Once a brewery goes out of business it sells everything and you can then buy it legally. Paperwork is the key.

Pepsi and coke sell their kegs readily as they have moved to the syrup method ages ago so they dont need kegs.

So if your planning on buying a brewery keg then get the paperwork saying its legal, otherwise odds are its illegal. simple really.

EDIT:
PoMo and P&C are also spot on and beat me to it

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I propose a test.

Call CUB and/or Lion Nathan and tell them that you are in possession of some of their kegs and have cut them up to make homebrew kettles with. Give them your name, address and all relevant contact details and ask them if they want the bits back that you don't need any more (the spears, etc.) as they appear to be worth something, particularly given that you were careful to only acquire nice, shiny kegs.

See what happens...

<_<

 

[Carbonator]

it's common knowledge that they have all been sold- nobody uses them for postmix any more.

Actually incorrect, I saw a ute belonging to a soft drink vendor in Brisbane on 31-12-2008 at 10:25 AM at South Bank with some post mix cornies. No one was near it, but I was strong and kept walking.


The ute is in this picture I took from the Wheel.
You can't see the kegs, they were behind the water tank, but they were there;

 

[enoch]

I would,but I'm honest.I don't own stolen goods

Strictly nobody "owns" stolen goods apart from the person they were stolen from. People receive stolen goods.

 

[Fents]

anyone got any carlton kegs for sale? hahahahahahaha