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Is it worth it?
I've come across some reconditioned 5 gallon corny kegs at $20 a piece on Craigslist. The only problem is that it's about a 2hr trip one way to go get them. Do you guys think it's worth the drive at that price? This same place is also selling food grade 6.5 gallon buckets for $3.
If you shop around, pretty much the best price is about $30 / keg. It really depends on how many you plan on buying. If you only want 2, then that will save you $20. You will probably spend more on gas to get there and back. If you plan on buying 6 or 8, then it may be worth your while. Cornies are also great secondary vessels, I feel you can never have too many of them. Depending on their condition, you may need a gasket kit too, so make sure they hold pressure and the posts seal well.
You could do a couple things. Look on ebay but shipping will be as much as the keg. Or see if the seller of the kegs will give you a deal on 2 or more and possibly meet you half way to save on gas. But make sure the kegs hold pressure.
DC
If they have been reconditioned, I'd say it's a good deal. But smell them to make sure they haven't been used for insecticide or something else nasty.
I paid $22/ea for six, and had to do a some o-ring & poppet replacement, but well worth it.
Definitely a good deal if you're buying in bulk (6 plus). But like thirsty says, if you only buy two, you're paying more in gas than you would be for the price difference and shipping. I lucked out when my LHBS had a sale on Corny's, I bought 7 at $25 a piece, and it's only five miles away. Definitely expect to have a few that leak through the poppets and possible the main seal. Get some rebuild kits and keg grease and you should be fine.
BTW-
I was trying to find some "Keg Grease" locally, & one of the LHBS sez, "We don't bother to carry it because it's unscented food grade petroleum jelly." I.E. Vasoline, or any other generic.
I found a half full small jar in our medicine cabinet in Feb, and still have 1/2" in it.
Use the thinnest film that you can, more is not better.
Yeah, I would probably only buy like 2 of them. They're being sold by some food container distributor and it says they were used to hold soda based syrup.
Here's the link...
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/bfs/1243969862.html
It might just be too far a drive for only 2 and I don't think I could convince the wife I need more than that!
Anybody else know of any good online deals for 5 gallon cornies?
Brewski wrote:
BTW-
I was trying to find some "Keg Grease" locally, & one of the LHBS sez, "We don't bother to carry it because it's unscented food grade petroleum jelly." I.E. Vasoline, or any other generic.
I found a half full small jar in our medicine cabinet in Feb, and still have 1/2" in it.
Use the thinnest film that you can, more is not better.
Hmm, not sure I'd agree with the Vasoline comparison. Vasoline definitely has a distinct smell to it that I wouldn't want to see it's way into my precious brew.
I second the "more is not better" philosophy. I have a very small container of it, have been kegging for a year and a half and have barely scraped the surface. Use as little as humanly possible while still fully covering all rubbers surfaces of seals.
lukeduke wrote:
Yeah, I would probably only buy like 2 of them. They're being sold by some food container distributor and it says they were used to hold soda based syrup.
Here's the link...
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/bfs/1243969862.html
It might just be too far a drive for only 2 and I don't think I could convince the wife I need more than that!
Definitely not worth the gas money, you'll spend less in increased cost and shipping.
As far as good online deals you can try the following:
http://www.brewersdiscount.com/index2.ivnu
More Beer
Nothern Brewer
I won't guarantee results from any of these suppliers. I got all my kegs from my LHBS.
Definitely not worth the gas money, you'll spend less in increased cost and shipping.
That's what I figured. Thanks for providing the links to those sites. I'll check out their prices and see how they compare to my LHBS pricing ($40 per).
Well, my $.02 on kegging is that-
If you have 2 kegs in a kegerator, you would probably want to have one or two close to ready for replacement. It is amazing how quickly 5 gal. of really good beer can disappear, especially if friends show up.
So, that's 4. So, that's $80. But for $20 more they will sell you 6. That's $16.67/ea. In my book, that's a helluva deal.
I started kegging with 6 in Feb, now I have seven. Ok for now, if I do something that would need to age for a month or so, I can do it without having to go out & buy "Back up Beer".
Also, if you have kegs you can force carbonate sweet hard cider, and back sweetened mead. Usually a real hit with the ladies. 
My lucky day! I was able to find a couple of pin lock cornies from a guy in town who was selling them for $35! Forget driving 2 hrs one way for them. I'm also going to be picking up an old Hotpoint fridge tomorrow morning, which I plan on turning into a kegerator. This fridge is pretty sweet. It's one of those old metal ones with the latch handle. The guy I'm buying it from repainted it and it looks sharp. He's currently using it now and says it runs well. Only paying $50 for it.
Nice score! A piece of advice I can give is to install (if you have not already) swivel nuts on the ends of your gas and bev lines. This will allow you to not be dependent on what type of kegs you buy now. Ball locks are usually more readily available, but now that you have some pin locks, you will probably eventually wind up with a mix.
These nuts allow you to switch the QDs back and forth between pin lock and ball lock with no issues. 9/16" wrench and it takes 20 seconds to convert between the 2. Also makes cleaning the lines easier.
A piece of advice I can give is to install (if you have not already) swivel nuts on the ends of your gas and bev lines.
Good call. I can see where those would really come in handy. I'm sure I'll have a bunch of questions while I'm trying to put this all together. Thanks for your help!
thirsty wrote:
A piece of advice I can give is to install (if you have not already) swivel nuts on the ends of your gas and bev lines. This will allow you to not be dependent on what type of kegs you buy now. Ball locks are usually more readily available, but now that you have some pin locks, you will probably eventually wind up with a mix.
That's a good tip. In hindsight, I wish I would have bought the threaded ball locks connectors instead of the barbed ones, and put the swivel nuts on the lines. Makes for much easier clean up.
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