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Author Topic: 5 gallon plastic kegs  (Read 6246 times)

Offline ccfoo242

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5 gallon plastic kegs
« on: June 04, 2013, 11:12:47 am »
LHBS has these for $60 (before 10% club discount)

Anyone have experience with them? They use sanke connection.
From the outside:


Unscrew lid and giant plastic bottle is inside:


Obviously not as sturdy as corny kegs. What would be the benefits?

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Offline kramerog

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Re: 5 gallon plastic kegs
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2013, 11:36:21 am »
The supply of cheap used corny kegs has largely dried up.  The plastic keg would be cheaper than a new corny.  Other than price and to a lesser extent weight, I don't know what the merits of a plastic sanke keg would be since I am not that familiar with sanke fittings or plastic kegs.

A brewery in Michiana and probably others sells beer in plastic kegs, which do not need to be returned.  They are probably the same or similar to the keg in your photos.

Offline Gary Glass

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Re: 5 gallon plastic kegs
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2013, 11:42:44 am »
I'd be wary of plastic kegs.  There have been multiple incidents of plastic kegs exploding at breweries in the last couple of years, including one incident resulting in a fatality.  Many of the plastic kegs in the commercial market are intended for one use, to be recycled after that use.  These kegs are not designed to go through multiple cleaning/filling/pressurizing steps.

From what I have heard, plastic kegs have a much lower max pressure than SS sankey or corny kegs, so extra precaution should be taken to ensure CO2 equipment is set up and working properly when using plastic kegs.
Gary Glass
Longmont, Colorado

Offline seefish

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Re: 5 gallon plastic kegs
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2013, 12:00:59 pm »
Not really liking the idea of pressurizing a plastic vessel...regardless of its rating.  If you did invest in one I'd definitely keep it out of direct sunlight as plastic will degrade when exposed to UV, thus reducing its rating without you knowing it.

Offline james

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Re: 5 gallon plastic kegs
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2013, 01:47:18 pm »
I've never used one of those type, but IIRC it's a Pubkeg

Some of the benefits of sanke vs corny:
Less o-rings on sanke (5 on corny vs 1 on sanke)
Less places to worry about a leak on a sanke
Builtin check valves on sanke coupler
More nooks and crannies that need to be cleaned on corny
Sanke less likely to get plugged by small hop chunks (larger dip tube and no tiny poppet)

I use cornys most of the time now but sanke's are a far superior product.  Assuming you have the equipment to properly clean them that is.  I like the plastic kegs I've worked with, but safety should be considered.  It's so much nicer to move around a full or empty 1/2bbl plastic vs stainless.