[dhacker]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100922006528/en/Rehrig-Pacific-Company-Introduces-PubKeg%E2%84%A2

[capozzoli]

very cool. I wonder how much they will cost or what the cons will be.

[beerocd]

Who cares what those cost - the real kegs will flood the market like corny kegs did. Woohoo!

[a10t2]

The "real" kegs are worth something as scrap though... they're going to be literally throwing these plastic ones away!

[Hokerer]

The "real" kegs are worth something as scrap though... they're going to be literally throwing these plastic ones away!

Just what we need, more trash for our "disposable throwaway society"

[bluesman]

Interesting concept.  I am partial to SS though, but I would like to try one out for grins and giggles.

[a10t2]

Just what we need, more trash for our "disposable throwaway society"

That was my first thought too, actually.

[tschmidlin]

Just what we need, more trash for our "disposable throwaway society"

That was my first thought too, actually.

Agreed.  At least they're recyclable and made from recycled materials.  I don't know how much they will be, but I can imagine a lot of breweries sticking with the SS and maybe buying a few of these for when they ship beer across the country - like to GABF for example.  Brewers are cheap, I think they have to be to make money.  I know one brewer who still mostly uses golden gates, and sees no reason to change.  Well, I should say the owner sees no reason to change, the brewer would love to get some newer technology.   

[euge]

I was thinking of the waste, but it's also really a brilliant idea. The gigantic PET bottle is the disposable part right? With the potential buy-back option for the outer shell it'd be perfect and a closed loop. Someone would make a buck collecting from pubs and recycling or selling the PET bottles. There's always a niche.

But like all new approaches it needs to become "standard" and with Sankey tap it can become something like: "We're phasing out metal kegs. This is what you get from now on..." 


 

[Slowbrew]

Who cares what those cost - the real kegs will flood the market like corny kegs did. Woohoo!

I won't get too excited just yet.  It's a 1/6 barrel keg without any other sizes available.  It might replace a pony key but the 16 gallon one everyone craves will still be the old standby (for now).  Besides, the big boys have very large infrastructures in place to handle the current standard kegs.  This seems to be directed at the smaller local brewer looking to distribute to a smaller area without the huge expense to setup the old SS type systems.

The big boys might decide to wait and see what issues they have also.  I have heard that Pepsi and Coke are backing off bag-in-box to some extent due to rodent issues.  It's a lot easier to chew through a plastic bag (or box) than a SS tank.

IMHO

Paul

[MrNate]

Yeah, I always wonder about this sort of thing. The near-indestructible packaging was initially adopted for a reason. It'd be kind of like the army deciding to replace their humvees with ford explorers to save on cost.

[Slowbrew]

That's funny, because they kind of did for awhile.

My brother (a West Point grad) had an old jeap that the army decided should be replaced by a Chevy Bronco while he was stationed in Germany.  Lordie, how he hated that Bronco.  The thing got stuck if it thought about raining and it broke down all the time.  He'd b!@#$ about how he could fix the jeap with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers but it took a "Certified Mechanic" to do anything on the Bronco.

He was also forced to carry a Barreta 9mm as his side arm for awhile too.  After the breach broke on his 3rd one he petitioned for and received a waiver so he could go back to his Colt.  So did his commanding officer.

Paul

[majorvices]

I bought a bunch of kegs from these guys http://www.plastickegsusa.com/ - so far so good.

[tschmidlin]

I bought a bunch of kegs from these guys http://www.plastickegsusa.com/ - so far so good.

Did you get 1/6 th barrel kegs?  How much did you pay for them?

[majorvices]

I got forty 1/6th bbls and eight 1/2 bbls. I think the 1/6th bbls were about 80 bucks a piece. They come with a 3 year warranty that they won't leak.