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  • Used keg advice

    I purchased some kegs from an instate large craft brewery that no longer had use of the size, 50L. I bought them a while before I knew my brewery would be off the ground because I got a decent deal on them. I purchased them, had them shipped and put them straight into storage.

    It's now a year later, my brewery is getting off the ground and the kegs are now in my building where I'm removing the spears and cleaning them up. In my interactions with the seller I explicitly asked how old, at the oldest, these kegs would be. It was clearly indicated they were no older than five years old. That knowledge played a factor in my purchasing of them.

    I'm cleaning them now, as I said before, and am learning that most of the kegs have a manufacture date of 1984! Now, I'm partial to 1984, i really liked the book, it was the year I was born, but it was not the year I thought my kegs would be from.

    Do I still have a leg to stand on in going back to the seller? What the hell would I even say or want as recompense? I'm not pleased, as I know at 31 my body is breaking down and I'm sure these kegs are as well, but the seller can't make them younger.

    An odd situation to be sure, so please weigh in with your thoughts.

    Thank you, ProBrewer.

  • #2
    Assuming that these are made of 316 SS and were properly constructed, there should be no difference between a 31-year-old keg and one made yesterday--if anything, they may be a little better.

    Wear and tear do matter--look for any damage to the chines (the part where the straight sides met the curved bottom and top) and the valves. If you live where serious freezing is a possibility, check the tops and bottoms for signs of swelling from a frozen keg. If you find any of these problems, the keg is scrap metal. Small dent and dings anywhere else don't affect the usability of the keg.

    The wear parts of a keg are the rubber gaskets/seals, o-ring, and springs. While you have the spears out, replace these parts and you have fully functioning kegs, as good as or better than new.
    Last edited by TGTimm; 10-29-2015, 10:12 AM.
    Timm Turrentine

    Brewerywright,
    Terminal Gravity Brewing,
    Enterprise. Oregon.

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    • #3
      Also, depending on what state you're in and its laws regarding contracts, you might have missed your window by not inspecting and rejecting the goods in a timely manner. And anyhow, it'd be hard to prove damages worth fighting over, particularly since, as TGTimm said, the kegs are still probably usable. Still, misrepresentation of a relevant fact to the sale. If you've got like a warehouse full of them then maybe call a lawyer if you're really upset. If you've just got like a pallet or two, well, enjoy your new old kegs.

      As a side note, several of our larger local breweries are still sending out beer in beat-ass old converted Hoff-Stevens kegs, and have been for twenty years or more. Not that I recommend it, bar staff tend to hate round sided kegs.
      Russell Everett
      Co-Founder / Head Brewer
      Bainbridge Island Brewing
      Bainbridge Island, WA

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