13.2 VS.15.5 kegs

[SRB]

Hiya fellow crafters.
We are ready to purchase a few pallets worth of straight side sankey kegs (including some 1/6th bbl)
We have found 13.2 gal. kegs that come printed for a price that has caught our attention. We have 70, 15.5 bung side we have been rolling with for three years.

We are talking to our accounts about this but I wanted to throw it out on PB. I did a quick search on "Keg size", and mostly it was on 1/6th vs 15.5.

Why shouldn't or should we go 13.2? Neither here nor there? Mos def this way or that?
Happy American Craft Beer week!

[Bierkoenig]

A lot more breweries are changing their fleets from half-barrels to 50 liter kegs as a way to raise their price without raising their price. Keg size decreases but price stays the same. Kind of like how most orange juice is now in a 58 oz instead of a half gallon carton. It's sneaky because many, if not a majority, of bars don't notice the change in volume. It also hurts those of us using halves to some extent because bars believe we're more expensive when, in fact, the price point is the same.

I say use whatever you want (but I'd avoid a mixed fleet of halves and 50ls--what a pain), but be upfront about it.

[SRB]

Bierkoenig,
We have experienced the exact same thing, accounts saying we are more expensive than another brewery with 13.2, when in fact we are the same or lower based on volume. We definitely have accounts that are aware of this, and have commented that they feel tricked. Ultimately we will be upfront with every account if we make the change, and if we "raise the price", by keeping it the same, but selling less volume etc.

Thx!!

[yap]

just make sure you call them 50L instead of 13.2 gal. that damn metric system gets 'em every time!

[kokahuna]

We use 50L kegs, but not because we are trying to "trick" anybody. It mostly stems from us being a small brewery that self-distributes. For instance, if you schlep your own kegs, then you will be amazed what a difference that extra 2.3 gals makes on your back! Also, we get 48 kegs from a 20bbl tank instead of 40, and those 8 extra kegs have saved our bacon more than a few times! Then, there is the accounts with super-old kegerators that have all the refrigeration components up top and don't fit the height of 15.5s. We do have some 15.5s as well. and we charge exactly the same price per gallon as the 13.2s, so it is what the customer prefers more than anything in the end Hope that helps!

[SRB]

Kap thx for the post. Kokahuna great point on weight, and FV maximizing.