Will kegs become obsolete?

The picture reminds me of the sex orb in "Sleeper".

So how much beer does this orb hold? Sure doesn't look like it holds as much as a standard keg.

 

25% of the keykegs we've had at our fests are problematic or even worse ... don't pour at all. Many of the bar owners / beer managers think they are a PITA or simply don't order them.

They have come out with a new 30L version in which they have listened to the complaints for my guess ... they need to discontinue the orbs now.

 

Then you obviously don't remember the famous Matt's Beer Ball.


It was pretty cool...well, except for the part about it being filled with Matt's, that is.

 

Is he about to go cycling or does he just really like those shirts??? Oh and the bald dude photobombing in the back looks creppy enough to be a thug in Dick Tracy....

 

This sounds like that lesson in Econ 101 where there is the discussion about ketchup bottles and their transition from glass containers to plastic ones - reduced the weight, making it cheaper to ship. Plastic was cheaper than glass. Reduced/eliminated breakage. It was a fun exercise in school. You can probably make very similar arguments for this "hamster ball" as well.

 

These were an awesome idea until my expensive ass keg of Nogne-O Single Hop Citra sweated through the cardboard during transportation and rolled around in my back seat like a beach ball... Full of delicious nectar. Stupid things.

 

I am guessing round because they will fit in a barrel of ice. IDK...just guessing.

 

this is the box that the plastic sphere that is shown in the OP comes in.

My biggest issue with these style 20 and 30L keg kegs (aside from the exterior plastic lining breaking and the cardboard box getting wet) is the fact that they take up too much floor space for the volume they contain (its the same issue with steel 30L squats). They also had a lot of problems pouring for some reason as well. However, KeyKeg has just come out with a new "Slimline" 20L design that I have just started bringing in (and saw empty pallets of at a few breweries in Belgium recently), and I have had pretty good experiences with them so far.
http://www.keykeg.com/uploads/images/KK20Cilindrisch.jpg

 

We see a lot of these in the Bay Area.

 

I don't care how the beer travels from brewery to distributor to bar... so long as it end up in my glass

 

It's a shame that so many foreign breweries seem dead set on using them. As others have mentioned, they take up too much space for the amount they hold and they have a tendency to pour like shit. Unfortunately, since the "gas" portion of the coupler goes between the bag and the outer plastic, there's no way to bleed off excess co2 (or force carb them if they're undercharged), so you're stuck with whatever volume of co2 is in there.

Also, the people who invented these things decided to use a proprietary KeyKeg coupler that costs $75/each, so it's yet another investment for bar owners, and trying to host something like a Mikkeller or Struise tap take over becomes a spendy proposition. Oh, and since the coupler punctures a valve on top of the keg when you tap it, there's no way to remove one of them from the draft system once they're hooked up, meaning you can't pull off a partial for use at a later date.

All in all, they're more trouble than they're worth from a bar owner's perspective, but with more and more breweries using them (including some US craft breweries) I'm afraid they're here to stay.

 

The proprietary coupler issue is definitely a problem, though over the last couple years I have had enough distributors "lend" them to me that it hasn't been too big a deal. The new slimlines (the 30L slimline was just announced) negate the space issue thankfully.

 

This was only on a much earlier iteration, now it simply depresses a plastic valve, much like a standard sankey coupler.

 

I've had a lot of experience with key kegs. Unfortunately, the cardboard housing is rather fragile. I've seen many damaged in transit- most are European beers- and are not sellable in the shabby condition. As far as I can tell, most of the damage is caused by forklifts and pallet stacking practices. It seems that these babies can't handle the same stacking standards as traditional kegs. As for functionality, the key kegs work well, but are throw away, which some folks complained about. All in all, a good idea, but needs some more work and people need to be educated about how to handle them.

 

I miss the beer ball. I still have a beer ball tap...

 

God I hope not...

I work a summer festival here in Portland and we had an orb "keykeg" or two that wouldn't pour at all and another one that exploded. The explosion (it was an empty) was due to the fact that one of the staffers was cutting off the cardboard/plastic wrapping and his blade nicked the plastic bubble them...BOOM.. the thing popped like a concussion bomb. Fortunate, he was, to only get a black eye and a scare, but it was a valuable lesson for all. One reason to say "no" to these.

The other is that I just hate the "disposability" of these containers... living in a place that recycles so much, I hate to see ANYthing go to waste. Traditional kegs are used dozens/hundreds times over... these plastic ones are "one and done" - then straight into the landfill.

 

Actually, the plastic orbs are recyclable, as is the cardboard. And I'd like to see an analysis of the environmental impact on shipping empty kegs transcontinentally vs. recycling/disposing of the key kegs before I came up with a strong opinion on which is more wasteful.

 

Yeah, I sorta take that back re: "one and done". Thinking back to July, we DID have a special recycling system for them... but it does make me wonder how many would/do go in directly into the garbage without a conscientious person overseeing waste management. And, yes, full/empty keg management may use just as many resources, when it's all said and done...

 

KeyKeg is getting used in my area as well. They seem to work ok to me though I've only been around them a few times (mainly helping out with festivals). Can see how they would have reliability issues, but I haven't seen that.

 

Good points, but durability remains an issue. Innovation in beer containers is welcome as far as I can see.