Attn: Homebrewers. Keg Theft!

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by radiantdesigner, May 17, 2012.

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  1. radiantdesigner

    radiantdesigner Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2012 New Hampshire

    I know (or at least home) most of you are all honest homebrewers. It has just come to my attention that there was a theft at Smuttynose brewery of about 31 kegs. I am sure these will find themselves at either a scrappers yard or for sale on craigslist. PLEASE WARN PEOPLE that these are stolen!

    I have a member of our home brew club who works at Smutty and they have been great to us, supplying yeast and info and really pushing people to homebrew.... Lets return the favor and try to help them out!

    The article can be found here http://portsmouth-nh.patch.com/articles/police-probe-theft-od
     
  2. cracker

    cracker Pundit (893) May 2, 2004 Pennsylvania

    That sucks. Personally, I'm always suspect when I see posts from homebrewers asking how to cut off the top of a sanke keg etc.
     
  3. NHLakesBrewer

    NHLakesBrewer Initiate (0) Oct 6, 2008 New Hampshire

    I'll keep my eyes out around the Concord Area and if anyone in our club sees any of them we'll make sure they get back where they belong.
     
  4. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    Unfortunately there are way too many, even in the BA community, who think that kegs are not worth much to breweries and becomes their property because of a measly deposit. Not implying this would have been done by somebody in the BA community. I suspect they will turn up at some shady scrapyard. Happens a lot around here...not kegs necessarily, but parts, pipes, & other valuable stolen metal. Here in Southern Vt, everybody knows which scrapyard in Rutland to visit immediately after a theft.
    Will keep eyes out around here on craig's list and such.
     
  5. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,023) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society

    i was under the impression that fencing kegs was very hard to do these days, though i guess that is not accurate. one or two might go missing here and there. but what scrap yard is taking in 31 kegs without any documentation? it's not like you can claim you found 31 kegs in your attic. and if you are a scrapper, you must know the police will be around. 31 kegs sounds more like somebody with knowledge. you can't put 31 kegs in the back of an F-150 in the middle of the night.

    anyone know if these are Microstar? who takes the loss in this case?
     
  6. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    Suppose to be extremely hard to fence...not to say they don't have a way. Locally there was a large amount of propane tanks stolen from a distributor...only to turn up a few days later at a scrapyard. Story I heard from the owner of the propane company was that the guy at the scrapyard bought them no questions asked. That was after the scrapyard owner had denied that he had seen any recently in a phone call the previous day. Propane owner had to show up at the scrapyard.
    Where there is a will, there is a way...
     
  7. DNuggs

    DNuggs Initiate (0) Apr 13, 2006 Massachusetts

  8. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,176) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

  9. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I used to manage a recycling facility that bought some metals. We were required to get ID from everyone, and to notify police of suspicious people. That said, we resold high value metals to 3 different places, and one of those places would definitely take anything they got from anyone, and 30 seconds after buying an aluminum keg, it would be in the shredder, and the evidence gone. Everyone here should keep an eye out for sure, but the likelihood is that aluminum is on its way to China already.
     
  10. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,176) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

  11. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,023) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society

    same as anything. with a receipt.
    like a Patek Philippe. without a receipt, in Philadelphia it's worth $50.
     
  12. cracker

    cracker Pundit (893) May 2, 2004 Pennsylvania

  13. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,176) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

    You mean you ask the seller to show you his receipt before he issues you one? It's effective, but not very practical. Perhaps you have all the receipts for every item you own, just in case you wanted to sell it, but I'm guessing this is not true for most of us. I could be accused of selling stolen goods for every item I've ever sold on craig's list because I just don't keep receipts for everything. And then there is the issue of buying stuff w/o face-to-face transaction, i.e., on-line, with no opportunity to see a receipt. It seems like one must assume the worst of the seller in these circumstances.

    PS: I see you are in Ithaca, "where the sun sometimes goes." Used to live there. Dreary winters, indeed.
     
  14. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,023) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society

    i agree that nobody has all of the receipts for everything they own. but if you show up with 31 kegs it is reasonable to ask how you got them. i mean, if you sell one XBox on craigslist, fair enough. if you have 31 XBox's to sell, that is a problem. it doesn't add up. especially at a scrap yard, which is exactly where one would expect to go to destroy evidence. this is why i think it is someone with inside knowledge. they must have known how to get at the kegs and have a willing buyer.

    i have scrapped well over a hundred excavated USTs in years gone by, and contrary to what most people might think, the scrappers i have worked with are all really genuine people. they want a receipt for an old UST, so we write a note on letterhead that says who we are and where it's from. they can easily do the same for kegs. that's been my experience.
    Cheers.
     
  15. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    Most breweries will make it plainly obvious that they've decommissioned a keg, either by using a grinder to buff off their logo (if it's stamped in), spray paining an obvious mark over their logo (if it's a sticker or painted logo), drilling a couple holes in the top, or something similar. Frankly, unless you're buying it straight from the brewery, it's probably a safe bet that it's stolen.
     
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  16. mnstorm99

    mnstorm99 Initiate (0) May 11, 2007 Minnesota

    Or Sabco, mine is a Latrobe keg X-ed out.
     
  17. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    Good point. Speaking of Sabco, have you seen their new "select sankey" kegs? There's a removable clamp surrounding the coupler, and if you depressurize the keg and unscrew the cap there's a 4 inch port. Seems like a great way to dry hop directly in the keg.

    [​IMG]
     
    Beejay likes this.
  18. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    Just want to make clear, that although my post does indeed look like it is smearing scrapyard owners, that was never my intention. Pretty much every industry has it's list of shady dealers & peddlers, from the stock market to beer brewers. My point is that the thieves just need to know the right one...
    I don't have any keggles, but have always been annoyed with those hb'ers who think that their $20 deposit on the keg in effect "bought" them the keg. Obviously nowadays rules are changing to favor the breweries, but way too many have been illegally converted to keggles out of ignorance and disregard.
     
  19. tprokop7

    tprokop7 Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2006 Massachusetts

    Where did smutty get 31 aluminum kegs?
     
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  20. mnstorm99

    mnstorm99 Initiate (0) May 11, 2007 Minnesota

    I think we found our head detective on this one, that only took 18 replies.
     
    doobliebop likes this.
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