Hello, I am planning to start Kegging and have decided on 5 gallon ball lock kegs. I see that Old Ale Kegs are around $90 (including shipping) and the Kegco ones are over $130. Do you think, I will be ok with the Old Ale brand kegs or am I missing something? Thank you in advance for the help. Loving the group!
Are you wanting to purchase a keg system for serving commercially-available beers at home, or are you looking to purchase an empty keg for kegging your homebrew? We need to have you be more specific. Knowing your location may also be important to get a correct answer. You'll get some replies here in this forum once more information is given by you, but the BA members who hang out in the Home Bar forum will allow the 'experts' to see this thread who may not spend much time in the Beer Talk forum. I'm going to recommend to the site moderators to move this to that forum. P.S. Welcome to the BA site.
Thank you so much for your prompt response guys! I apologize for being vague, I live in Houston and I would like to buy a couple of empty kegs to use for my home-brews ( Mostly Ales but will also like to make some High gravity beers), I recently bought a 5.1cuft Kegarator which would fit 2, 5 Gallon Kegs. My brew size would also be 5 gallons so assumed that's sufficient for now. Please let me know if I have missed anything, appreciate all the responses.
I just saw your post in the Homebrewing forum, so now we know that you're a homebrewer and wanting to keg your beers. I'm not a kegger or I'd offer suggestions, but you'll get answers in this forum here, or you could also research the Homebrewing forum.
Difficult to say. The Old Ale you refer to seems to get great reviews on Amazon. It's Chinese, priced similar to Kegco's Chinese kegs, possibly they are identical. Kegco's higher price model is Italian built. I have 2 Italian built 3 gal'ers, bought new ~7 years ago which have been flawless. You didn't ask, but many of us keggers go the used route. Basically these kegs will last forever with some minor maintenance . . . so why not start off something that's only lost the shine? In a big city look on Craig's List. A typically used corny should be in the $40 - 50 range. Remember, a rough outside is of no consequence. All of my 5'ers are used and heaven only knows their age. But, the inside of each is pristine. Just be prepared to replace a few o-rings and occasional poppet earlier than if you bought a new unit. I live in the sticks, but this past weekend found 3 corny's on CL that were priced at $10 each. To keep from feeling too bad I paid him $15. That's not usual, but don't be afraid to look around some. You also didn't ask, but regarding quantity you'll want more than what you are serving from. A good rule of thumb is twice what you are serving. Remember, you'll want to be carb'ing/aging in a keg long before a serving keg is finished. You really don't want a keg to kick before you start your next brew. Also, give a search on this Forum for "CO2 tanks" . . . that'll be your next big expense. I believe just about everyone who kegs loves the results.
Wow thank you so much PortLargo, All great information. I am so glad I posted here. I shall look for used ones and also more than just the two I was planning to get. Cheers!
