How much is too much for a corny keg? I'm looking to save money by kegging my beer and I found a local seller selling them for $40 a piece. Is that too much? Thanks!
Excellent point. Whenever I happen to be in an LHBS I look through the kegs and if there's one that's near perfect, I buy it. Otherwise, I hold off.
Check the posts! I'll buy a dinged up keg, but only if the posts are in good condition. I have one where the gas-in post is dented just a little over the O ring and it's a PITA to unhook (and change O rings). At least it dosen't leak!
I would pay $40 for one. I got mine cheaper because I bought 4 at once though there was high shipping so it all evens out.
That is a decent price. One thing to look for is the condition of the pressure release valve, they cost 5$ or more so look for a keg with a good one. Personally, I do not care about the condition of the O-rings because I replace them anyway. The condition of the poppets may be a little harder to determine with a cursory inspection.
Most places I've checked, both online and local, are around $30 for pin locks and $50 for ball locks. I'm in the market myself, trying to piece together a setup for as cheap as possible. I can't find a strong enough reason to spend ~$40 extra on two ball locks.
Poke around on Craigslist...I found a guy that I can regularly get used ball-lock cornys from for $30
That's where I found it, seems legit. I'm a beginner so I'm not sure how many I should even buy or if I'll even save money doing it this way. Any suggestions?
From what I've read/been told, pin locks are also cheaper because the parts for them are harder to find, although I've also read that they really aren't. Either way I agree with the OP above, just keep whatever kind you buy consistent.
I bought a whole fleet of them from Adventures in Homebrewing but as soon as this listing was put up on HomeBrewFinds.com its hard to find them in much quantity. You have to buy new lids, so no concerns re: pressure release. spent 5 hours replacing o rings, taking them apart, putting through a hot oxiclean wash to get the soda syrup residue off, *pro tip, guy a small immersion heater secured to the outside of a coffeemug in the reservoir to make the wash much more effective/faster*, rebuild, pressure test. They all hold pressure, poppits are fine, just some loose rubber/broken handles, dents here and there. Got 20 kegs for what 5 reconditioned kegs would have cost + an afternoon of keg rebuilding.
A bunch of years ago I found them for something like $25 each, or 4 for $100 - on craigslist boston. Pressure tested and pre-washed! They came out of a soda/draft supply house in JP (Lenox-Maretl I think). Got a bunch of strange looks on the subway lugging 4 corney kegs that day!
Used kegs will soon only be available on Craig's List when someone gets out of the hobby. Buy now if you can find them.
