Retail Keg Sourcing/Help

You mean kegs for home/kegerator consumption ? I've had good luck at Julios and Redstone Liquors over the past 10 years . Jacks Abbey/Notch are a couple of favorite breweries I purchased sixtels....but you won't find any Trill etc. More recently I'm going to Bier Cellar up in Portland and have gottten Austin St and Foubdation/MBCO legs. Lunch is readily available at the moment. Substance is sold by BC but super limited and long wait list. Suggest calling Redstone as a first step - pretty sure be hoppy is a pretty easy leg to get at the moment. I actually used to get kegs of Edward before HF exploded 2012 or so. Good luck !

 

Pretty simple really, ask them who the distributors they use are and call them about what's available readily, and what they can get with a little effort. Tell them why you're asking because they might have sales reps who's toes you might be stepping on, although if they've got the handle they shouldn't mind unless there are deals in play.

 

Spalding get your foot off the boat!!!

 

$145 plus $30 deposit for the keg. It's a sixtel. I had a keg of Anothet One last month for a party and passed on the Lunch which I assume is the same price. You won't save any money buying beer this way.

 

Distributors can email a weekly list of what's available in kegs. Some also include cases of bottles and cans. Some include the prices. The macro distributors are picking up craft accounts all the time. Wormtown is distributed through Williams (Bud, Yuengling, Rolling Rock, etc.) out here in western Mass, Be Hoppy has been available every time I look for it.

Call your local breweries and see if they self-distribute. Happy hunting.

 

I got a keg of Austin St Patina pale ale Fri from bier cellar. You have to order that particular beer a couple weeks in advance...the upside is the keg is literally days old. Drank half of it over the weekend via a few gatherings w/friends. Really stellar beer -- bright/dry citrus flavor w fair amount of residual bitterness. Highly recommend.

 

I think some people are getting confused by the title. I think they are reading retail as you buying a keg for home or personal use where you really are asking about buying a keg as a commercial entity (e.g. a bar). I'll first caveat this as I don't really know how things work from the perspective of buying kegs as a bar so someone who does own a bar or works in purchasing at a bar might be able to correct things where they differ.

Nerofiddled was on the right track, first you need to know which distributors the bar works with. Once you know that you can look the distributors up on line and see what brands they work with. Year round releases from breweries in the mid to large range should be easy to obtain. Seasonal or one time releases may not be too tough to get. For instance take a brewery like Firestone Walker. Their core lineup would be easy to get, something like Luponic Distortion might be a bit harder and their newer Leo vs Urseus series a bit harder still. I've seen all of those kegs for home use so I'd guess bars can get them pretty easily as well.

If you are looking for local beers (New England as a whole) then you probably won't have a hard time getting something that is largely distributed like Jack's Abby's core lineup or Wormtown Be Hoppy. I know a small pizza place near me that always has Clown Shoes on tap, usually something like Galactica. You can probably search local liquor stores websites that post kegs and prices to get a feel for what's readily available and relative prices as well. Presumably bar's get the kegs at a slightly lower cost than what you'd buy as a consumer but you at least have a ballpark. Where prices greatly differ are on high volume beers like Sam Adams, if you do a lot of business through a distributor your cost could be over $20 cheaper than a smaller place. Smaller craft beer isn't discounted as much so the costs won't vary as much I don't believe.

Now if we move into smaller local craft as mentioned by others what's available will vary week to week. Lots of time this is more about timing and luck than anything. Your bar may not even deal with some of these smaller distributors. I know where I'm at Craft Collective is a wholesaler that deals in small brands like Aeronaut, Idle Hands, Finback, SingleCut, Fiddlehead, etc.. With them they tell you what they have and you pick from that list hoping to beat out anyone else. Not sure if that helps you or not.

 

Craft Collective would more than likely help- so long as the bar owner knows how to take care of the beer (proper storage, clean draft lines, etc). Email us at [email protected].

 

@GetCraft normally I go to my local liquor store and basically ask them what does Craft Collective have in stock to get for a keg. Can I email you guys directly when I need a keg and then call my local store and request it from them? That would save a bit of back and forth with my local store (Pepperell Beverage). You guys and Pepperell Beverage have provided me a lot of great beer.