Used ones used to be easy to find, but now there’s more demand from winemakers and home brewers, so they get snapped up quickly. So, effort and luck… New ones can be found at beer and wine making supply stores at premium prices.
Search Craig’s list if you are willing to deal with a little hassle of meeting up with someone and removing the valve. Not to mention cleaning out the nasty old beer. They usually go for $40-$60 each. Don’t buy any except Sanke style. Also, TCW in Santa Rosa has them on sale occasionally for a good price on new ones that have Tri-Clamp fittings. For bungs, you can use the Alasco Carboy Duall stretches over the nozzles. Then you don’t have to worry about the slot leaking air.
might also want to see if you can find your local coke or bottler. bet they have a boatload of old kegs they get rid of. More Wine sells kits to refurbish them.
Corny kegs are fine if you can live with 5 gallon capacity. A Sanke beer keg is 15.5 gallons. The vast majority are stainless steel but occasionally there are aluminum. Don’t get those, aluminum is not good for wine use. They usually have the material stamped on them. Aluminum one have more seem and a dull appearance.
This is where I got mine. I like the 5 gallon size for topping wine and have a few 2.5’s as well. I use a similar version of what they sell to top barrels from them. My toppings range from 3 to 5 gallon at our size so they work great. Any left overs go in 1gal jugs or erlenmeyers.
They are great for beer to, I have a 3 x 5gallon set up for home brew.
For a limited time only, save $20 when you buy two kegs on the same order…
What’s better than getting a used keg while they are still available? Getting two, and saving money in the process! These used pin lock kegs aren’t going to be around forever, so get yours while you can. From now through September 30th, use promo code TWOKEGS during checkout with two of our KEG432 Refurbished Pin Lock Kegs in your cart and $20 will be taken off your total. This promo code works for any quantity of two, so if you buy four kegs, you’ll save $40!
To sweeten the deal, select MoreSaver! Free Shipping as your shipping type, and we’ll ship those two kegs for free (only applies to contiguous 48 states). No - that’s not part of the promotion: Free Shipping is just how we bring you added value every day of the year!
Just spring for the Burgstahler kegs. If you get the Sanke kegs you will have issues with sealing them properly unless you weld on the proper opening for c-clamps. You will find that the small cutouts on the sides of the opening breed nasties. Save yourself the headache and get the right tools.
We get all of our kegs via http://www.tcwequipment.com
They run sales sometimes and I stock up then. If you need 1 or 2 15 gallon’rs for a short period of time let me know.
I’ve used the gaskets made for this purpose for years and have never had one fail. They’ll hold pressure for months. The gaskets are TC on one side and flat on the other side to mate up with the top of an unaltered, cheap keg with cutouts and all. You’re right that bungs don’t work with the cutouts, but the gaskets with a TC cap are a good solution that costs almost nothing.
To me, the largest draw back of using kegs is that they suck to clean. If I was going to spend $150 on a keg, I would start with a used Sanke, weld on a TC big enough to get my arm in there, 3" or 4", and get a cap with pressure relief valve. Bet it would still cost less and be a lot easier to clean.