Published by Argonautica on 19 Jul 2007 at 07:00 am
Save Money on Beer with Draft Kegs at Home
Hooray, beer!
I really like beer, especially good beer. Although it can be hard to enjoy when the all-seeing eye of frugality is staring a hole through you for paying $10 for a 12-ounce bottle of Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA. Even if you turn your back, you can feel its gaze centered right between your shoulder blades. It’s almost enough to put a man off his drink. Almost. But then the 20% alcohol kicks in and you tell frugality to beat it and go bug someone else.
I found a great rationalization solution, though, the home draft beer keg. There are any number of advantages to having a draft beer system in your home. First, there is the obvious cost savings per glass. Sellers claim cost savings of up to 50%, and that is certainly possible on some beers, especially if you are comparing 6 or 12 pack prices, but for premium beers, the savings may not be as great.
For example, at a price per glass, I can get Miller High Life (bottles) for around 60 cents per 12 ounces. A keg is in the $40-$50 range, and at 165 servings per keg, that works out to 25-30 cents per 12 ounces. If I go with microbrews, I save less, and if I go with German imports like Warsteiner, Spaten, Bitburger, etc., the savings sometimes drop down to 10%-15% for some reason. I guess it costs a fair penny for the brewer to ship it that far.
Note that the beer prices vary greatly among and even within states depending on the state laws and distributor set-up.
Other rationalizations advantages include: not paying those high bar prices, not worrying about drinking and driving, the hedonistic joy of having a fresh draft beer on demand (and yes, with your own system, it does taste better than cans and bottles), the ease of entertaining company, no cans or bottles to deal with, less trips to the store, your dog will love you more, you will become better looking, your kids will get better grades in school, and you will bring about world peace. Okay, maybe I got a little carried away with some of those. That’s just the breakfast India Pale Ale talking.
Downsides: the initial cost is a hundred and up depending on the setup you choose, so you have to factor that and the occasional cost of CO2 into your calculations. The upside is that the more you drink, the lower you can average down those start-up costs!
Now, I had actually purchased something like the Kegerator Conversion Kit with CO2 Tank
I had an old fridge out in the garage that was not being used much, so I converted it into a kegerator. All it really took was drilling a hole through the door and installing the faucet. Then I got the CO2, hooked up the keg, and the first keg was pouring away. I would recommend NOT paying the extra for the CO2 tanks, because they are like your grill propane tanks, you just switch them out for filled ones, so that fancy tank you buy with a kit is pretty much useless unless you want to drop it off and have it filled overnight. Seemed like a hassle to me, so I just picked up one at a welding supply store and it only cost a few extra bucks by not having a tank to swap.
I hooked it up and everything worked like a champ. The first keg of Spaten only lasted 10 days, but I had made the mistake of inviting friends over on consecutive weekends to christen it.
One tip I learned from experience: DO NOT LOSE THE RECEIPT FOR YOUR KEG! Depending on where you live, you may have trouble getting your deposit back.
So give it a shot and the whole family can have a comforting draft beer before bed.
