Mini kegs, good and bad

Shop Amazon - Thanksgiving Dinner and Desserts - Prepare the Perfect Feast I've been thinking about getting one of those 5-liter Heineken DraughtKegs for the house, but I don't drink a lot of beer at home, preferring instead to visit our local bars or brewpubs. At home, with three young children, I don't need beer. I need a sense of humor and straight liquor. But I've seen those Heineken mini kegs in local package stores and grocers for $18.49-$20.34, so I've been wondering if they would be worthwhile.

After a little research, it looks like the value of the Heineken DraughtKeg seems to be its longevity, and its price-per-pint.

An internal compressor, using carbon dioxide, keeps the beer from coming in contact with air, which allows the beer to stay fresh for at least 30 days, according to the gadget squad at Popular Mechanics.

In other words, it probably wouldn't go to waste.

But how much would I get out of a 5-liter Heiney?

By way of comparison, a regular keg has 15.5 gallons. A pony keg has 7.75 gallons. The Heiney DraughtKeg has about 1.3 gallons, which amounts to 166.4 ounces, or about 10.4 pints.

Let's say you purchase the Heiney DraughtKeg, considering taxes and price variations, for $21. That works out to about $2.02 per pint.

Worth it? That's up to you. But I think if it's sitting in my fridge for 30 days and still tasting good, I might give it a try.

However - important note - Heineken is unique in its use of carbon dioxide for its 5-liter size.

If you buy a Warsteiner, Beck's, Paulaner, or any of the other mini kegs available on the Grand Strand, you'll probably want to drink it within a few hours. These mini kegs rely on gravity, with a little twist-and-turn spigot on the bottom. When the pouring slows down, it's time to release a little pressure from a valve on the top.

All that is to say, the 5-liter mini kegs that don't use carbon dioxide for pressure will allow air to come in contact with the beer. So make sure it's party time when you open most 5-liter mini kegs. The price spread is about $16.50-$21 for most brands.

Our Kind of Girl

Photo from Tractor Brewing Co.

The silly uproar about beer prices

Prices for take-home beer rose 3 percent in May.

Are you shocked?

If so, you probably don't buy beer often enough to notice any price increase.

May was, after all, more than a month ago.

The Labor Department's new report on prices was picked up by the media, and the beer increase stood out the most, so now media junkies will be hearing about this for the next 24-36 hours.

To be sure, the price increase was greater than the economy's overall inflation rate, and beer poured away from home, in the safety of one's neighborhood bar, increased 3.8 percent, according to USA Today.

Early this morning, CNN explained it this way: The high gas prices have increased the demand for ethanol, so farmers have committed more land to corn than barley. As barley has become a little more scarce, prices have increased -- an increase of 17 percent on average since the beginning of the year, according to USA Today.

So it is a big deal to the beer industry. But not the shocker the media wants it to be this morning.

Here's the full USA Today article: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070703/BUSINESS/707030336/1003/BUSINESS


In other news, according to the Associated Press:

"With metal prices rising, beer makers say they expect to lose hundreds of thousands of kegs and millions of dollars this year as those stainless steel holders of brew are stolen and sold for scrap.

"The beer industry is coupling with the scrap metal recycling industry to let metal buyers know they can't accept kegs unless they're sold by the breweries that own them. They're also pushing for legislation that would require scrap metal recyclers to ask for identification and proof of ownership from would-be sellers."

Read the full story at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Disappearing-Kegs.html?_r=1&oref=slogin (This link should be good for seven days.)