Beer kegs become hot commodity for thieves
WASHINGTON -- Thieves are stealing kegs, and they aren't doing it to get drunk. In fact, the emptier the better.
Across the country, crooks are snatching stainless steel kegs in alleyways behind bars and breweries or not returning them after keggers to sell for scrap metal.
The trend comes as the stainless scrap price has more than doubled in the last five years, making an empty 18-pound keg worth more than $13, according to price data for steel scrap sold in Chicago.
Prices in other parts of the country are even higher, with kegs selling for $30 and up, according to the Beer Institute, the industry trade group. Earlier this year, empty kegs were worth even more, but metals prices have fallen in recent months in a worldwide commodity price drop.
Approximately 300,000 kegs were stolen at a loss of $50 million in 2007, estimates the Washington-based Beer Institute. Approximately 10% of the 625 million gallons of beer annually sold in the USA is in kegs, which are owned by brewers.
A 'terribly frustrating' problem
Just a few years ago about 3% to 4% of brewer Sierra Nevada's kegs disappeared because of theft or other loss. Last year, the losses doubled, founder Ken Grossman says. The Chico, Calif.-based brewer owns approximately 180,000 kegs, and each costs $150 to replace.
"It has been terribly frustrating," says Grossman, who also personally contacts people trying to sell Sierra Nevada kegs on eBay to recover the brewery's property. EBay quickly takes the items down when the auction site is alerted, Grossman says. Grossman notes such added costs eventually get passed along to consumers.
"This will increase the price of beer," he says.
Says Tim Herzog, owner of Flying Bison Brewing in Buffalo, "Everybody has something to lose."
A variety of metal goods have been disappearing in recent years as prices for nickel, copper and other metals have jumped in response to booming global demand. Thieves have been stealing everything from cemetery urns to manhole covers to copper wiring from construction sites.
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