Stolen kegs

[Padraich]

Just saw this... hope he isn't a homebrewer and wasn't doing it for his friends...
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/donegal-man-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-empty-beer-kegs-1.2098233

[DEMPSEY]

Doubt it. This kind of stealing is for the metal as they sell it for scrap.

[Tom]

Oh, yeah, because Letterkenny is a notorious Real Ale hotspot.

[beanstalk]

Oh, yeah, because Letterkenny is a notorious Real Ale hotspot.

Now now... 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

A couple of years ago, a gang of keg thieves were caught in the UK. They had fitted out an articulated truck with a smelting kit in the back. They were smelting the kegs while driving between pubs, a motorist saw the smoke and called Emmergency services, that was the end of that outfit, but there's big money to be made from this type crime not to mention the losses to breweries, which ultimately we, as consumers, end up paying for

[Will_D]

That is why they stopped using hi-grade aluminium for casks a long time ago (ie. for serving cask condition ales)

When it comes to kegs (as in the modern gaseoes stuff we all love) the going rate for scrap stainless steel is 1€ a kilo!

A keg weighs about 10 kilos.

Stolen kegs are valued by the gaurds/pilice as the new/replacement  (typically about €100 with the spear) so as recently when the cover 100 stolen kegs they can claim they have recovered 10Ks worth!

Same goes for a certain hop related weed. They usually weigh the flower pot/soil as well to up the value of the seizure!!

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It still costs the breweries 10k to replace them regardless of scrap value, and not all are belonging to Macros