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A keg is a small
barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...
. Wooden kegs made by a
cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...
were used to transport nails,
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
, and a variety of liquids. A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on the inside. It is commonly used to store, transport, and serve
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
. Other
alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
or non-alcoholic drinks, carbonated or non-carbonated, may be housed in a keg as well. Carbonated drinks are generally kept under pressure in order to maintain carbon dioxide in solution, preventing the beverage from becoming flat.


Beer keg

Beer kegs are made of
stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
, or less commonly, of
aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
. A keg has a single opening on one end, called a "bung". A
tube Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...
called a "spear" extends from the opening to the other end. There is a self-closing
valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
that is opened by the
coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mov ...
fitting which is attached when the keg is tapped. There is also an opening at the top of the spear that allows gas (usually
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
) to drive the beer out of the keg. The coupling fitting has one or two valves that control the flow of beer out of and gas into the keg. The keg must be in the upright position, that is, with the opening on top, for the beer to be dispensed. Kegs can be contrasted to
cask A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
s, which have two or more openings and no spear. Most major breweries now use internally speared kegs. Beer that is sold in kegs is fully conditioned. Beer intended for local use may be kegged without sterilization, however, the beer must stay cold.


Size

Historically a beer barrel was a standard size of , as opposed to a wine barrel of , or an oil barrel of . Over the years barrel sizes have evolved, and breweries throughout the world use different sized containers. Even when the content capacity of two kegs are equal, e.g. metricized to 50 liters, the keg shape and tap system may differ greatly.


U.S. keg sizes

Most U.S. brewers sell beer in barrels of 15.5 gallons, barrels of 7.75 gallons, and barrels of 5.17 gallons. Since keg sizes are not standardized, the keg cannot be used as a standard
unit of measure A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multip ...
for liquid
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...
s. Despite this, a number of people still refer to kegs as if they were a unit of measure. This size standard varies from country to country and brewery to brewery with most countries using the
metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...
rather than U.S. gallons. A ''keg'', or half-barrel is a 15.5
U.S. gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austr ...
vessel. A quarter-barrel has a volume of 7.75 U.S. gallons. Generally a keg is a vessel smaller than a barrel; thus, it is 30 gallons or smaller. In the U.S. the terms ''half-barrel'' and ''quarter-barrel'' are derived from the U.S. beer barrel, legally defined as being equal to 31 U.S. gallons (this is not the same volume as some other units also known as ''
barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
''). A 15.5 U.S. gallon keg is also equal to: * 12.7
Imperial gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...
s * 58.67
liter The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: â„“) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
s * 103.25 Imperial pints * 124 U.S. pints * 496 U.S. gills * 165 twelve
fluid ounce A fluid ounce (abbreviated fl oz, fl. oz. or oz. fl., old forms â„¥, fl â„¥, fâ„¥, Æ’ â„¥) is a unit of volume (also called ''capacity'') typically used for measuring liquids. The British Imperial, the United States customary, and the United St ...
(U.S. measure) drinks * About 90
bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircraf ...
(22 fl oz bottles) * About 6.88 24-unit cases of 12 fl oz cans * About 5.5 30-racks of 12 fl oz cans * 1,984 fluid ounces (U.S.) However, beer kegs can come in many sizes:


=Specifications for a U.S. barrel keg

= Accepted specifications for a standard keg are:


DIN-keg and Euro-keg

In Europe, the most common keg size is 50 liters. This includes the UK, which uses a non-metric standard keg of 11 imperial gallons, which is, by coincidence, equal to . The German
DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * DÄ«n, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken by ...
6647-1 and DIN 6647-2 have also defined kegs in the sizes of 30 and 20 liters. In some areas it is common to refer to the size not in liters but in beers. In areas such as Germany, where the standard beer size is 0.5 liters, that means a 50-liter keg contains 100 beers.


Taps

Kegs are sealed to contain the liquid and pressurized gas for storage and transportation. Most beer is served carbonated, and this is most easily accomplished by storing it carbonated as well. Beer kegs are designed to maintain the carbonation in a beverage by storing it with pressurized
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
in the
headspace Headspace may refer to: *Headspace (company), an online healthcare company specializing in meditation *Headspace (organisation), an Australian non-profit organization for youth mental health *Headspace or ullage, the unfilled space in a container ...
above the liquid. The liquid is also dispensed using pressurized gas; the pressure of the gas provides mechanical force to overcome friction and gravity to push the beer to the dispensing location. To serve the beverage, a keg must be tapped to breach the container so that pressurized gas can be added and the liquid can be dispensed. Originally, this was done by hammering a tapping rod through a cork
bung A stopper or cork is a cylindrical or conical Closure (container), closure used to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube or barrel (storage), barrel. Unlike a Lid (container), lid or bottle cap, which encloses a container from the outside wit ...
, similar to how a keystone is still used today to tap unpressurized cask ales. Tapping a keg this way would often waste a bit of beer, which would be forced out under pressure until the tap was secured. By the 1950s and 60s when metal kegs had replaced wooden ones, common tap systems included Golden Gate, Hoff–Stevens, and Peerless taps, which all had one or two couplers for pressurizing and dispensing the beer but retained a separate
bunghole A bunghole is a hole bored in a liquid-tight barrel to remove contents. The hole is capped with a cork or cork-like stopper called a ''bung''. Acceptable usage includes other access points that may be capped with alternate materials providing an ...
for cleaning and filling the keg which was sealed with a wooden bung. These made it easier to tap the keg, but still had sanitation problems (from the wooden bung and attachments that penetrated the keg, and from ports that were at the bottom of the keg next to the floor) and tended to leave some beer inaccessible at the bottom of the keg. In the 1960s and 70s, several similar styles of tap were created in Europe and America which used a single hole for cleaning, filling, pressurizing, and dispensing. A single bunghole at the top of the keg is used to clean and fill the keg, after which it is sealed with a metal assembly containing a ball bearing which acts as a stopper, held in place by the gas pressure inside the keg. The tap is twisted or slid into place atop the keg, and a lever provides the mechanical force needed to push the ball bearing down, providing access to the keg's contents. These taps, or "couplers", are more sanitary and easy to operate, and were adopted by major U.S. breweries like
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
in the 1970s and quickly displaced other taps to become the industry standard. One such system was referred to as Sankey after its designer ( GKN Sankey Ltd., named for founder Joseph Sankey). The term Sankey, often misspelled "Sanke", has become a generic name for all of the similar industry standard couplers. Today there are six industry standard couplers: * The D System is used by most breweries in the Americas. * The S System is used by many breweries in Europe. It is similar to the D System but has a longer probe. * The G System (or Grundy) is less common and is used by some British and Irish breweries and beers including
Tennent's Tennent Caledonian is a brewery based in Glasgow, Scotland. The Wellpark Brewery is situated in the city's East End, between the Townhead and Dennistoun districts along Duke Street. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn ...
,
Boddingtons Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be ...
, and
Fuller's ESB Fuller's ESB (Extra Special Bitter) is a beer brewed by Fuller's at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London. It has twice been named World Champion Beer, and has won CAMRA's Champion Beer of Britain Award on three occasions. History Fuller's ES ...
. * The U System (or U/E.C.) is uncommon and is used for a few Irish beers (mainly beers from Guinness/Diageo:
Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...
,
Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
,
Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...
, and
Smithwick's Smithwick's () is an Irish red ale-style beer. Smithwick's brewery was founded in Kilkenny in 1710 by John Smithwick and run by the Smithwick family of Kilkenny until 1965 when it was acquired by Guinness, now part of Diageo. The Kilkenny br ...
) and
Magners Magners Irish Cider is a brand of hard cider produced in County Tipperary in Ireland by the C&C Group. The product range includes the cider varieties: Original, Light, Berry, Pear and Rosé. The cider was originally produced as Bulmers Irish ...
cider. * The A System (or Flat Top German) is used by many large German breweries. It slides into place rather than rotating. * The M System is very uncommon and is used by only a few breweries in and around Germany (mainly for Aventinus Eisbock,
Einbecker The Einbecker Brewery (German: ''Einbecker Brauhaus'') is a brewery located in Einbeck, Germany. Founded before 1378, it is one of the oldest still operating breweries in the world. The city of Einbeck is noted for its bock beer, and Einbecker, t ...
, Schneider,
Veltins Brauerei C & A Veltins () is a brewery in the west German city of Meschede-Grevenstein. In 2015, Veltins ranked fourth among Germany's best selling beers. The small guesthouse brewery of Franz Kramer opened its simple wooden gates i ...
, and
Żywiec Żywiec () (german: Saybusch) is a town in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship.It is the capital of Ż ...
). It also slides into place. There are two different types of tapping equipment that are available for kegs. A "party tap" or "picnic tap" is a hand-operated pump that utilizes outside air, thus introducing oxygen and bacteria into the keg. This causes the beer to oxidize, affecting the taste; the
partial pressure In a mixture of gases, each constituent gas has a partial pressure which is the notional pressure of that constituent gas as if it alone occupied the entire volume of the original mixture at the same temperature. The total pressure of an ideal gas ...
of CO2 will also decrease, causing the beer to go flat. Kegs dispensed with a party pump should be used within 18–24 hours so that the beer does not become unpalatable. Commercial installations, as well as some home users, use pure pressurized gas; these can preserve a keg up to 120 days with proper refrigeration. In simpler installations only CO2 is used to pressurize and dispense the beer, but in installations with very long lines between the keg and dispensing location (bars with customer-operated faucets at each table being an extreme example), the pressure needed to pump the beer for dispensing would over-carbonate the beer. In these situations, "beer gas" or "mixed gas" is used which combines CO2 with another gas, usually
nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
. Nitrogen is 80 times less soluble in water than CO2, so it can provide additional pressure without noticeably affecting flavor. Typical beer gas is 70-75% nitrogen and 25-30% CO2, but the ideal ratio depends on the beer being served and the installation; more advanced installations blend the gas on site so it can be adjusted for each beer. A few beers like
Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...
are required to be pressurized and dispensed with mixed gas; they usually also require the use of a special faucet that deliberately creates additional friction to force the nitrogen out of solution, creating a thick frothy head. As with any pressurized container, a keg can cause injury, even at normal operating pressure, whether with
compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches, and o ...
or carbon dioxide:
"The tapping system and pressure regulator both should be equipped with a pressure relief (blow off) device. If you are not familiar with tapping equipment, consult your retailer..." (printed on an
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
's keg cap)
Commercially, kegs are usually kept in a refrigerated room for storage and dispensing, and liquid lines run from this room to all of the faucets in the restaurant. Kegs are too large to fit in a typical home refrigerator. A
kegerator Kegerator, a portmanteau of ''keg'' and ''refrigerator'', a refrigerator that has been designed or altered to store and dispense kegs. The kegerator keeps the keg in a refrigerated environment and uses CO2 to pressurize and dispense beverages ...
(specially designed for kegs, or converted from a suitable small refrigerator) can be used, but as these are somewhat specialized they are cost-prohibitive for the average consumer who has only occasional use for one, and are obviously impractical to bring to a beach or campsite. Instead, in the US and Australia, kegs are usually kept in a bucket of ice and/or water to keep the beer cool. Alternately, the keg can be kept at ambient temperature and served using a "jockey box", consisting of a
cooler A cooler, portable ice chest, ice box, cool box, chilly bin (in New Zealand), or esky (Australia) is an insulated box used to keep food or drink cool. Ice cubes are most commonly placed in it to help the contents inside stay cool. Ice packs ar ...
with beer coils ( metal dispensing lines arranged in a coil) and filled with ice, which acts as a
heat exchanger A heat exchanger is a system used to transfer heat between a source and a working fluid. Heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct contac ...
to cool the beer to serving temperature by the time it reaches the faucet. European consumers, when not using a party pump, mainly use inline beer chillers, essentially the same concept as a jockey box but using a refrigeration unit instead of ice. Those chillers usually also have their own air compressor for keg pressurization.


Other types of kegs


Cornelius keg

The Cornelius keg (also known as a "Corny keg" or "soda keg") was originally used by the
soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...
industry. It's now commonly used to store and dispense
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
, especially
homebrewed Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...
. Cornelius kegs were originally made by Cornelius, Inc., and were used for premix soft drinks. Since the arrival of newer technology such as
bag-in-box A bag-in-box or BiB is a container for the storage and transportation of liquids. It consists of a strong bladder (or plastic bag), usually made of several layers of metallised film or other plastics, seated inside a corrugated fiberboard box. ...
packages, Cornelius kegs have become largely obsolete in the soft drink industry, and refurbished ones are readily available to hobbyists. Cornelius kegs use two unique types of tap, both very similar to each other, known as ball locks and pin locks.


Mini keg

The mini keg is a 5-liter keg produced for retail sales. Some brands come with a spout and pour from the bottom via gravity, while others may use a low cost pressurized tap. Mini kegs are typically not returned to the manufacturer for cleaning and refilling. The
disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filter ...
kegs, being made of
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
, may be
recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
. In Canada,
Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...
brewery dubbed the mini keg "Bubba". This name has now been
genericized A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
to generally apply to all 5-liter mini kegs in Canada . This might cause confusion, as a company called Bubba Keg is established in the U.S., and appears to not be associated with Molson. Today, mini kegs are widely available in liquor stores worldwide, with
Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...
,
Grolsch Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch (), is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in E ...
and
Bitburger Bitburger Brewery (Bitburger Brauerei Th. Simon GmbH) is a large Germany, German brewery headquartered in Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate. Founded in 1817 by Johann Wallenborn, its beer is the Beer in Germany#Brands and breweries, third best-selli ...
all adopting the design. Recently in Austria, beer is available in mini kegs, either by a one-way type keg made of steel or out of a reinforced
thermoplastic A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...
for about a 4 € deposit.


Beer ball

Another type of mini keg is the "beer ball" or the "party ball", a disposable plastic ball that usually holds around , roughly the equivalent of 55 twelve-
ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman units of measurement, Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The #International avoirdupois ounce, avoirdupois ounce ...
beers, though they can also be found in a smaller size. Like kegs, it is necessary to tap the ball before the beer inside can be served.


One-way kegs

One-way kegs, also known as
disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filter ...
kegs or
PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
kegs, were invented in 1996. They are usually made of plastic. Some types have a
cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light b ...
outer
packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...
, which makes them easier to stack and transport, and also protects the plastic container. Some may use either bag in ball or spear technology. Products like the Hybrid keg have a puncture resistant wall and are easy to disassemble after use. Circular by design, the top and bottom chimes can either be re-used or recycled.


Quarter barrel (pony keg)

A quarter barrel, more commonly known as pony keg, is a beer vessel containing approximately 7.75 U.S. gallons (29.33 liters) of fluid. It is half the size of the standard beer keg and equivalent to a quarter of a barrel. The term ''
pony A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...
'' refers to its smaller size – compare
pony glass A pony glass may mean one of two types of small glassware: * A quarter-pint glass of beer: , metricated to 140ml in Australia. * A small, stemmed glass of about one ounce, similar to a stemmed shot glass. Used for liqueurs or cordials, hence also c ...
(quarter-pint) and
pony bottle A pony bottle is a small diving cylinder which is fitted with an independent diving regulator, regulator, and carried by a scuba diver as an extension to the scuba set. In an emergency, such as depletion of the scuba diver, diver's main air supp ...
. It will serve roughly 82 twelve-ounce cups. The shape of a pony keg resembles that of a full-sized keg while being much easier to move manually. However, it shares many inconveniences with the bigger kegs, such as: often requiring a deposit when purchased, needing a tap to serve the contents, and posing difficulties in determining the amount of beer remaining (weighing the keg or observing its buoyancy are common techniques). Despite this, a pony keg can be a cheap way to provide beer for a medium-sized party. In some places, such as
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, the term pony keg can mean a
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
that sells beer.


Sixth barrel

A sixth barrel keg contains approximately 5.2 gallons, and is becoming the choice for many establishments and breweries that wish to use kegs smaller than a half barrel. The sixth barrel kegs are nominally larger in size and volume compared to the Cornelius keg. They are normally fitted with a standard US Type D Sanke coupler on a single downspout; whereas, Corny kegs are normally fitted with a flip-hatch, and a dual connector pin-lock or ball-lock top. Although the sixth barrel torpedo keg is approximately the same height as the standard half barrel, the smaller foot print of the sixth barrel allows retailers have a greater variety of beer in a small space. This size keg is quickly replacing the quarter barrel size which has the same foot print as a half barrel keg, but is only half as tall. Other than smaller circumference, sixth barrel kegs are very similar to their full-sized counterparts in construction. A stainless Micromatic brand sixth barrel keg weighs approximately 14-15 pounds (6.3–6.8 kg) when empty, and approximately 58-60 pounds (26.3-27.2 kg) when full.


Eighth barrel

An eighth barrel has the same dimensions as a sixth barrel, but the seven bottom-most inches are hollow.


UK and Irish keg supply structure

The beer vessel supply structure in the UK and Ireland is quite different, whilst the couplers for kegs have been largely standardised to sankey, grundy and interbrew, a couple of others exist such as UEC and U-Type, however these are much less common. The kegs themselves are made from stainless steel or aluminium. The standard keg size is 11 imperial gallons (50 litres/88 imperial pints) and the vast majority of
keg beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dir ...
s are supplied in this keg size. There are also smaller 30 litre (≈52.7926 imperial pints) kegs usually reserved for more specialist and premium European beers. A number of manufacturers also produce 18 imperial gallon (81.82 litres/144 imperial pints) and 22 imperial gallon (100 litres/176 imperial pints) kegs, however owing to their size they are not as popular, as manual handling is seen by some to be difficult, and as a result they tend to be used only for large-scale events and bars with high output. For bars that sell a large volume of beer, there is the 36 imperial gallon (163.64 litres/288 imperial pints) keg. However, due to its very large size, few people can move it without assistance, making it an impractical choice otherwise.


Keg laws

In the U.S. as of 2005, there are 21 states and numerous localities that have keg registration laws. The laws vary widely in terms of whom they target, what their intended purpose is, and how strongly they are enforced.


See also

*
Cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...
*
Draught beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dire ...
* Firkin *
Growler (jug) A growler (US) () is a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bottle (or jug) used to transport draft beer. They are commonly sold at breweries and brewpubs as a means to sell take-out craft beer. Rarely, beers are bottled in growlers for retail sa ...
*
Keg stand A keg stand is a drinking activity where the participant does a handstand on a keg of beer and attempts to drink as much as possible at once or to drink for as long as possible. Other people will help hold up the drinker's legs, and will hold the ...
*
Bag-in-box A bag-in-box or BiB is a container for the storage and transportation of liquids. It consists of a strong bladder (or plastic bag), usually made of several layers of metallised film or other plastics, seated inside a corrugated fiberboard box. ...
*
BeerTender BeerTender is a home keg-tapping system manufactured by Krups in a joint venture with Dutch brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and ...
*
Keg in the Closet "Keg in the Closet" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in May 2005 as the sixth and final single from his 2004 album ''When the Sun Goes Down (Kenny Chesney album), When the Sun Goes D ...


References


Notes


Books

* Soroka, W, ''Fundamentals of Packaging Technology'', IoPP, 2002, * Yam, K. L., ''Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology'', John Wiley & Sons, 2009,


External links


How to Tap a Keg
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wikiHow wikiHow is an online wiki-style publication featuring how-to articles on a variety of topics. Founded in 2005 by Internet entrepreneur Jack Herrick, its aim is to create an extensive database of instructional content, using the wiki model of ope ...
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How to remove and reassemble the valve in a sanke keg
{{packaging Brewing Beer vessels and serving Liquid containers Alcohol measurement