Cornelius kegs in the UK... Alternatives?

[cybersplice]

Hey folks.

I guess this post is mainly directed at UK members...

So, our fellow soldiers in the US are upset about the prices of Corny kegs over there... over here they cost in excess of £80 (That's over a hundred bucks, folks) unless they get a load in at one of the wholesalers and you manage to poach a few.

New cornies imported from China cost in excess of £100, and usually in the £125 range, and that's not necessarily including any dispensing kit.

Has anyone considered alternatives, like the Cypherco plastic kegs? They're "Sankey" style kegs with the whole spear arrangement.... damn sight more hassle to clean, for sure, but I don't really see the cheap plastic Welton Hurst barrels as alternatives to corny kegs.

[BeaverBarber]

Hey folks.

I guess this post is mainly directed at UK members...

So, our fellow soldiers in the US are upset about the prices of Corny kegs over there... over here they cost in excess of £80 (That's over a hundred bucks, folks) unless they get a load in at one of the wholesalers and you manage to poach a few.

New cornies imported from China cost in excess of £100, and usually in the £125 range, and that's not necessarily including any dispensing kit.

Has anyone considered alternatives, like the Cypherco plastic kegs? They're "Sankey" style kegs with the whole spear arrangement.... damn sight more hassle to clean, for sure, but I don't really see the cheap plastic Welton Hurst barrels as alternatives to corny kegs.

I've used to have 2 of those. I used to carbonate them with a Hambleton Bard CO2 cartridge. They have terrible seals, and they're crap, so I ended up not using them. I wouldn't waste my money if I was you. If you're going to be there a while, I'd spring for the corny keg, but before you do that, you may want to try to source CO2 first. The only way that I'm aware of to get CO2 is to have it delivered to your house. There are a few companies that will do it. I can't remember the name of the company that would deliver to my area...Cambridge.

[cybersplice]

Yeah, those cheap plastic "Barrels" are pretty terrible. They're OK for taking something with relatively light carbonation like a mild or a bitter to a party or whatnot.. but like you say you can't carbonate in them. They're not rated for pressure at all, really.

The Cypherco stuff looks good, but I don't know if it'll be cost effective. They're set up to ship palletised deliveries to breweries, not to some bearded homebrewer in the wilds of Northamptonshire. They'll sell me their casks through a local brewery I'm friendly with, but the Kegs? Pricy. And i'll have to get sankey fittings...