Asking how much it costs to fill up a keg of beer is one of those questions that, depending on who you ask, has a hundred right answers and just as many wrong ones. How much it will cost to fill your keg is entirely dependent on what kind of beer you like to drink, and what sort of beer you want to fill your keg with.
A standard sized beer keg contains somewhere in the region of fifteen and a half gallons of beer, which is roughly the equivalent of four hundred twelve-ounce cans of brew, That’s a lot of beer in anyone’s book, and even if you have the sort of the thirst that can only be quenched by the finest suds in the land, unless you’ve teamed up with a squad of your buddies to drink that keg, it’s going to last for a while.
However, the price that you’ll pay to fill the keg with the beer that you’re going to drink, depends on exactly what type, and brand of beer that you want to fill it with and whether or not you already own the keg that you want to fill – because if you don’t already own the keg, you’ll either need to rent it or buy one, both of which are going to add to the cost of filling it with beer.
But let’s get on to the important stuff, the beer. If you’re a traditional kind of guy and like nothing better than kicking back with a glass or five of Bud at the end of a hard day, then it’ll cost you around $100 to fill your keg with the King of Beers. If on the other hand, you follow the craft beer path then that same keg is going to cost you a lot more to fill.
Let’s take a look at Goose Island, a favorite brewer among the craft beer collective. To fill the same keg with their delicious IPA will cost you around$230, give or take a dollar or two, which adds a fair old chunk of change to your beer bill.
Our best advice? Ring around and get some quotes, as every beer will set you back a little more or a little less financially. It all depends on which beer you want to drink to world peace with.
In the end, buying kegs and properly storing them in a kegerator will save you money over buying bottles and cans.
How Much Does It Cost To Fill Up A Corny Keg?
And now for a little good news for the craft beer lovers among you. A Corny keg (or Cornelius keg to give it its full title) costs a lot less than a standard keg does to fill up, and you should be able to walk away from a local brewery with a Corny keg filled with their best brew for under seventy dollars.
Granted, there’s a lot less beer in a Corny keg, but as most of us aren’t going to want, or be able to, drink more than the five gallons that a Corny keg holds, it seems like the perfect middle ground option to us. It’s always better to phone the brewery before you set out though, as some smaller brewers aren’t set up to fill, and don’t sell, Corny kegs.
How Much Does a Quarter Keg Of Beer Cost?
If a Corny keg doesn’t hold enough beer, and a keg holds too much, then you could always play it safe and choose a quarter keg instead. Quarts hold seven and a half gallons of suds and while we wish we could say that they cost half as much as a keg costs to fill, beer economics don’t work that way.
For half the amount of Budweiser that a standard keg holds, it’ll cost around sixty bucks or so, and for the pricier craft beers, the best advice that we can give you is to ring around and get the best quote for the brew that you want.
How Much Does A Keg Of Beer Cost Wholesale?
Directly from the brewer to the wholesaler, the average keg of beer costs between seventy and eighty dollars, which means that the profit generated on that keg by the time it reaches you is at least twenty-five percent on top of the wholesale price.
When we see figures and numbers like that, honestly we sometimes think that we’re in the wrong business.
What Does A Pony Keg Cost?
Funnily enough, a Pony keg costs the same as a quarter keg does, because they’re exactly the same size. But if they’re exactly the same size, doesn’t that mean that they’re exactly the same thing? It does indeed, and they are.
A Pony keg is just a nickname that brewers use for quarter kegs, and if you’ve ever had a beer in a pony glass, you’ll know exactly where that nickname comes from.