Keg heists in Lawrence costing beer drinkers
4:38 p.m. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence sends out about 2,000 kegs of beer every year.
But the company's buying a lot of new kegs lately, in part because they're expanding, but also because they're being cleaned out by thieves.
A new trend among crooks is keg heisting.
Thieves are stealing kegs and turning the expensive stainless steel in to scrap yards for money.
"You take that keg out of production, it's one less we can get out there, it's one more we have to replace," brew master Steve Bradt said. "It's really is hard on us, from the standpoint of the cost of doing business."
The kegs can be sold at scrap yards for about $20, but they cost brewers $160 to replace.
The brewery doesn't know how many kegs have been stolen. All they know is several have gone missing.
But, the company's hopeful a new Kansas law will help curb the thefts.
Similar to copper, it requires scrap yards to use scrutiny when buying stainless steel.
Many brewers are also taking steps to curb the thefts on their own.
They're locking empty kegs up in the alleys behind their businesses, or putting them behind locked fences.
They're doing anything they can to make sure to hang on to as many kegs as they can.
"A lot of people don't really realize the effect on the brewer, and especially when you're dealing with local, neighborhood brewers like us, it's a big effect," Bradt said.
In the end, the company says the costs of replacing kegs are passed on to those who drink beer.
Some recycling facilities will not even accept beer kegs for scrap.
We called Langley Recycling here in Topeka, and they told us there is a list of items they don't accept, including beer kegs, street signs, and cemetery vases.
And if someone tries to turn in a cemetery vase, they write down the tags on that person's vehicle and call the police.
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