Thieves targeting beer kegs / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Brewer Geoff Deman stacks freshly washed kegs on a forklift Wednesday at the Free State Brewery production facility, 1923 Moodie Road. As the price of stainless steel climbs, thieves are cashing in by selling the kegs for scrap.

By Jesse Fray

August 27, 2008

Photo by Nick Krug

Thieves targeting kegs as stainless steel prices increase

As the price of stainless steel goes up, keg thieves are cashing in. Enlarge video

Crooks are tapping into the beer market.

As the price of stainless steel rises, thieves are focusing on beer kegs for supplemental income. And that has affected breweries and distributors across the country, including in Lawrence.

"When the scrap prices started going up : we started seeing a lot of kegs disappearing from places," said Steve Bradt, head brewmaster for Free State Brewing Co. "A lot of people don't realize the effect on the brewer."

A typical keg can be sold to a scrap yard for around $20, Bradt said. It costs the brewery about $160 to replace one.

To help control the problem, beer distributors nationwide have raised deposits on the kegs - from $10 or $15 per keg to $25 or $30 per keg. But it seems thieves continue to take empty kegs from alleys and behind businesses, where they're often stored.

Bradt's hopeful a new state law will help deter keg heists. The law adds stainless steel to a list of controlled materials, like copper and platinum, that scrap yards must be careful about buying, he said.

The problem may be hitting some businesses in Lawrence harder than others. Lawrence police don't remember seeing many reports of keg thefts recently, spokeswoman Kim Murphree said.

And Alvin Joe Schmidtberger, owner of Alvin's Wines & Spirits, said he hadn't experienced a problem with thefts - likely because he keeps all his returned kegs inside.

"We don't throw them outside in a gated area," he said. "That's where you'll find them lost."

Discussion

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27 August 2008
at 7:20 p.m.

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smartmomma (Anonymous) says…

I tried to give an old keg to lonnie's and they said they don't take them…..hmmmmmmm
27 August 2008
at 9:23 p.m.

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nobody1793 (Anonymous) says…

If you're going to steal a keg, steal a FULL one!!!Idiots.
27 August 2008
at 9:32 p.m.

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tangential_reasoners_anonymous (Anonymous) says…

“Thieves targeting beer kegs”Last thing I want to shoot at is a beer keg… unless of course it's empty…and I've already tapped a second….
28 August 2008
at 7:03 a.m.

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justforfun (Anonymous) says…

mmmmmmmmmmmm BEER!!!
28 August 2008
at 7:29 a.m.

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guzzy393939 (Anonymous) says…

Stealing is wrong! Go to church and be forgiven.
28 August 2008
at 8:38 a.m.

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Easy_Does_It (Anonymous) says…

“That's where you'll find them lost.” - AlvinLooks like Alvin is the Yogi Berra of Liqour Store owners.
28 August 2008
at 8:54 a.m.

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yellowhouse (Anonymous) says…

If you did not know you could steal a keg for money you do now.If you did not know where they were stored you do now.LKPD has not had any thefts lately, and only a few stolen from the brewery…they don't count them.Was this a training documentary for theives?

28 August 2008
at 10:36 a.m.

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Tbird1 (Anonymous) says…

gosh dang it. I used to have something like 10 or twelve shells. I could have used that money to by more beer….lol