How best to dispose of a full (but old, undrinkable) keg?

[bienville]

About a month and a half ago a neighbor in our apartment building moved out and left a bunch of junk stuffed along the narrow strip of "yard" between the building and the fence.

I'd rather not have the Thread be about "Why isn't your landlord taking care of it?"
Without going into much detail, he's not a great landlord (understatement) and if we were to wait on him taking responsibility we would have the junk there forever.

So, once some time went by after our initial requests that the junk be cleared away, we decided to take on the responsibility ourselves.

We got standard trash collection to take most of it, though it took a couple weeks with the limited available space in the allotted trash cans (nothing will be picked up from the curb- all trash must be in city issued trash cans).



At this point we're left with a very large, full, and heavy beer keg.
It would fit into the trash can but getting it in would be tricky. But beyond getting it in the trash can, I just have a feeling that's not the "proper" way to dispose of this.

If nothing else, I imagine (no cite, just kinda what makes sense to me) that the mechanized garbage truck has a setting to detect a weight limit.
This is the kind of garbage truck that just drives down the street, the driver operates an arm / claw that grabs the trashcan and lifts it for a 180 flip, dumping the contents into the back of the truck.


First, am I over-complicating the matter?
Is there no real concern that this kind of thing be disposed of "properly"?
Is the weight detecting device on the truck just an invention of my overly imaginative mind?

If I can get it into the trashcan will it be collected without incident?

[heathen earthling]

You could probably give it away to someone whose idea of "undrinkable" differs from yours.

[Joey P]

I wouldn't worry about the garbage truck. I've loaded my bins up with concrete and not had a problem.
But as for what to do with it, you have a few options. If it's really that heavy, you could rent a tap handle from a liquor store and drain it. Or better yet, just throw the whole thing in the back of your car and bring it to a liquor store. You might even get the deposit back from it. Either way, they'll send it back to the distributor and it'll make it's way back to the brewery and they'll take care of it. Or, roll it out to your front yard and a scrapper will probably see it and take it.

[Ferret Herder]

But as for what to do with it, you have a few options. If it's really that heavy, you could rent a tap handle from a liquor store and drain it. Or better yet, just throw the whole thing in the back of your car and bring it to a liquor store. You might even get the deposit back from it.
Or do both to make transport easier!

[kaylasdad99]

Since this thread is in GQ anyway, does anybody have any idea what the shelf life is of a non-refrigerated keg of beer?

Probably less than six weeks, I suppose...

[silenus]

Much less. Take it to a liquor store. You might get a deposit back on it, but the main things is getting the keg back to the brewery. Those suckers are pricy, and every time one disappears, the price of beer goes up.

[california jobcase]

Definitely take it back to a liquor store. Call nearby ones to see if they sell that brand. Explain what you've got. Ask how much deposit you'll receive for bringing it in. I was in a fraternity in college, and one time we had at least a dozen empties saved up. When we wanted to party but were low on funds, we'd just haul the empties in and trade them for a couple full ones.

[bienville]

Thanks! Will see about finding someone who will pay out a deposit for it. Otherwise, won't fret about trashing it.

[jnglmassiv]

Around here, that would be a bonanza for the scrap guys that troll our alleys. Do you have anything similar?

[EvilTOJ]

Since this thread is in GQ anyway, does anybody have any idea what the shelf life is of a non-refrigerated keg of beer?

Probably less than six weeks, I suppose...

Depends. If the seal was broken and the previous owners used an air pump to get the beer out, it'll go stale from oxygenation and microbes in the air in a few days. If they had it hooked up to a CO2 canister it's probably still good. I've had kegs of beer stay fresh for months while it has a blanket of CO2 over it.

Don't throw it away! I don't know where you rent kegs in your area, but call around liquor stores, brewpubs, breweries, distributors or wherever and ask if they'll just take the keg even if you don't get the deposit. Breweries lose so much money to stainless steel thieves it really cuts into their bottom line.

To empty it, turn it on its side and wedge a screwdriver into the ball in the middle of the stem. That'll release the pressure and all the old beer. Careful, it'll stream! I hope you have old clothes and a yard to drain the beer into.

Alternately; put it up for sale on craigslist. An enterprising homebrewer will buy it to cut the top off, or to put in their kegerator. They sell for like $50 around here.