How Much Does A Keg Cost?

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If you have a home bar, then you might be interested in the cost of purchasing a keg.

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While you could easily stock your bar with bottles of your favorite beers and ciders, there is something truly impressive about having a beer on tap in your private bar. Often, that beer will taste a lot better too. 

How Much Does A Keg Cost

When you go out for a couple of drinks, one of the best things about the beer served in restaurants, bars, and clubs is the fact that it is poured from a keg.

Bottled beer is delicious, but draft beer is on a whole different level. So, if you really want to level up your hosting skills, you need to get some kegs. 

But before you go out and buy a keg, you likely want to find out more about how much they will cost.

Kegs come in lots of different sizes, and as a result, the amount that you will pay for one varies greatly depending on the keg in question. However, you will generally pay between $100 and $200 for a keg of beer. 

In this guide, we’re taking a deeper look into the cost of kegs of beer, including what impacts the cost, and whether, or not, this is a cheaper alternative to simply buying cans of beer. 

Read on to find out more!

How Much Is A Keg In America?

So, let’s dive right in and take a look at how much a keg of beer will cost you in the US. The cost of kegs differs across the world with factors such as manufacturers, size, and type of beer influencing the cost.

However, in the USA, you will generally pay somewhere between $100 and $200 for a keg of beer. 

Perhaps the biggest influence on the cost of a keg in the USA is the size of the keg. Kegs come in lots of different sizes ranging from 5-gallon to 9-gallon kegs.

You can get larger, and smaller, kegs, but in the US, these are the most common sizes.

If you are researching kegs for hospitality purposes, then you will generally opt for larger kegs as you will use a lot more beer than if you are looking to purchase a keg for personal use. 

If you are purchasing a keg for home use, you need to consider a number of different factors.

Some of the things that you need to think about include how much beer you drink, how long the beer you purchase will stay fresh, and how much space you have to store kegs.

Nine-gallon kegs are large, they take up lots of room and they contain around 165 12-ounce pours. So, consider how quickly you will get through the beer that you buy to ensure that it won’t end up going to waste.

How Much Does A Keg Cost (1)

Is It Cheaper To Buy A Keg Or Cans?

If you have a home bar set-up, then you might be wondering if it is cheaper to buy kegs or cans.

You have a lot of freedom with which you choose, and after having a look at the cost of buying a keg, you might think that a keg is simply too costly to justify the price.

So, does it work out to be a better value to buy kegs (see also: How Does A Keg Work?)or cans?

Generally, if you have a kegerator at home, you will save a lot of money throughout the year on beer.

While kegs are expensive and a kegerator is a high-cost up-front purchase, eventually you will recoup the money spent on the system.

In fact, it is estimated that after a period of using a kegerator, you could save as much as 40-60% on beer compared to buying the same volume in bottles or cans. So, if you have the money, it is definitely cheaper to buy kegs. 

The way to look at it is to ask yourself, are you happy to pay a high upfront cost in return for a significant saving?

Or would you prefer to pay a smaller amount multiple times which will ultimately lead to you spending more money? Ultimately, which works out more feasible for you will depend on your own personal finances. 

What Impacts The Cost Of A Keg?

Finally, let’s take a look at some of the things that impact the cost of a keg.

As we said earlier, there are generally 3 things that will impact the cost of the keg – the size of the keg, the type of alcohol in the keg, and where you purchase your keg from. 

As we have said, kegs come in lots of sizes, and as you would expect, you will end up paying more money for a larger keg.

However, while the upfront cost is higher to purchase a large keg, they generally work out to be better value than smaller kegs of beer. So, if you have the space and drink enough to purchase a larger keg, this is a good idea. 

The type of alcohol that is in the keg will also have an influence on how much the keg will cost. You can get a couple of different types of beer in kegs, and cider too. So different brands of beer will cost different prices. 

Finally, where you purchase your keg from will influence how much the keg will cost.

As always, you will get better deals depending on where you purchase the beer from. So bear this in mind if you are considering purchasing kegs of beer. 

Summary

In short, a keg of beer will generally cost you anywhere between $100 and $200. Things such as the size of the keg, the beer stored inside it, and where you purchase the keg from will influence how much the keg costs. 

While there is a relatively high cost associated with purchasing a keg of beer, it generally works out cheaper and better than purchasing beer in bottles or cans. 

We hope this information has been helpful

Rees Vaughn
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