Thieves tap kegs for scrap, not beer

UNDATED -- Beer kegs are becoming a prime target for thieves, but it's not the brew the crooks are after.

The stainless steel kegs can fetch $30 or $35 as scrap metal, but they cost a brewery $150 to replace.

The industry estimated that 300,000 kegs disappear each year. That's a $50 million loss that is paid for by increases in the price of your glass of beer.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, some beer distributors are putting GPS units in their kegs to help keep track of the valuable containers.

At the St. Arnold Brewery in northwest Houston, Texas, there are about 5,000 steel kegs stacked in the warehouse. The brewery's Brock Wagner said he'd have more, but about five percent never come back due to metal theft.

That number could rise as steel prices go up.
    
“Suddenly, it created this giant bull's-eye on kegs for people going, ‘Ohh, I can make some money by taking these over to scrap yards,'” said Wagner.

That is if the scrap metal recyclers will take them.

“It's not worth the aggravation if they are stolen,” said Dennis Laviage, the owner of C&D Scrap Metal. “I'm not surprised anymore with any metal.”

“So people are probably taking these kegs, selling them to scrap yards. (They are) being melted down to stainless steel the keg manufacturer is buying back to make more kegs,” said Wagner. “It's a vicious cycle.”