MES 15 gallon drum question

[BAP]

Update on this thread. I picked up 3 15 gallons kegs at MES in Henniker, NH this morning. They are new kegs, not repurposed ones. They sell them for $125 a piece. Look great.
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[bill m]

I just picked up 10 of the CDL 15 gallon barrels. They are new, NOT refurbished beer kegs.

[maple flats]

At such a low cost I may sell some of my 26.5 gal barrels (SS) and buy some more 15 or 16 gal CDL or MES in the future. I don't like packing even 26.5 gal of one grade syrup at one time, but that's what I do now. I only own 4 SS 16 gal barrels (originally a NYSMPA special) and 1 CDL 15 gal I bought from another producer who had to cut way back on production because of health issues. All of the 26.5's are in like new conditio, they use 2" plastic bung plugs so never any buggered threads in the bung.
I now have 10 SS 26.5's with my old sugarhouse name etched on the top (Dave & Joan's Sugarhouse) and 4 I bought later with no etching. I have no idea how many I'd sell of the ones with the etched name, but I'd sell the 4 with no etching. When I decide, I'll get a picture and list them in the classifieds on this site. Even though the etched ones are worth more to me, I realize I'd need to sell them for a little less.
My issue with packing from a 26.5 gal barrel is compounded if I need to pack 2 grade a short time span. I store all packed syrup that is in jugs in 2 freezers I have at the sugarhouse and they aren't large enough to fit 50+ gal worth. The freezers are just 2 of the little coolers mom and pop stores used to use for selling ice cream novelties. They are mini freezers and my sugarhouse is too small to fit 2 full size freezers.

[BAP]

I just picked up 10 of the CDL 15 gallon barrels. They are new, NOT refurbished beer kegs.

I bought MES barrels because the CDL company store told me that theirs were not new drums but rebuilt beer kegs.

[VT_K9]

We had one of the older CDL 15 gallon barrels at $165. Then we picked up 3 of their 40 gallon barrels at $185 or so. THe 40 gallon barrels are a little big for our size and we use them for bulk packing to Bascom. We just bought 10 of the new CDL 15 gallons barrels. The seem like they are well constructed. We should be able to fill one each boil. We'll see how it goes. If we get some darker grades we'll likely repack into the 40 gallon barrels.

Mike

[bill m]

I bought MES barrels because the CDL company store told me that theirs were not new drums but rebuilt beer kegs.

Not sure why they said that but you are welcome to come down and look at mine. They are brand new, never used, not refurbished.

[BAP]

Not sure why they said that but you are welcome to come down and look at mine. They are brand new, never used, not refurbished.

I really don’t care at this point, I am just passing along what I was told by the store manager at one of the CDL company stores.