Keg Tracking Basics: Barcodes, Tags and Locations

Software doesn't know where a keg is. It knows where the last scan said it was. That's the honest version, and it's why labelling matters more than the program.

Giving each keg an identity

Each keg needs its own code if you want to know where that one keg is. The code usually sits on a barcode or tag fixed to the keg. One maker's help guide says "To print barcode labels for your containers, you can print them all in one go".¹

Wikipedia says "Nowadays a keg is normally constructed of stainless steel".² A tag has to cope with that surface, plus cold and damp. Ask your tag supplier what holds up.

Keg sizes vary too. Wikipedia notes that "Since keg sizes are not standardized, the keg cannot be used as a standard unit of measure for liquid volume".² So record each keg's size, not just that it's a keg.

What a scan changes

A scan ties the keg to a place or a person. The maker's guide says "you can scan your casks and kegs at every stage of Breww to ensure mistakes are kept to a minimum".¹

A scan can also be refused. The guide says "you get instant feedback as to whether the container was accepted or was rejected".¹

From those scans the program can show where kegs are. The guide describes a list that "will show you a list of all casks and kegs in trade, as well as which customer currently holds them".¹

Full, empty or at a customer

"Full" and "empty" aren't things the program measures. They're statuses set by an action: filling a keg, sending it, taking it back. If a returned keg isn't scanned, it keeps showing as with the customer.

That's the weak point of every scan-based system. The record is only as current as the last scan. Some breweries scan on the way out and on the way back, and nowhere between.

Time away

Programs can also show how long a keg has been out. The same guide says "You can see at a glance where your containers are, how long customers have had them".¹ What you do about a keg that has been out too long is up to you.

Who scans, and when

Tracking fails at the handoffs. A keg leaves on a truck, a driver drops it, and someone has to scan it. Scanning has to become a daily routine.

Write down who does it. If it's "whoever's nearest", it won't happen reliably. A short, fixed routine works better than a long one that people skip.

Before you pick

• Does it support the tags you already have?
• How does a returned keg get scanned in?
• Does it handle casks as well as kegs?
• Can staff scan from a phone, or only at a desk?

Read the maker's own documentation for the answers. See also packaging runs, where kegs get their batch.