Hi

Has anybody in the UK had trouble with Hambleton Bard Beerspheres??

Last year, one of mine split and started leaking just where the shell
bends in on each side to form a concave "moulded in" handle - it
completely ruined the carpet in our spare room which didn't exactly
please the wife but more importantly, I lost around 2 gallons of a
superb brew!!!

Hambleton Bard replaced the shell (claiming I must have abused it as
they have never seen this happen before) but the replacement shell has
just done the very same thing i.e. split in exactly the same place
(Luckily I caught it just in time avoiding ruining the replacement
carpet - but more importantly I only lost a pint or two).

I intend sending the shell back with a complaint, as there would seem
to be a possible design fault - it looks to me as though being a
fairly sharp radius, this concave moulding is a weak point (2 out of
my 3 fairly new Beerspheres have now burst). However, before
returning it, I would be interested to hear if anybody else has ever
had this problem.

Also, as I have completely lost confidence in Beerspheres, can anyone
recommend an alternative (I don't want to go down the Cornelius keg
route)? Are King Kegs reliable and do they have any concave mouldings
in the shell similar to the HB beersphere, which may indicate a
potential future stress fracture point?

Regards

KGB