crypt0

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So I found a guy offloading a Guiness keg in my area and hes willing to part with it for $20. He warned me that it's a european keg and he mentioned it was aluminum (not stainless).

I haven't gone over to check it out yet, but does anyone know if these kegs are suitable for keggle conversions?

Ranger9913

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I have a Guinness keg I use for my MLT, I sure hope it's not aluminum. I have used it with 100,000 btu jet burners and so far so good.

wildwest450

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Why worry? A lot of people use aluminum pots for brewing, me included. No problems.

Ranger9913

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Well I made the mistake early on using PBW on an aluminum pot and it showed signs of discoloration and surface pitting. My Guinness keg comes sparkling clean every time.

crypt0

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Easy way to check if its stainless or aluminum - try sticking a magnet to it. If it sticks its stainless.

onejdn

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oh no, not the magnet test debate again

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RegionalChaos

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No real debate to be had. Not all alloys of stainless are magnetic, so this won't work 100% of the time. But if it is magnetic then you know it isn't aluminum.

edit: To tell the difference, I would try to scratch the outside of it. Aluminum is a lot softer then stainless.

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How I brew: Stir plate starters, Extract, Full boil in a Keggle, 10 gallon batches.
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Planned House Ales: an Amber, an IPA, a dark IPA, a Mango Ale, a blueberry oatmeal stout, a dry Irish stout, a honey wheat, Apfelwien

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diatonic

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An easier test might be to weigh it. I think empty stainless kegs weigh about 30 lbs. Aluminum would be significantly lighter.

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Wing Nut

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If it is a Guinness keg there will be a stamp on the top, it will tell you if it is Al or stainless steel. My HLT is a Guinness keg, it would seem they hold the same volume as a north american keg but they are a little shorter. I would hazzard a geuss that it is stainless. I find the best test is the shower of sparks test. If you hit it with a grinder the stainless will give redish orange sparks. Aluminum will not. I will doubble check for that stamp tonight. Here is a link to spark testing. I use an angle grider to do this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_testing

crypt0

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So i finally got ahold of the guy and turns out it is a stainless steel 50L keg, which should be more then big enough for doing some 10 gallon batches of beer. I'm picking the keg up tonight!

Next step: Figuring out how to cut the top off