The Sanitizer Server
 

I had a keg I didn't want to use for beer, and a lid I wasn't going to use either, so now I use it to serve santizer!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...420_132456.jpg

I use a foot pump to pressurize the keg and a picnic faucet to spray (or rather pour) sanitizer where I want it.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...420_132439.jpg

Just thought I'd share, I'm sure there are similar systems already.

How long do you find a batch lasts when hermetically sealed in a keg like that?

If I use distilled or reverse osmosis water I would guess about 6 months. I have yet to test that theory though.

Note that I've heard Star San can muck up the stainless steel after a (long) while. I don't know the validity of that statement but have seen it floated around a number of times here when folks have stored Star San in a keg.

If it's no worry then cool deal, so long as it doesn't foam all to heck on you when you dispense! ;)

Hmm looks like I'll be running stainless trials then. After I empty this out I'll check for rust spots and any other signs of damage. As long as it doesn't rust inside I have no problems with it. Like I said, I'll never be drinking out of this keg anyway.

What's up with the Schrader valve in the lid? I've never seen one of those.

He said he had an air pump to pressurize. Since he's not using CO2, the gas-in isn't much use. He's probably using the Schrader to connect his pump.

Yeah, I was thinking it was like that before the sanitizer dispensing

Ya it's hard to see but if you look in the second picture you can see the bike pump hooked up to the lid valve. The gas in valve has been abandoned for now.

This piqued my curiosity. I keep a Cornie full of StarSan much of the time for sanitizing and purging my other kegs. I push the StarSan into the keg being sanitized, then push it back with CO2, so that the keg was purged of air and has only CO2 and a little StarSan in it. It happens that that keg is empty now, so I rinsed it and took a look inside. That keg has a satin appearance all the way up, without any evidence of the StarSan level. I looked at the other 3 kegs I have clean and empty right at hand, and one other had a satin appearance, while the other two had more of a mirror appearance. The StarSan keg is a Firestone Challenger VI, while the rest were actual Cornelius kegs. It feels smooth to the touch. I can't say that I see a convincing difference.

Incidentally, I have kept StarSan in that keg in the dark for about 3 years, changing it perhaps once a year. I have checked it's pH with pH paper, and it has stayed at 2. I had come to understand that at a pH of 3 or below, StarSan is still good to use, even if cloudy. Mine has stayed clear.