Desperate plea for Keggle help! (Rust??)

Ok, I shot a video of this last night, so if you watch the video you can see a good example of what I am talking about. Start watching at about 2:20 to about 3:00 if you do not want to hear me babble.

I have a SS keg that I have cut open, installed a sight glass and spigot. Once I cleaned up the inside I saw what appeared to be dirt/rust. It does not appear to be pitted as the material in question seems to be above the surface.

I do not know how to get rid of it and I am coming here for suggestions. I have tried Bar keepers friend, and it is still there. I have purchased Phosphoric Acid, but want to inquire here before I go and do something stupid.

Can anyone provide some step-by-step help in this matter? Also if I am able to get it off, is there a way to "cure" it again so it doesn't happen again or at least the metal is protected again?

Thank you in advance, the video link is below:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9KorWR6-_c"]Click Here to Watch the Video[/ame]

Gee, I dunno. You said "it has texture to it" so that seems like it's not pitting. Doesn't look like beer stone to me.

I had some horrible scorching on the bottom of my keggle and nothing we tried worked to remove the scorches. The only thing that worked? Sand paper.

But if you go that route, make sure to keep the SS dry for a few days so the SS can form an oxidation layer again. Else it might start to rust on you.

Can't see your video, so sorry if this doesn't help at all. But judging from the first reply it seems like a scorching?

I had some wicked scorching on the inside of my kettle. I tried BKF, Oxiclean, nothing worked. What worked was boiling vinegar for about ten minutes. 90% of it scrubed right off with ease. Then I made a BKF paste and let it soak for a few minutes, the rest came off. Boiling vinegar in my SS pot was magic.

How did you cut the top from the kettle? Angle grinder? Welder?

Was this there from day 1 or did it show up later?

I'm wondering if it might be leftover residue from the cutting/welding process.

Seven said:

How did you cut the top from the kettle? Angle grinder? Welder?

Was this there from day 1 or did it show up later?

I'm wondering if it might be leftover residue from the cutting/welding process.

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Thanks for the replies everyone, perhaps this may help.

The top was cut off with an angle grinder and the keg was pre-filled half way with water before cutting began. The keg was just purchased from a brewery and was dirty inside. To my knowledge it has never been exposed to a flame as this was a decommissioned keg, which still had a little beer in the bottom when I received it.

Does that help shed some light?

I'm gonna guess, without seeing the video, that it's beer stone.

Solutions detailed here: BT - The Care and Feeding of Stainless Steel

Beer stone gets created from multiple use + aging of beer inside the keg. This is the exact reason why breweries (and keg companies) will cut open a keg after a certain number of years, clean it, and re-weld it back together. Hence the seam on the center of the keg. All of my kegs have that seam.

M_C

It's beerstone, a decently strong acid soak will get it off. FWIW, you won't notice a difference in your beers if you don't clean it off.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond and at least look at the thread. I feel a little bit better now.

Think when I get home I will chill my Beer Mail and start a Phosphoric Acid bath in the bottom of the keg for a few minutes. Will report back if it goes haywire!

Hockyplr said:

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond and at least look at the thread. I feel a little bit better now.

Think when I get home I will chill my Beer Mail and start a Phosphoric Acid bath in the bottom of the keg for a few minutes. Will report back if it goes haywire!

Click to expand...

You'll want to leave it soak for a few hours at least, if not overnight. That old beerstone is really tough stuff!

Well the fricken nerve of people who forget my name.

Yeah, beerstone. I've taken care of smaller spots of it, like just filling the lower dish of a freshly cut keg by mixing starsan 1:1. I don't think you want to go that nuts for a whole keg.

Word of warning, I don't know how a very strong acid might affect polycarbonate. You might want to temporarily remove the sight kit and pop a rubber stopper in the hole for the "acid bath of doom".