European Kegs... Good for keggles?

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?

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.

Ranger9913 said:

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.

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

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.

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

oh no, not the magnet test debate again

crypt0 said:

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

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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.

RegionalChaos said:

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

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

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

angle grinder with metal blades the skinny ones. Use the guard of the angle grinder and the rim of the keg. This can be easily done in 5 mins and leave a near perfect cut.

onejdn said:

oh no, not the magnet test debate again

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Not as bad as the "Is it legal?" debate!

You can get a keg for free. Just sneak around the back of a bar, kill any witnesses (Crack whores are difficult to kill, so take a knife) And take away anything that you think you can use. Remember to wipe for prints.

Yes, mods, I am being facetious.