Keg storage

I have been washing my kegs and then storing them pressurized with some air from an air compressor. I thought this would be the best way to store them to keep dust and dog hair out of them. Well I opened a couple of the up to sanitize them and keg some beer and they had a very definite musty smell to them. there must have been some water left inside them after I cleaned them. So this is obviously a bad way to store kegs. I am debating to just store them dry and un-pressurized, or to store them pressurized with some StarSan in them. But I thought I would see how everyone else stores their kegs first.

I store mine pressurized with CO2. After washing, I run sanitizer through them, transferring from one to the next using CO2, than just leave the pressure in them until next use.

+1 on the sanitizer and CO2!

The CO2 and StarSan definitely helps to keep the junk from growing/collecting in the keg, and by keeping it under pressure you're ensuring the seals don't dry out and go bad on you. Nothing worse then kegging up some beer and finding the keg won't hold pressure!

After cleaning I just dump as much water as I can out, then put a clean paper towel across the top. This allows air to circulate and the inside to dry (read: keeps mold from forming) and keeps dust and cat hair from getting inside.

Even if some does, I'm going to rinse and sanitize before using anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

-Joe

I store them with fermented malted barley/hops mixture untill they run out and quickly refill.

Clean, add sanitizer, pressurize. I like to run a bit of sanitizer through the diptube via pressure anyways. I store pressurized so I always have an empty, sanitized corny ready...

after I clean them,I let them set upsidedown for day or two. Then I stick it in the closet with the lid hanging in the keg so it can breath.

But I try not to let them stay empty. Its a hard job.

curtis97322 said:

Clean, add sanitizer, pressurize. I like to run a bit of sanitizer through the diptube via pressure anyways. I store pressurized so I always have an empty, sanitized corny ready...

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This ^^. I always have 2-3 kegs ready to go. I release pressure and know right away if there's a problem with the seals, give it a good shake, then drain any extra starsan and fill'er up.

Store with CO2 pressure. Any air from a compressor is going to have moisture in it, especially if you live in a humid corner of the world.

I store my kegs with the lid/cap on, unpressurized, and wet (inexpensive quat solution). I give them a quick rinse with a few ounces of starsan before filling.

Why a quat instead of starsan or iodophor? Because there is no risk of long term metal surface attack (starsan) or staining (iodophor).

JerD said:

Store with CO2 pressure. Any air from a compressor is going to have moisture in it, especially if you live in a humid corner of the world.

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Why would someone use an air compressor to pressurize the keg? Most lines have a bit of oil as well as the moisture. Not something anyone sane wants in their beer...

curtis97322 said:

Why would someone use an air compressor to pressurize the keg? Most lines have a bit of oil as well as the moisture. Not something anyone sane wants in their beer...

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If you must know...

Here are a couple of ways I use my twin-stack oil-less compressor w/ inline desiccant and sterile filter:

1. Transfer wort from keg to fermenter, aerating in the process. Very useful when participating in group brews.
2. Aerate chilled wort inline from kettle to fermenter.

I ferment exclusively in sanke kegs, so adding ~5PSI of top pressure increases the oxygen saturation level beyond the unpressurized maximum (~8PPM).