Corny that won't come clean

I bought 6 used Cornys, and they were all quite dirty, but hot water, PBW & a stiff brush took care of 5 of them.
However, the last one just won't come clean. I've done 3 hot PBW soaks so far to no avail. It's a ring of brown crud at the bottom of the corny, and my arms are too fat to be able to use a scrub pad directly on the crud.

Anyone have some heavy duty cleaning tricks?

Thanks!

gxm said:

Anyone have some heavy duty cleaning tricks?

Thanks!

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Find a skinny armer!

FreakinA said:

Find a skinny armer!

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Got a broom? Good, now turn it upside down, insert into corny. Scrub away!

Anytime I buy cornies, I first soak them in phosphoric acid for 24 hours. After a good rinse, I soak them in lye for another 24 hours. Not much survives the soak.

You probably got a keg that was used for root beer. They can be a PITA to clean. I use Mcd Sanitizer. You can't buy it but you can get it from someone who works at McDonald's. Just be careful what you use as some cleaners corrode stainless steel.

BrewPubRon said:

You probably got a keg that was used for root beer. They can be a PITA to clean. I use Mcd Sanitizer. You can't buy it but you can get it from someone who works at McDonald's. Just be careful what you use as some cleaners corrode stainless steel.

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Yeah, no bleach or anything with bleach in it.

Is PBW like industrial strength oxyclean?

buy a new toilet brush, and use it just for the cornies.

wild said:

Anytime I buy cornies, I first soak them in phosphoric acid for 24 hours. After a good rinse, I soak them in lye for another 24 hours. Not much survives the soak.

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Thanks wild. Where do you get phosphoric acid?

Isnt star-san just diluted phosphoric acid.... or is there other stuff in there too?

I had the same problem with a couple of my kegs that had rootbeer in them. I filled them with about a gallon of boiling water and dumped a soop of Oxyclean Free (the oderless scentless type). I let them sit overnight and the rings where gone the next day.

gxm said:

Thanks wild. Where do you get phosphoric acid?

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Home Depot, Lowes, or any hardware/pool supply store.

dataz722 said:

Isn't star-San just diluted phosphoric acid.... or is there other stuff in there too?

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Yep, Five Star Chemicals' Star-San is food grade phosphoric acid and a soap called DDBSA that is used in things like toothpaste. Here's a summary of a podcast I listened to a while back. Hope that is interesting to you guys.:rockin:

gxm said:

Thanks wild. Where do you get phosphoric acid?

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Feed Stores as soil amendment or chemical supply stores.

uglygoat said:

buy a new toilet brush, and use it just for the cornies.

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Yup. Also makes a good tool to use to grip a green scrubby on the bottom of the keg.

MSUConrad said:

I had the same problem with a couple of my kegs that had rootbeer in them. I filled them with about a gallon of boiling water and dumped a soop of Oxyclean Free (the oderless scentless type). I let them sit overnight and the rings where gone the next day.

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Thanks MSUConrad. 2 cycles of boiling water with PBW & my long scrub brush finally got rid of the gunk.
Just in time, because I have an amber ale that needs a keg