Corny kegs - how long can they sit before you clean out an empty keg?

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madcapstudios

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I'm somewhat new to kegging (ball lock cornies) and haven't really run into this yet.

When I finish a keg, it's usually no big deal to drain the pressure, open it up and give it a quick rinse. I do a thorough cleaning just prior to refilling.

Here's the sitch. I'm out of town for a few days and I've got a keg that has been emptied but it's still pressurized and slowly coming up to room temperature. Things happen when you're trying to get out of the house and I just didn't have time to clean it out properly.

How hard is it going to be to clean this thing when I get back? Will all the gunk inside harden up in a CO2 environment or am I looking at an easy rinse out?
 
Can't say what an "easy" rinse-out is, but all you need to do is give that thing a good soak in hot oxyclean and you'll be fine.

I let them sit for months sometime with beer residue in them. Some get harder to clean than others, but I always oxyclean them regardless of how long they sit. Never had one be uncleanable.
 
3 or 4 of my kegs still had Pepsi in them. Based on the date on the co2 tank that came with it the Pepsi was over 13 years old.

They cleaned up fine.
 
I don't have oxy handy, so I stick with 'rinsing them now saves me work later'. Soak in oxy you should be just fine!
 
No worries. I can let mine site for as long as a week and never have any more trouble than when they're freshly emptied.

As long as they're sealed and under CO2 pressure, nothing is going to happen.
 
ever see the picture of the maggots in Jamils kegs? Now I think they sat too long. But really pepsi has been in them forever and a day before we get them. Oxi works like a champ
 
I'm guessing Jamil de-pressurized his...I can't imagine anything getting into pressurized kegs. I usually let mine sit under pressure until I'm ready to use them again. No point cleaning twice.
 
The batch I bought had a bunch of kegs that I swear had soda syrup that was YEARS old in them... A good soak in hot water and Oxyclean for a day or so cleaned them right out...
 
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