Storing empty kegs?

OK, so I opened an empty cornie that I haven't used for several months (it's my "road keg", I keep two others fully operational) and it had tiny black mold spots on the bottom.

Now, I thought this keg sufficiently clean and dry when I sealed it for storage. I suppose humidity in the air can be sealed in the keg, plus I was storing it in the garage over the humid summer.

How do I prevent this? I had some ideas, such as filling and pressurizing with Oxyclean, One-Step, or Star-San, but always came back to wondering if there was the possibility of long term danger to the steel.

If I don't seal the hatch, I am sure that insects will claim it as their home, as my garage is a spider/cricket battle zone right about now.

Thoughts?

I store mine upright with the lid just hanging loose inside.

I realize you can't do this with all the creatures, but if I had to seal it because of insects I would probably fill it to the top with plain old water.

Mold needs food to grow I clean them and then put a little sanitizer in swish it around and close em up. Never had any mold in kegs stored for months.

I clean mine, add a gallon or so of star san, seal the lid and store it under 30 psi of pressure.

I use them as cleaning kegs until needed. Then, I squirt out some star san to re-clean the dip tube, dump the rest of the star san and refill.

If it is clean, sanitized and pressurized, nothing evil will get in.

+1 on vanquishing evil. Clean, sanitize, purge out the air with CO2 and pressurize.

I don't purge them during storage. Anything in there will die when it settles in the Star-san and can't grow if there is nothing for them to eat.

Star San and compressed air.

Never had any mold.

OK, so StarSan will not damage stainless?

If that's the case I'll start filling all my kegs......nothing wrong with having pre-made SS to use...everytime you open up a keg it's there. :rockin:

Cpt_Kirks said:

I clean mine, add a gallon or so of star san, seal the lid and store it under 30 psi of pressure.

I use them as cleaning kegs until needed. Then, I squirt out some star san to re-clean the dip tube, dump the rest of the star san and refill.

If it is clean, sanitized and pressurized, nothing evil will get in.

Click to expand...

+1

This is what I do except I only use a couple ounces of starsan then swish.
When I go to fill one that has been stored, it's comforting to pull the pressure relief and know the seals are still in good shape.

homebrewer_99 said:

OK, so StarSan will not damage stainless?

If that's the case I'll start filling all my kegs......nothing wrong with having pre-made SS to use...everytime you open up a keg it's there. :rockin:

Click to expand...

I do think that is correct. Although I store mine cleaned sanitized and dried and under CO2 pressure (when I am ready to use if its still pressurized then I don't worry that it may have a leaky relief valve or post)

Never store Stainless with a chlorine based solution like Diversol.

Yep I keep a couple cups of star-san in my kegs, I've had no issues with it hurting the keg. I make sure to pressurize it and push down the poppits on each tube till star-san comes out, same with the pressure relief. (upside down for the pressure relief and gas in tubes)

doesnt starsan breakdown over time? Or is that only with O2?

It breaks down with tap water because of the minerals. I use distilled and its fine in the sprayer for a long time

After I've finished a keg and don't have time to clean it I keep it filled with CO2. Usually I'll have something brewed within a month and can refill it. But if you can keep the unused keg "topped off" with around 10psi of CO2 then it's fine until you can refill it. Keeping the cornie on CO2 will keep mold and other buggers out of the can.