"polishing your keg" is more than a clever euphemism

You could try pickling it with pickling paste. I heard that removes surface iron from SS, but don't quote me on that. I haven't had time to research it, just throwing it out there. I have one weld in a keggle that the guy used a wire brush to polish up the weld a little and my cleaning regiment helps keep it rust free, but I have to keep an eye on it between uses. Can't believe a dairy welder would use a brush that wasn't SS safe. I think that guy had it in for me. I really don't know about your situation though, maybe a couple of scrubbings with BKF Bar Keepers Friend would work to remove the rust and passivate (I think that is the word) the SS again.

Edit: Dang Sparky, you were too fast for me to promote the BKF, lol. That stuff is amazing for the inside of the kettle every now and then.

Bobby_M said:

Before and After, or I guess it's after and before..

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Very nice!

wortmonger said:

You could try pickling it with pickling paste. I heard that removes surface iron from SS, but don't quote me on that. I haven't had time to research it, just throwing it out there. I have one weld in a keggle that the guy used a wire brush to polish up the weld a little and my cleaning regiment helps keep it rust free, but I have to keep an eye on it between uses. Can't believe a dairy welder would use a brush that wasn't SS safe. I think that guy had it in for me. I really don't know about your situation though, maybe a couple of scrubbings with BKF Bar Keepers Friend would work to remove the rust and passivate (I think that is the word) the SS again.

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Ill give Bar Keepers Friend a shot first since i have that on hand.

I works really well at removing everything else from SS.

Could i just further sand it to mirror shine with regular sand paper and alleviate any issues?

I do expect a polished keg to clean up a little faster/easier. The polishing did take off the heat discoloration on the bottom skirt, but I'm sure it will come back.

Bobby_M said:

The polishing did take off the heat discoloration on the bottom skirt, but I'm sure it will come back.

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Yeah, you can see it on mine in the picture in the first page of the thread. That was taken during the first boil after it was polished, so it comes back pretty quick.

Dang that is impressive. I'd like to see pics if anyone does this to a corny.

Shiny! Looks great Bobby, but I don't think I'd care enough to do that much work.

Especially on an AB keg.

Well the fact that it's an AB keg doesn't make it shine any less, that's for sure. It actually makes the BBQ paint on the stand look really bad though. I should have gone with a gloss engine paint instead. I wonder if I could just go over it. It's a pretty flat finish so I think it would act as a decent primer.

Regarding polishing cornies like this, I would guess that you could do two cornies on a single pad. Most of the destruction of the pads occurs when you hit the ridges in the sanke. A corny is so flat, you could knock one off in about 10 minutes of work.

I have a kettle and the top skirt part on two tuns to shine like this . Oh, and I don't care if the scorch comes back because that would still look so much better scorched than it does right now. I am so glad you did this thread, but I don't have an angle grinder. I need to go buy one for flipping houses, but can't afford it right this second with the house selling and everything being tied up. Any other suggestions?

Bobby_M said:

Then I hand waxed it with carnuba cleaner/wax.

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There is a dirty joke in here somewhere, but I won't say anything about your handjob.

On a serious note, I wonder if the heat/flame will scorch or discolor the wax on the kegs? Have you used the waxed keg on your burner yet?

I don't know of any other tool that would do this job. They do sell cheaper ($20) polishing machines but nothing near the 15,000 rpm of a grinder. If you have a random orbital sander, you could go that route using progressively finer grit.

I don't know how the wax is going to hold up under heat. I haven't used it yet.

wortmonger said:

I have a kettle and the top skirt part on two tuns to shine like this . Oh, and I don't care if the scorch comes back because that would still look so much better scorched than it does right now. I am so glad you did this thread, but I don't have an angle grinder. I need to go buy one for flipping houses, but can't afford it right this second with the house selling and everything being tied up. Any other suggestions?

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do you have a harbor freight nearby? they often have their cheap angle grinder on sale for $10...or you can splurge for the one with needle bearings for $15

Nope, no harbor freight nearby. I think we have an disc sander that is compressor driven. I may see if I can find a compressor to borrow to use it. Ours gave up the ghost long ago.

I'll definitely have to break out my angle grinder when I have a little free time. Thanks for the info!

Woooooohoo, them are pretty kegs!!! I am doing this to mine for sure, once I get it. Thanks for the info, Bobby!

FWIW, since im sure a bunch of people are going to get kegenvy after reading...

"Technically", you don't need to start applying with anything under about 1000grit.
If you spray the work area with WD40, then start working it with the 1000 grit, then follow that will some jewelers rouge, you'll get a bling bling keg fo' sho'.
The only time you'd really need to drop to a rougher grit would be if your keg was scratched or gouged.

I do alot of aluminum polishing with automotive parts (intakes, valve covers, turbos, etc etc) and a keg would be a nice change.. Nice smooth surface, no major cuts or harsh bends, no "orange peel" like surfaces...

That's a good point but I think most kegs we get our hands on are pretty sorry looking. If you look at the first post, the keg with the orange paint on it is about as clean as it's going to get. I'm going to hit the whole thing with the "fine" finishing pads only instead of backing out to the rough sandpaper. I think there's quite a difference between cast aluminum and stainless too. I know 100-220 grit would put a serious hurtin on aluminum. The stainless laughs it off. In any case, it doesn't hurt to experiment with the finer grits first. If it's slow going, back out a few grades.

Yeah, I bought a SABCO kettle and it was/is pretty dinged up. Honestly, I thought it was going to look better than it did. At least now it will shine

Bobby_M said:

That's a good point but I think most kegs we get our hands on are pretty sorry looking. If you look at the first post, the keg with the orange paint on it is about as clean as it's going to get. I'm going to hit the whole thing with the "fine" finishing pads only instead of backing out to the rough sandpaper. I think there's quite a difference between cast aluminum and stainless too. I know 100-220 grit would put a serious hurtin on aluminum. The stainless laughs it off. In any case, it doesn't hurt to experiment with the finer grits first. If it's slow going, back out a few grades.

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yeah, i started mine with a 120 grit flap wheel....really felt like i was using a high grit sandpaper on it

well...the madness has begun on mine too.......SWMBO said she wasn't surprised that the kegs I had weren't perfect enough!

If all of you guys want a easy way to do this, then check into greasless compounds. You can select your grits all the way up to 800. You just load up your buffing wheel, and dry it with a hairdryer, and then hit up your keg. You will get a much better surface ready for final polishing this way in 1/2 the time. Follow this up with some white rouge, and your gonna have mirror keg.


I think starting with 120 grit will make more work for you, and more scratches.

It would be really easy on a keg because there are no hard spots to get into really

I have polished a few auto parts out before, so this is where I learned all of this.

G-E-R-M-A-N said:

You just load up your buffing wheel, and dry it with a hairdryer, and then hit up your keg.

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Sorry, could you explain that in a little more detail? I don't understand the process, but really want to do this. Sorry I'm daft.

I clarify in the first post that 100grit is way too coarse for most kegs I've seen. I'm convinced that the "fine" gatorgrit finishing pad is a great place to start and it doesn't take long at all to get a nice even finish ready for polishing.

Couldnt I do this to my cornies too? MMMM, NICE

Yeah you can but I hardly ever see mine.

Lil' Sparky said:

If I do this I'll end up with "pretty" kegs. I don't know if I can have that.

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I know that I can't have that.

You need to make a "story stick" for your water level. No need to keep it written on your kegs!

Yeah but then he'd have to start slappin hoes to maintain his street cred. Tagging is easier.

BM, I continue to be amazed by your ugly junk. Did you spray that thing with adhesive, or just rummage through a stack of kegs to find one with bumper stickers all over it? well done....

I'd love to do that to my keggles but I think you'd see all the dents even more in my brew kettle. Do believe mine fell of the budweiser truck at about 80 mph going down I-10.



but I'm wondering how that gator grit would work with calcium build-up on my tiles of my pool with the angle grinder. Hmmm...

Boerderij Kabouter said:

BM, I continue to be amazed by your ugly junk. Did you spray that thing with adhesive, or just rummage through a stack of kegs to find one with bumper stickers all over it? well done....

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It was clean when I found it...but rolling it home 3 1/2 miles probably wasn't a good idea.

Bobby_M said:

A plain steel wirebrush embeds particals in the stainless that will rust forever..

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+1 on this. keep anything that's been in contact with plain steel away from stainless, or your stainless will start rusting from the plain steel particles. This is true too if you use steel tools (like a steel wire brush).

Bobby_M said:

Yeah but then he'd have to start slappin hoes to maintain his street cred. Tagging is easier.

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OMG that is about the funniest thing I have heard/read in ages.

OOPS Bobby made be pee a little!

DesertBrew said:

I'm wondering how that gator grit would work with calcium build-up on my tiles of my pool with the angle grinder. Hmmm...

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I know you weren't really serious but I thought I'd share. I once sanded the paint off an entire Motel Swimming pool (9 foot deep end) by myself with a 5 inch disc sander... Took my three days and left work each day looking like a smurf from the blue paint dust... Wouldn't recommend it...

Where can I get this #2 and #6 polishing compound that's being used?

And I just rub some on the polishing pad?

It's in Lowes' tool section near the buffing/grinding pads. You spin up the grinder and touch the compound stick to the pad.

You all have tooooooooooooo much time on your hands if you take the time to polish the kegs. I understand a car, but cooking utensils need to be clean, not pretty.
I guess 25 years as a baker has jaded my view.

niquejim said:

I understand a car, but cooking utensils need to be clean, not pretty.

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Yeah but when was the last time your car made beer for you???

I don't HAVE time to spend on my showpiece brewery, I MAKE it. That's what this obsession is all about. Smells like sour grapes around here

What do you guys think about the abrasive ball sort of things from harbor freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96945

I think this could work well for cleaning up a keg if you don't have an angle grinder. It might work even better because of the irregularities of a keg side.