AIH Kegs

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
FWIW, I bought an 8 gal kettle w/ output valve from AIH a few months back. Received it quickly, and noticed this black/reddish residue. Customer service told me to soak it in PBW. I did, and the residue remained. I then switched it out for a new one (AIH customer service has always been pretty good). Once I got the second kettle in the mail, I noticed this one had the same residue in the same spots. After reading on here that BKF might do the trick, I tried that and it worked like a charm. You gotta scrub pretty hard but BKF cleaned it up very nicely for me. I was just surprised that AIH customer service didn't recommend BKF as well as PBW.
 
Got mine last night. They look really good. No discoloration or roughness on the welds.

The lid does appear to be chrome plated. I'd say that's the only slightly disappointing thing about these. The rubber seems sturdy but it is noticeably softer (although I wouldn't call it soft) than my used soda kegs.

I'd post pics but they'd be pretty much what you see above.
 
AIH's website says it's stainless steel.
Their photos say 304 Stainless Steel.
Their Q&A say
Q: Are the lids also made of stainless steel?
A: The lids are made of stainless steel as well.
Does a magnet stick to them?
 
Eisendrath said:
AIH's website says it's stainless steel.
Their photos say 304 Stainless Steel.
Their Q&A say
Q: Are the lids also made of stainless steel?
A: The lids are made of stainless steel as well.
Does a magnet stick to them?
Click to expand...

I'll check. The lids definitely have a shiney "plated" look to them that does not match the finish of the rest of the keg nor does it look like the lids from other kegs.
 
Yes, a magnet does stick to them but very weakly.

I suppose, for science, I could attempt to buff through the plating with a dremel.
 
In my limited experience with AIH, they have a hard time distinguishing stainless steel from chrome plating.
 
I have 3 AIH 5 gallon kegs and have had no issues with any of them. They all needed a thorough cleaning, but I assume that's normal.
 
Depending on how the stainless is machined and worked, even a typically non-magnetic alloy of stainless can become mildly magnetic.

You can do a similar check on your stainless fittings. On my 304 and 316 fittings, they are all slightly magnetic to strong neodymium magnets, even though raw stock of both of those are not magnetic.
 
I'm willing to accept that the lids are actually stainless, but they sure do have a shiney/polished appearance and I wonder why. They do not look like any of my other lids which all have a dull SS look to them. I'll take pics in a bit.

I'm really happy with the kegs. I need a few more in the near future and I will choose these over used kegs that cost almost as much. I think they've improved their manufacturing techniques and some of the early problems with rust and rough welds has been fixed...at least on the kegs I have.
 
Got two more AIH used corny kegs this week

Got 6 now.

These are the cleanest I've gotten.
No stickers and look great on the inside. No crud, new white lid o-ring and additional o-rings too as per the norm. Shiny lids. Seal no problem.

Really great service and a price I still can better anywhere else.
 
Gavin C said:
Got two more AIH used corny kegs this week

Got 6 now.

These are the cleanest I've gotten.
No stickers and look great on the inside. No crud, new white lid o-ring and additional o-rings too as per the norm. Shiny lids. Seal no problem.

Really great service and a price I still can better anywhere else.
Click to expand...

Additional O-rings?

Do I need to pull my boxes out of the recycling?
 
Gameface said:
Additional O-rings?

Do I need to pull my boxes out of the recycling?
Click to expand...

Every used keg from AIH comes with a free set of new o-rings.

The two I just got clearly have new o-rings (never seen the white ones before) on the lids and the set of new bagged o-rings usually come taped to the top of the keg.

If you check the website. The free o-rings are a nice kicker to sweeten an already good deal. I always switch out the old ones for the new. The have been pretty old and perished/dried out on a couple of the kegs.
 
Gavin C said:
Every used keg from AIH comes with a free set of new o-rings.

The two I just got clearly have new o-rings (never seen the white ones before) on the lids and the set of new bagged o-rings usually come taped to the top of the keg.

If you check the website. The free o-rings are a nice kicker to sweeten an already good deal. I always switch out the old ones for the new. The have been pretty old and perished/dried out on a couple of the kegs.
Click to expand...

I missed the part where you said used kegs. Looks like they don't provide a new set of O-rings on the new kegs, which makes sense.

The new kegs I got have the white (buna, I think) O-rings. They are softer than the black o-rings.
 
Gameface said:
I missed the part where you said used kegs. Looks like they don't provide a new set of O-rings on the new kegs, which makes sense.

The new kegs I got have the white (buna, I think) O-rings. They are softer than the black o-rings.
Click to expand...

My bad.

I just reread the OP. The thread is all about new AIH kegs. Sorry. I just saw AIH kegs in the recent post ticker and replied with my 2c.
 
Gavin C said:
My bad.

I just reread the OP. The thread is all about new AIH kegs. Sorry. I just saw AIH kegs in the recent post ticker and replied with my 2c.
Click to expand...

It's all good. You did specify that they were used kegs.

btw I think I like the new O-Rings. I wonder if they have less tendency to leak.
 
Should get 2 new ones from AIH on Friday i will update on quality.
 
I ordered 2 more, so I have 4 of these kegs now and I'm very happy with them. I hope to eventually have 8-10 of them and replace all of my used kegs.
 
After some PBW and starSan, I just filled my first two of these. One thing I noticed when purging them is that as I went from room pressure to 30 psi, back and forth, the in and out posts rocked outward and inward as the pressure cycled up and down. Never noticed that with the cornies. So I tried it with the cornie. The posts did not rock nearly as much. Although these chinese kegs are Stainless Steel, and visually of the same construction, I wonder if the stainless is thinner, or is missing a strengthening rib to stiffen them up. Maybe they become stiffer with age, just like us ;) One of mine has a small dent from my handling. My cornies are decades old, have scratches but no dents like this one. Maybe they are thinner. I still like them, but am worried about the long haul.
 
I have bought 6 kegs from AIH - all pin locks. 2 of the "better" used kegs and 4 loose handle, etc. All are great. All nice, US-made kegs. All but one were nice on the inside. One had corrosion on a weld that took a bit to remove. I can't imagine the new kegs are any where new the quality of construction of the original corny kegs.
 
Eisendrath said:
After some PBW and starSan, I just filled my first two of these. One thing I noticed when purging them is that as I went from room pressure to 30 psi, back and forth, the in and out posts rocked outward and inward as the pressure cycled up and down. Never noticed that with the cornies. So I tried it with the cornie. The posts did not rock nearly as much. Although these chinese kegs are Stainless Steel, and visually of the same construction, I wonder if the stainless is thinner, or is missing a strengthening rib to stiffen them up. Maybe they become stiffer with age, just like us ;) One of mine has a small dent from my handling. My cornies are decades old, have scratches but no dents like this one. Maybe they are thinner. I still like them, but am worried about the long haul.
Click to expand...

The new AIH kegs are almost definitely thinner. However the originals were build for abuse that our corny kegs wont ever see. In engineering speak the old soda cornies have excess safety margin for our loads.

So far I'm happy with my new AIH kegs.
 
MEPNew2Brew said:
I have bought 6 kegs from AIH - all pin locks. 2 of the "better" used kegs and 4 loose handle, etc. All are great. All nice, US-made kegs. All but one were nice on the inside. One had corrosion on a weld that took a bit to remove. I can't imagine the new kegs are any where new the quality of construction of the original corny kegs.
Click to expand...

Quality wise I think they are right in line with the used kegs. Are they as rugged? Probably not.
 
I just received a 3 gallon keg form them but haven't hooked it up yet. The keg was in pretty good shape but had a lot of syrup in it from its previous use. Anyone else have this happen to them.
 
smitty8202 said:
I just received a 3 gallon keg form them but haven't hooked it up yet. The keg was in pretty good shape but had a lot of syrup in it from its previous use. Anyone else have this happen to them.
Click to expand...

Yep. Every used keg I've gotten from them needed a little rinsing. All in good shape though!
 
Just bought another new 5 gallon from AIH. It arrived with a small dent thanks to UPS but looks great otherwise. I'll probably end up with a few more of these.
 
Got my 2nd AIH keg a few weeks ago. The mouth of this one definitely felt a little bit sharper than the last one I got. Otherwise construction, fit, and finish all seem great like the previous one. O-rings were all in good shape, movement of the poppets are all smooth and fluid. Applied some lube to the rings anyway though.
 
I just ordered my 4th and 5th AIH keg. I'm selling my used soda kegs and making up the bulk of the price of these new kegs. I've been very happy with them.
 
just a heads up, they are selling for $69 right now. A few bucks cheaper than normal.

I love 'em and have six right now with plans to get two more, hopefully while they're $69.
 

Similar threads

B
New Torpedo keg leaks
Replies
8
Views
645
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
GratefulBear
  • Poll
Corny Keg Showdown
Replies
34
Views
3K
OakIslandBrewery
OakIslandBrewery
P
Texas Torpedo Kegs (5 Gallon)
Replies
4
Views
719
jpb2716
J
RichBenn
Keg gaskets, sealing gaskets and leaks
Replies
28
Views
2K
mac_1103
mac_1103
HBT_Admin
  • Locked
Spring 2024 Corny Keg Giveaway
9 10 11
Replies
417
Views
9K
HBT_Admin
HBT_Admin
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top