Hit the MOTHERLOAD of soda kegs! I have ZERO expierience.

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jay29

jay29

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I was on the job and had to do an inspection of this business. It used to be a bar a few years ago. Well, I went down into the basement and the owner told me not to worry about the garbage downstairs because he stated he will be throwing it all away. I looked about and saw NINE soda kegs lying around! Holy hell ran across my brainwaves!:ban: I asked him if he was going to get rid of the kegs. He said yep. :rockin: The company has not come around to get them at all. I told him I will take them off his hands. He was very happy with one less thing to worry about. Today, I went and picked them up and they were FILTHY. Three of them were still full and pressurized! I figured out how to relieve the pressure by the pull pin. I believe these are all Pepsi kegs but I am not sure. How do I know? I scrubbed the outside and hosed out the inside. Minor rust on the outside. Tiny bit here and there. The insides are IMMACULATE. This is as far as I have gotten. I need some advice on what to do next. I want to use them for home brewing of course. Should I take off the two knobs and give the inside and all the part a THROUGH cleaning out with bleach and soap? I know I have to use food grade lube for the O rings.

What other parts do I need so I can use a tap right on the keg? I have read I need to pressurize the keg when I put in my beer to help seal it. How do I do it?

I need to be taken by the hand on how to use these things so I don't RUIN a batch of great home brew. Please help me out!
 
Ó Flannagáin said:
Figure out if they are pin or ball kegs.
Click to expand...

Ummm....How do I do that? I did see the word Firestone on a couple of them.
 
Pin locks have two pins on one post and three on the other. Ball lock kegs have no pins.
 
Jay
Where upstate NY are you. I'm just south of Albany. Be glad to help you ID the kegs. If it hasn't been said,replace all the rbber on them.
 
Replace all the o-rings. They've likely taken on the flavour of the soda and they might be hardened or torn. It's worth a few extra dollars to do it. You can order them from most online homebrew shops. At the same time you should order some sanitizer like iodophor or Star-san. Give everything a thorough cleaning and new rings.
 
NEVER NEVER NEVER !!!! use BLEACH!

REPEAT - DO NOT USE BLEACH!!!

Kilroy
 
kilroy said:
NEVER NEVER NEVER !!!! use BLEACH!

REPEAT - DO NOT USE BLEACH!!!

Kilroy
Click to expand...

Oh NO! I used bleach and didn't know! Are they all ruined? :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Yup, they're finished. Send them to me and I'll make sure they get a proper burial.


Just kidding. They'll be fine but make sure you rinse them really well and replace the o-rings. Get some proper sanitizer before you use them. If you use bleach in the wrong concentrations it can negatively affect your brew. The more common products are more forgiving.
 
jay29 said:
On NO! I used bleach and didn't know! Are they all ruined? :eek: :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...
No, just rinse them really well. Bleach and stainless don't get along well together. As long as it was a weak solution and you rinse thoroughly, you should be ok.

Use OxyClean or something similar next time.
 
Fingers said:
Yup, they're finished. Send them to me and I'll make sure they get a proper burial.


Just kidding. They'll be fine but make sure you rinse them really well and replace the o-rings. Get some proper sanitizer before you use them. If you use bleach in the wrong concentrations it can negatively affect your brew. The more common products are more forgiving.
Click to expand...


Thanks! I can stop having my heart attack now. I always rinse good. I just used the bleach for the initial cleaning. They were covered in all kinds of filth, some looked like they had rat crap on them and such. I had to give the germs a good blast from the start. I will use the right stuff from now on. ;)
 
Yuri_Rage said:
No, just rinse them really well. Bleach and stainless don't get along well together. As long as it was a weak solution and you rinse thoroughly, you should be ok.

Use OxyClean or something similar next time.
Click to expand...

Oxyclean is sold with the laundry detergents right? I have never used it.
 
Well, just don't use bleach if you're going to let it sit in the keg for more than a day or two. It will pit the stainless given enough time. Also, make sure you rinse it well.
 
jay29 said:
Oxyclean is sold with the laundry detergents right? I have never used it.
Click to expand...

Yes. You can get it at Wal-Mart or most any supermarket or hardware store. It works great.

Bleach is corrosive to stainless steel. Don't use it.
 
Bleach is corrosive to stainless steel. Don't use it.
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of bleach for food equipment, but IMHO the rumors of bleaches damage to stainless are greatly exaggerated. I owned a pressure washing company for years, and we used gallons of 12.5% bleach (2-3x store bought conc.) daily. Our surface cleaners were stainless and the SS suffered no damage despite continuous exposure at temps as high as 220*.

One note: If your equipment has filth in bulk (like rat crap), you're going to need an organic oxidizer that's stronger than oxcylean and/or StarSan. In that case, break out the bleach and the scrub brush.
 
jay29 said:
I was on the job and had to do an inspection of this business. It used to be a bar a few years ago. Well, I went down into the basement and the owner told me not to worry about the garbage downstairs because he stated he will be throwing it all away. I looked about and saw NINE soda kegs lying around! Holy hell ran across my brainwaves!:ban: I asked him if he was going to get rid of the kegs. He said yep. :rockin: The company has not come around to get them at all. I told him I will take them off his hands. He was very happy with one less thing to worry about. Today, I went and picked them up and they were FILTHY. Three of them were still full and pressurized! I figured out how to relieve the pressure by the pull pin. I believe these are all Pepsi kegs but I am not sure. How do I know? I scrubbed the outside and hosed out the inside. Minor rust on the outside. Tiny bit here and there. The insides are IMMACULATE. This is as far as I have gotten. I need some advice on what to do next. I want to use them for home brewing of course. Should I take off the two knobs and give the inside and all the part a THROUGH cleaning out with bleach and soap? I know I have to use food grade lube for the O rings.

What other parts do I need so I can use a tap right on the keg? I have read I need to pressurize the keg when I put in my beer to help seal it. How do I do it?

I need to be taken by the hand on how to use these things so I don't RUIN a batch of great home brew. Please help me out!
Click to expand...
I'd say that you really have no choice but to share them amongst your fellow HB forum posters.
 
pldoolittle said:
One note: If your equipment has filth in bulk (like rat crap), you're going to need an organic oxidizer that's stronger than oxcylean and/or StarSan. In that case, break out the bleach and the scrub brush.
Click to expand...

I used a HEALTHY SPLASH of bleach to clean 'em out mixed with about 4 gallons of warm water. I rinsed right away after I was done scrubbing. The bleach did not sit on the kegs.
 
Something else that works great on stainless is Bar Keepers Friend and a Scotchbrite pad. You can get all sorts of crud off with that. Wear gloves though! That stuff can really dry out your skin. I cleaned five kegs with it and had lizardskin hands for a week.
 
jay29 said:
...I looked about and saw NINE soda kegs lying around! Holy hell ran across my brainwaves...the company has not come around to get them at all...I believe these are all Pepsi kegs but I am not sure.
Click to expand...

My brother works for Pepsi, now I'm going to have to report you!!! *sidelong glance at my kegs* Actually I'll be nice and let it pass this time! :tank:

Pepsi is going to bag in box dispensers, so the corny kegs are being completely phased out. I'm sure they'll be collectibles in a few years. :(
 
Replace your rubber from http://www.mcmaster.com/ . I've had great time with them, they got everything and shipping is stOOpid fast!

Here's some links to parts numbers for rubber parts... Green board .... NorhernBrewer

Now these are kinda old, from '03 and '05. Just punch in part numbers at mcmaster carr site and they'll pop up.

Nice score! WTG!
 

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