How to Remove galvanized coating from kegs.

I'm starting my keggle project and was wondering how everyone goes about removing the galvanization off their kegs.

At first thought it seemed like a huge chore to sand it down. Then I read something about using white vinegar, and then another thing about using muriatic acid. Which is the easiest, which is safer, which is better? any help would be great as I have never done something of this sort.

Thanks In advance.

If your kegs are galvanized, take them back. Zinc, heat, and beer don't mix. and there is no reason a keg should be galvanized.

You can polish off the "Oxide layer" but, it's actually there to passivate the steel. It's what help keep the stainless in the steel.

What are you trying to accomplish?

well i was hoping to make some brew pots out of the kegs and slowly work my way to full boils and then all grain. I picked up 3 10gallon kegs to use for this.

The outer metal appears to be galvanized, I imagine most kegs are built this way with an interior that is stainless and a galvanized exterior?

here is a pick of one of the kegs.


The kegs were cheap enough that if they don't work out i'll just take them to a metal scrap yard. But I'm hoping they will since they are the perfect size and were cheap.

please point me in the right direction.

Holy nuts that keg looks rough! I wouldn't guess they're galvanized. Try just cleaning them a bit. It should say on the keg stamped somewhere if it's galvanized or aluminum or stainless, ect.

they look pretty beat up so it's probably stainless, just not polished. there might be some indication on the inside top skirt of the keg. something like 304(most likely) or 316

Grimm said:

well i was hoping to make some brew pots out of the kegs and slowly work my way to full boils and then all grain. I picked up 3 10gallon kegs to use for this.

The outer metal appears to be galvanized, I imagine most kegs are built this way with an interior that is stainless and a galvanized exterior?

here is a pick of one of the kegs.

The kegs were cheap enough that if they don't work out i'll just take them to a metal scrap yard. But I'm hoping they will since they are the perfect size and were cheap.

please point me in the right direction.

Click to expand...

There are no words. Hell, as rough as those are they might be galv. but I doubt it cause a galvanized surface is not food safe. Especially not for acidic liquids.

I pray those are just, rediculously, soiled and oxidized. But given the other paint markings they very well could have been cold galvanized.

Those aren't the same as the normal kegs that others use here for doing AG. Look at the vent holds on the sides - what are those for? If it is indeed galvanized - and it looks like it is - then likely it is a plastic interior that the shell is protecting.

I would hold out for some "normal" sankes.

JonW said:

Those aren't the same as the normal kegs that others use here for doing AG. Look at the vent holds on the sides - what are those for? If it is indeed galvanized - and it looks like it is - then likely it is a plastic interior that the shell is protecting.

I would hold out for some "normal" sankes.

Click to expand...

+1 Those are definitely weird kegs and the multiple vent holes are suspicious. Also, if they are actually 10 gallon kegs, they won't be nearly suitable as the normal 15.5 gallon sankey keg would. You could use a magnet to check if they are stainless or just galvanized steel. Scrap them if they are galvanized.

Haha... well i didn't think they were the prettiest of things either, but i was aiming for function and frugality over form.

The interior is a different material then the exterior, much smoother. It's as if there is an interior bladder with an exterior top and bottom ring of what I think is galvanized steel. The vent holes are only one layer deep, they don't go into the center bladder. I assume, these are European kegs, 40L. I still only do 5 gallon batches so the size and price seemed right. A magnet will stick to the exterior, but not so much on the interior.

are newer "sanke" kegs all stainless? isn't that really expensive?

Yes, the normal Sanke's are 100% stainless (single layer, no internal bladder). You can find them cheap on Craigslist. $20 - $50.

Thanks Jon...
guess it's best to scrap these and find the real deal.

If they have an internal bladder they could be cask kegs. If they are, some real ale fan might pay some decent money for them. Any other identifying marks? What does the internal bladder look like?

On another Note, I had some La Chouffe N'Ice when I was in Italy in 08, it's a winter seasonal they do which was very tasty.