Picked up a keg for a keggle! but.....

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BK_BREWERY

BK_BREWERY

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picked up a nice keg for a keggle conversion, but it is about 3/4 full of skank beer, whats the best way to get this out without a sanke tap and without taking a skank beer shower?
 
lay it on its side wedge a screwdriver between the ball and the rubber seal. this will vent it then remove the spear and dump skanky beer.

edit : Bobby beat me to it
 
Shake it up quite a bit. Make sure the beer inside is warm. You should stand it upright. Take a big screwdriver and press down on the ball. Make sure you are really leaning into it when you do this. No matter what happens keep the screrwdriver holding down that ball.

Take shower.
 
dontman said:
Shake it up quite a bit. Make sure the beer inside is warm. You should stand it upright. Take a big screwdriver and press down on the ball. Make sure you are really leaning into it when you do this. No matter what happens keep the screrwdriver holding down that ball.
Click to expand...

I have seen it done this way, I used Bobby's method, it wasn't as fun for spectators.
 
springer said:
lay it on its side wedge a screwdriver between the ball and the rubber seal. this will vent it then remove the spear and dump skanky beer.

edit : Bobby beat me to it
Click to expand...

how do you remove the spear without a special removal tool?
 
IrregularPulse said:
a thin flat blade and a pair of pliers. but only AFTER the keg is degassed.
Click to expand...

ok what am i removing, what holds the spear in? Just a spring clip or something else?

sorry this is the first sanke keg i have touched since my fraternity days in college and we never tried to disassemble them onyl empty them and get new ones.
 
a spiral ring on most,newer ones are threaded in. I just did the same thing yeasterday. a friend gave me and old keg 1/4 full of year old swill.

have a friend push in on the ball while you video his shower..:rockin:
 
alright i'll give it a go tonight when i get home. should i save the valve for something? can it be used for something else?

also do people turns kegs into fermentors as well? any links?

thanks!
 
Keep in mind...it is possible that the beer has some carbonation left in it...so release the pressure...swirl it around, then release again.......you can assume how i figured this one out.
 
dontman said:
Shake it up quite a bit. Make sure the beer inside is warm. You should stand it upright. Take a big screwdriver and press down on the ball. Make sure you are really leaning into it when you do this. No matter what happens keep the screrwdriver holding down that ball.

Take shower.
Click to expand...

And be sure to hold your mouth open directly over the valve so you can enjoy the blast of fresh beer

As far as the guts of the valve... I used the dip tube as a sight glass shield. I took Bobby_M's lead on this and created something from something that was going to be thrown away.
 
Damn, I wish I would have caught this thread earlier. I would have told you my method. That is to shake up beer, stand upright, hand friend screw driver and instruct him to push in the ball, stand back with camera phone, upload to youtube.
 
just completed the removal of the spear that wasn;t bad at all. thanks for the replies on how to do it

man was there a lot of beer left in that thing must of been a crappy party if only that much got drank.

ok now the question what size hole to cut in the top? i'll be using an angle grinder with some sort of jig i plan on building for a nice round hole.
 
just rest the guard of the angle grinder against the skirt of the keg and cut. then hit it with a flap disc to take the edge off so you don't cut yourself
 
BK_BREWERY said:
just completed the removal of the spear that wasn;t bad at all. thanks for the replies on how to do it

man was there a lot of beer left in that thing must of been a crappy party if only that much got drank.

ok now the question what size hole to cut in the top? i'll be using an angle grinder with some sort of jig i plan on building for a nice round hole.
Click to expand...

Bobby_M has a great video on how to make the jig. IF you are going to do more than one then the jig is worth the effort. you can set the radius of the jig to 6" (from the center of the hole saw to the outside edge of the cut off disk) and make a great 12" dia. hole. NorthernBrewer has false bottoms designed to fit inside a 12" hole.....

The Jig makes it real fast. 5 or so passes around the top and it is cut. All is secure and straight. I made a jig in about 15 minutes and cut all three of mine in about 45 minutes total. took me longer to grind the edges and clean the bastards out than it did to cut the tops off.

Check out Bobby's videos.
 
Simphoto02 said:
Bobby_M has a great video on how to make the jig. IF you are going to do more than one then the jig is worth the effort. you can set the radius of the jig to 6" (from the center of the hole saw to the outside edge of the cut off disk) and make a great 12" dia. hole. NorthernBrewer has false bottoms designed to fit inside a 12" hole.....
Click to expand...

Good call! Bobby_M nice work!

false bottom for a kettle? i thought those were mostly for mash tuns?

now that we've delved into this, what should i put in this thing? regular pick up tube, bazooka screen, i guess a false bottom. thermometer? do you really need or want a sight glass for a kettle?
 
I just use a pickup tube with a SS Scrubbie. Change it out every brew. Works very well with pellet and whole hops.
I have a welded ball valve and would like a thermometer and Sight glass in the future.
 
IrregularPulse said:
I just use a pickup tube with a SS Scrubbie. Change it out every brew. Works very well with pellet and whole hops.
I have a welded ball valve and would like a thermometer and Sight glass in the future.
Click to expand...

whats the benefit of a sight glass on the kettle? just for volume measurements?
 
I missed the Boil Kettle thing. A hop screen and sightglass are good for the kettle.

Once again See Bobby_m's videos.

He has good sightglasses and he shows you how to make a great hop screen for a pick-up tube.
 

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