AIH Kegs

[barnaclebob]

The discoloration on my keg on one part of the weld on the outside of the keg doesn't look like corrosion. Didn't look at the inside because I keep them under pressure in storage. So far no complaints from my AIH kegs.

 

[beersk]

I'm probably too skittish. You might want to scrub around the bottom welds to clean residue off, or at least see if its there. After PBR soak and nozzle sprayout I could still run a paper towel over them and get black residue.

A good PBR soak always cleans me out.

 

[Eisendrath]

I see several places have these new for 70 to 80 bucks.
What's the 6 months later view on these.

 

[jbrace1]

I've been following this thread for a few months as I have purchased a number of these kegs (8 i think) over the course of the last few months. During that time I have closely inspected and used all of them (some use more than once). All welds seem clean. All kegs work perfectly.

None of my kegs have the logo stamped on the side. Purchased my most recent set in April '15.

 

[Eisendrath]

From AIH? Austen Homebrew?

 

[j1n]

I see several places have these new for 70 to 80 bucks.
What's the 6 months later view on these.

Ive had mine for about 6 months now... the post below is basically the same experience ive had.

I've been following this thread for a few months as I have purchased a number of these kegs (8 i think) over the course of the last few months. During that time I have closely inspected and used all of them (some use more than once). All welds seem clean. All kegs work perfectly.

None of my kegs have the logo stamped on the side. Purchased my most recent set in April '15.

Same here. No issues what so ever. I bought 1 first and it turned out good with no issues so then i bought 5 more.

 

[Gameface]

I just ordered 2 of the AIH kegs. I'll plan on a BKF soak, followed by an oxyclean clean, followed by a starsan soak.

 

[jbrace1]

Sorry, in my original reply I forgot to say I purchased all of mine from AIH.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I picked up a couple kegs during the AIH Black Friday sale as well. When they arrived, I thought they looked pretty good, but didn't really give them much scrutiny. After seeing this thread, I figured I'd better take a closer look. Upon further review... they still look fine. I plan to give them an Oxiclean flush, rinse, and Starsan treatment before first use, but I don't see any areas of concern inside the kegs.

UPDATE: I've been using my new kegs for about 6 months now. No issues. Very pleased with the quality.

 

[Gameface]

UPDATE: I've been using my new kegs for about 6 months now. No issues. Very pleased with the quality.

That's reassuring.

 

[hanuswalrus]

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.

 

[Scriv]

Mine arrived today, quality seems fine to me.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434593349.865308.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434593365.817633.jpg

 

[Gameface]

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.

 

[Eisendrath]

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?

 

[Gameface]

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?

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.

 

[Gameface]

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.

 

[SevenOaks]

In my limited experience with AIH, they have a hard time distinguishing stainless steel from chrome plating.

 

[Eisendrath]

Just received mine. They look good so far.
A magnetic does not stick to mine.

 

[chawn]

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.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

There are ferrous stainless alloys.

 

[gnef]

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.

 

[Gameface]

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.

 

[Gavin C]

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.

 

[Gameface]

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.

Additional O-rings?

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

 

[cantrell00]

There are ferrous stainless alloys.

304 and 316 are predominantly iron

 

[Gavin C]

Additional O-rings?

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

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.

 

[Gameface]

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.

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.

 

[Gavin C]

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.

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.

 

[Gameface]

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.

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.

 

[BlackE1]

Should get 2 new ones from AIH on Friday i will update on quality.