Banged Up Keg Still Good??

[jkmcd3]

Hey Everybody,

I bought a few kegs over the last couple of months in hopes of starting to all grain brew by the end of the year. One of the kegs I got off of craigslist ended up being pretty badly banged up around the top and bottom rim. Pics Below

I read the sticky about the kettle that blew up on some people, definitely don't want that happening to me or anyone that decides to help me out. Is the keg still safe for any of the three open positions (HLT / MLT / BK)?? Or should I just cut ties try to sell it and find one thats in a little better shape. The three I have were hard as hell to get my hands on so I hope I can use it for something (maybe a fermentor if its not safe for heating).







Thanks for any feedback.

John

 

[TopherM]

The ones that blow up are from pressure building up in the bottom ring of kegs that are on burners. Drill 2-3 small holes in those bottom rings, and you're good.

Your dented kegs would be great as boil kettles, since boiling water is going to automatically sanitize the dented sections. You could use the badly-dented kegs as HLT, MLT or Mash Tuns, but you would need to plan on cleaning and sanatizing the crap out of them on brew day, since their contents don't see 212+ water and need to have those dents sanitized.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd probably hit that many times with a good sized hammer, just to help it out. But you must do it carefully. Stainless can be hard to move.

I got a couple of kegs similar to this and I only really had to hammer a bit to get it to sit flat without rocking.

You could use them as any part of the brewing system you want as long as you feel comfortable with being able to clean well enough. Even a mash tun, since you will be boiling the wort for an hour afterwards anyway.

 

[PantherCity]

You can use them, the only problem is that if the bottom skirt is too dented to sit on a burner flatly. You definitely don't want a teetering keg with 12 gallons of hot liquid in them. Make sure you mount you valves on spots without dents or seams.

@TopherM
He will not need to sanitize his HLT or MLT because anything that goes through them ends up in the 212F kettle for at least an hour. if you are sanitizing your HLT and MLT you are wasting time.

Hope that helps.

Edit: From you pics I can see that the rolled edge on the bottom skirt has the holes drilled in it. Make sure the other ones are drilled too.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yep, as Panther points out above, your pics show that the bottom ring is drilled, so it can't build pressure and explode.

These should be usable for any stage of the process, including as a fermenter. FWIW, I usually put some water in the fermenter after cleaning it and put it on the burner to allow it to boil & sterilize prior to putting the wort in. Why sanitize the inside of something you can't see when you can just steam-sterilize it?

I assume you've seen this, if you want to use it as a fermenter? http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html