Cleaning a keg

[Senormac]

Help ! I have this 5 gallon commercial keg (bought from a store and paid the deposit) which I want to keep, clean and refill, but I can't figure out how or what I need to do to reach that goal. There must be a thread on here somewhere that deals with this topic.... but I can't find it

This is the top of my 5 gallon (sanke?) keg. Nothing opens. Nothing unlocks that I can see. How do I clean this thing out and refill it with something I brewed? There has got to be some kind of attachment. Aside from the ball in the center, this thing is like Fort Knox

 

[govner1]

Basically you're stealing the keg!
The deposit doesn't come close to covering the cost of the keg. You "bought" the beer. The deposit is to encourage you to return the keg to the store. They'll send it back to the owner (brewery).
Otherwise, keeping it is theft!

 

[Senormac]

Really ?!! The place I got it is about 1000 miles away

 

[tjosborne]

There are YouTube videos about how to remove the spear. Just don't cut it up and you can return it when you wish.

 

[JohnSand]

If you watch craigslist you can find corny kegs very reasonably from time to time. I have paid as little as $30@. They are easier to clean and fill.

 

[jrodmfish]

basically you're stealing the keg!
The deposit doesn't come close to covering the cost of the keg. You "bought" the beer. The deposit is to encourage you to return the keg to the store. They'll send it back to the owner (brewery).
Otherwise, keeping it is theft!

+1

 

[Senormac]

Basically you're stealing the keg!
The deposit doesn't come close to covering the cost of the keg. You "bought" the beer. The deposit is to encourage you to return the keg to the store. They'll send it back to the owner (brewery).
Otherwise, keeping it is theft!

Thx for the "cleaning my keg" advice.

When I buy a bottle of beer at the market, I pay them freaking 5 cents per bottle deposit. Do you think they care if I bring back their bottle ? Hell no. They got 5 cents per bottle of MY money !! The keg was not 5 cents.... IT WAS $30 !!! That's money given to them.... IN CASE I DON"T BRING IT BACK !!

 

[day_trippr]

 

[Senormac]

Step away from the red button !! Calm down and crack open a .....

 

[govner1]

Thx for the "cleaning my keg" advice.



When I buy a bottle of beer at the market, I pay them freaking 5 cents per bottle deposit. Do you think they care if I bring back their bottle ? Hell no. They got 5 cents per bottle of MY money !! The keg was not 5 cents.... IT WAS $30 !!! That's money given to them.... IN CASE I DON"T BRING IT BACK !!

Obviously, you've missed the point! A deposit on a bottle is not intended as an incentive for you to return it for reuse since that rarely, if ever, occurs in the US.
It doesn't matter where you bought the keg. The $30 doesn't come close to covering the cost of replacing a keg by a brewer!
Again, IT IS THEFT!

 

[govner1]

As recommended above you can buy a used corny keg. Clean it easily & use in your kegerator. It will be much easier to manage in your home setup.

 

[Senormac]

Obviously, you've missed the point! A deposit on a bottle is not intended as an incentive for you to return it for reuse since that rarely, if ever, occurs in the US.
It doesn't matter where you bought the keg. The $30 doesn't come close to covering the cost of replacing a keg by a brewer!
Again, IT IS THEFT!

Are you saying I can get my $30 back at ANY brewery or beverage store ?

 

[passedpawn]

Aside from the ball in the center, this thing is like Fort Knox

Have a look at the end of the first post here: Simplest (?) Keggle Cutting Jig

 

[BeardedBrews]

Help ! I have this 5 gallon commercial keg (bought from a store and paid the deposit) which I want to keep, clean and refill, but I can't figure out how or what I need to do to reach that goal.

Opening the neck at the top is pretty easy, PP posted the pictures of where the retaining ring fits into the groove, just remove that and rotate the spear to get the whole thing apart. Release pressure by pushing down on that ball first or you'll have a shooting missile coming at your face.

Putting the thing back in is the hard part, you have to compress a spring, rotate the spear, and replace the snap ring all at the same time. They make a jig to help:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/sanke-valvespear-removal-tool.html

Are you saying I can get my $30 back at ANY brewery or beverage store ?

They probably won't give you the $30-50 back, but most will take a mystery keg back in exchange for your next keg as long as it's a brand they keep. The brewery will be happy to get a shell back and everyone will move on.

While it's bad form to keep the shell, it does happen all the time. People move, forget about a keg in their garage, the liquor store closes or for some reason won't take the keg back. It's a cost of business that we try to keep low to help our breweries out, but they budget for it. In the end I think you'll find cleaning the keg more hassle than it's worth, better to post on Craigslist that you want to trade 1x Sanke for 1x Corny, you'll have a taker in less than 24 hours I'd think.

 

[Senormac]

Cool. I got it. Thanks PP and BB !! Getting it back together is the next challenge.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Looks good, you can take a look over here for tips from @wilserbrewer on how to get the spear back in.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=133483

 

[Morrey]

As recommended above you can buy a used corny keg. Clean it easily & use in your kegerator. It will be much easier to manage in your home setup.

I'm going to second the govner on this one. Sanke kegs are typically designed for use with specialty cleaning and filling equipment not always found in the home brew equipment locker. For this reason, as well as a host of others including doing the right thing, corny kegs are extremely flexible for home brewing use. I converted from Sanke to ball lock and find ball locks home brew friendly.

Since I treat my keg as a secondary or brite tank, I find it easy to dry hop and remove swollen hop muslin bags with ease thru the large opening on a ball lock. This is not so easy on a Sanke.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Not touching the stolen not stolen debate.
But to your question, get a medium size flathead screwdriver and grind it narrow until it fits in in the small slot,or find one that's strong and fits. Pop out the ring, and pull out the spear. putting it in is a bit harder.Work the ring around by hand and squeeze it into place with a pair of pliers. Once you get the hang of it,it goes fast. You cant get the ring out if there is pressure in the keg. I find an open end wrench around 3/4 in with one end under the lip and the round backside pressing down on the ball works great for relieving the pressure. As far as cleaning I just rinse it out with plain water and give it an oxiclean soak and rinse every five kegs or so. Sankes never leak air so they never get infected.I've opened a keg 2 months after it kicked and it smells as fresh as the last beer I pulled. Your not going to find much love for sanke kegs around here but there superior in every way to a corny (less keg hopping) plus you can go buy a keg of your favorite beer without swapping your taps which is a very nice bonus.

 

[Senormac]

Just thought y'all might like to know, I bought a regular old corny keg ( so as not to be a lawbreaker)...... and am pursuing that avenue of homebrew storage instead of the Sanke keg. The brewery that the Sanke came from is 1230.7 miles away, so lets just say that I haven't returned it ...... YET !!

Thanks for all the responses and input. I learned a bunch of info I didn't know, and even how to take apart and reassemble a Sanke keg

 

[JohnSand]

I love a happy ending.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

The microstar keg is usually a leased keg.
Breweries all over the country use them.

http://www.microstarkegs.com/template.asp?page=kegmanagement

 

[mattd2]

The microstar keg is usually a leased keg.
Breweries all over the country use them.

http://www.microstarkegs.com/template.asp?page=kegmanagement

They even have an option on their contact us page for "Found Lost Keg(s)"