Cleaning infected/sour/lacto kegs?

[haeffnkr]

Hello All,

Last Fall I finally made some changes to my process and was making some great beer.
I finally got rid of the lacto/acto vinegar wang infection I was passing around.

I have been making some good lagers lately but screwed up the last 2.
The first one I used my old plastic fermenter that had an infected batch in it, that I soaked in Starsan... all the way up to the top... but I should of used bleach I guess.
The finished beer had that little bit of citrus/vinegar wang to it.....anyway... bought new fermenters, problem solved.

I had/have several kegs that had this lacto ridden beer in them, that I was saving to possibly distill off some day.. but that never happened and I need the kegs as my pipeline is building up.
I made another light lager in a glass carboy and transferred it to a keg that was clean, spotless inside, washed by a rag inside, sprayed with PBW solution via my keg washer with spinner ball that pumped the solution through the posts also.
I then disambled to the keg, soaked the posts, lid and orings in a bleach/vinegar solution and soaked the keg in starsan to the top for a few days. I then reassembled and pumped the starsan out with CO2.
I filled the keg and some 1 liter bottles and carbed them up with the co2 caps
The bottles tasted great, the keg has a slight wang to it...ugh.

So all that said...
How would you/should I go about cleaning a keg with infected beer in it? I have read that this lacto/acto bug is hard to kill and heavy bleach is the only way.
I am thinking about a through of cleaning with PBW, and the spraying with Bleach in my keg washer? Pull apart the keg and replace the orings, fill with star san and soak?

I am baffled....sorry to ramble.

Kevin

 

[m00ps]

I would disassemble the keg and immerse the pieces in PBW, reassemble, the fill with it. Give it a few good shakes, pour a pint out of the dip tube, let sit overnight and it should be good as new. Same thing for infected glass fermentors, plastic is a no-no though

I steer clear from any type of bleach with my homebrewing. I get paranoid I wont be able to rinse it all away

 

[haeffnkr]

I would disassemble the keg and immerse the pieces in PBW, reassemble, the fill with it. Give it a few good shakes, pour a pint out of the dip tube, let sit overnight and it should be good as new.

This is what I did... and I still had the wang.... I think I need nuclear strenghth sanitizer?

 

[m00ps]

Hmm, did you try switching out the o-rings too and taking out the poppets? Or maybe the infection is in your transferring equipment...

 

[DrunkleJon]

replace o rings, disassemble, clean and sanitize everything. Make sure you do not neglect your racking cane, tubing, quick disconnects, and keg lines either.

 

[haeffnkr]

thanks for the help folks.

 

[heckels]

Hmm, did you try switching out the o-rings too and taking out the poppets? Or maybe the infection is in your transferring equipment...

O-rings could be one place of concern (I keep separate rings for sours) but the transferring can also be a problem. Auto siphons, vinyl tubing, basically anything porous, creates a breeding ground for that stuff.

Also, it's not recommended to use bleach on stainless parts as it can cause pitting. You could try a good scrub with Barkeeper's Friend and then a good PBW soak and rinse.

 

[augiedoggy]

it wont work with a stainless keg but sunlight (uv light) also kills the bacteria and its used by a local lambic brewer I met to use the same equipment for both lamibic and regular beers.