How do I open this plastic beer keg?

[rainingbullets]

We had a meeting with one of our equipment reps from Germany awhile back. I mentioned I brew my own beer, which they said they have these plastic kegs that I could try out; and they would ship it to me for free. I didn't believe them.

Here's what arrived at the office today:

I put my coffee mug next to it for size comparison. It's a 20L PET keg with a sanke connection on top:

So now the question is: how the hell do I get this thing off? If I could get the lid off, I could use it for picnics this summer, as I have a sanke hand pump I kept from my college days. The container is super light weight, maybe about a pound. We couldn't figure it out here at the office. Has anyone seen anything like this before? The sanke fitting is entirely plastic. I have a bad feeling this is some kind of "disposable" keg.

 

[st_brewer]

push on the black rubber the a pair of pliers, when it stops hissing you need to pull the seal out, once the seal is off you can turn the spear and drop it into the barrel then you can unscrew the cap, then you can reassemble the unit for reuse

 

[phoenixs4r]

Wonder if that's the same keg that blew up on the guy at red hook?

If not, I'd try it

 

[JRems]

That's cool. I want one. Can you give us the name of the place it came from?

 

[st_brewer]

hence why you depressurize by pressing on the black rubber. in fact since it is a sankey, here is the tutorial of how to do it step by step:



(I know this is steel but the cap is the same)

 

[JRems]

If you look at the second picture there are flat spots on the outside of the white top like a wrench would go on. I wonder if it just unscrews like a giant soda bottle?

 

[rainingbullets]

So I emailed the rep that sent me the keg. As it turns out, these type of kegs are in fact, designed to be used once and recycled. The tabs around the outside of the valve are impossible to push in without destroying the valve altogether. Boo. I was really excited about this thing.

The rep also sent me a series of PDF files detailing the commercial advantages of using these things, as well as a usage manual and how to use the counter-flow filling device (which they did not send).

How is this for an English translation:

Breakage
If a filled container should break, a muffled noise will sound and 20 liters of
liquid will make you wet and in need of a towel and a mop for the floor.

haha Really?

Also, looking at the video posted above about how to take the valve apart, it doesn't look like the metal version can be installed on this keg. Rats

 

[fifelee]

Why do you need to take the top off? Most sanke kegs are never taken apart. Buy a sanke tap (not the hand pump type). Through the sanke tap fill it with star san, shake a few times, push the star san out with CO2 then fill with beer. When the keg is empty flush with water a few times then start over with star san. If it is really dirty add a PBW cycle.

 

[JuanMoore]

Like fifelee mentioned, you don't need to remove the valve or take the spear out to clean, sanitize, or fill a sankey, you just need a coupler that fits the keg. The only part he didn't mention is that you'll want to remove both of the balls inside the coupler that act as check valves. You can technically leave them in place and fill through the gas port while venting through the beer port, but it's a lot easier and more versatile if you just remove the check valves, and it also doesn't risk oxidation if the keg wasn't fully purged before filling.

The rep also sent me a series of PDF files detailing the commercial advantages of using these things, as well as a usage manual and how to use the counter-flow filling device (which they did not send).

The "counterflow-filling device" is probably just a standard sankey coupler with the check valves removed (or reversed) and a spunding valve attached to the gas port. That's what's many smaller breweries use to do counter pressure fills/transfers.



PS. If you don't want it, you're more than welcome to send it to me. I promise to put it to good use.

Edit: Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know the diameter of the keg?

 

[CLIFjumper3]

I got it!!! Now what to do with it lol

 

[dherlemannochoa]

How did you get it man? I have one and I can't open it!

 

[segallis]

I got it!!! Now what to do with it lol

View attachment 372819

Any tips on what you did?