Brewing Master

Question:

i’ve recently bought a pepsi keg…and i’m wondering how to recondition it. it holds pressure…and i have the o ring and the rings for the in and out. i guess what i need to know is how to get the small rings on the in and out off and then the new ones back on. also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use?

Check out http://brewery.org/brewery/library/KegCleanDH1095.html It goes through the whole process. Personally, I don’t know if I’d spend all the time that the author does cleaning the outside of the keg, but to each his own. Later,   Matt

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Check out http://brewery.org/brewery/library/KegCleanDH1095.html It goes through the whole process. Personally, I don’t know if I’d spend all the time that the author does cleaning the outside of the keg, but to each his own.

I’ve seen some people hauling around some pretty gawd awful looking kegs before…  I can’t help but think that if the outside looks like that, who knows what’s growing inside. Anyways, I just got me some kegs and decided to clean the outside in an anal retentive way this first time.  In the future, it’ll probably just require a light rinsing now and then since I don’t plan on abusing the poor things like in their previous lifetimes.  ;-) Mark Riley The Beer Recipator – http://realbeer.com/brewery/recipator

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: i’ve recently bought a pepsi keg…and i’m wondering how to : recondition it. it holds pressure…and i have the o ring and the : rings for the in and out. i guess what i need to know is how to get : the small rings on the in and out off and then the new ones back on. : also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best : cleaner to use? YOu already got some good tips, but I have a couple of others I might throw your way. First off, as someone already mentioned, the inside orings that are inside the disconnects for the dip tubes are usually the worse ones and you definately want to replace them.  The orange colored ones on the outside of the disconnects often are in decent shape and usually can be reused with just a good cleaning (saok them in some bleach water and give them a good rub under hot water while rinsing).  Same goes for the big lid Oring. However, orings are generally cheap, so if you put a full new set on your keg, you are probably all set for a long time. Second, you have a pepsi keg which means you have ball locks (he he … he said ball) which means the Gas In and the Liquid Out locks look virtually identical.  They are not!  The channel that the ball locks into on the Gas In is ever so slightly wider.  But what I like to do is on the "In" lock I stratch the word "IN" right on the outside of the body.  This way when I take them off the keg to clean I can easily figure out which one goes where.  Of course the other way to tell is to simple see which one you CO2 line will lock onto. But it is a little easier for future reference to mark the IN lock in some permanent fashion. Third, I think you will find that once you take your keg completely apart and clean it and replace the ORings, there really is not much reason to do it any more than once a year maybe (depending on your useage).  I typically just rinse them out when empty, maybe store them with a little Iodine based sanitizer in them, and then on kegging day, add new iodine based sanitizer, close the lid, shake it up will, pressurize a bit with CO2, dispense the sanitzer through your beer tap for a minute or two, depressurize, open and empty.  Then I am all set to go.  I think if you rinse your just emptied keg (assuming you are not too freekin drunk) with warm or hot water, including running it through your tubes, there is really no reason to break the whole keg down too often. BTW, inspect your poppets <sp? which are the little spring loaded valves in the ball locks.  Often these have cracked or dryrotted rubber parts (I do not know what they are called, so you might want to replace these to insure that the get stays gas tight.  These generally go for a few bucks (or five), but again, once you change it and take care of your kegs, these should last you many years. Poppets that have rotted rubber bits tend to do annoying things like leak CO2 when you remove the gas line cause they do not close properly and seal.  You then have to give them a little nudge to get them to seat down correctly. Patrick Timlin         http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4742/

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also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use? Any non liquid chlorine based cleaner will do fine. B Brite or C brite with hot water or even tsp. Be sure to rinse all the above well. We usually advise that you take the keg apart to clean it since this simplifies cleaning the dip tubes & poppets.

        Actually, chlorine and stainless don’t get along so well.  I’d recommend using Five Star PBW to clean it, and Iodophor or a similar sanitzer.  Personally, I only need to use the PBW once in awhile, when I put something strange into the keg that just won’t come off… Other than that, the Iodophor does a great job of both sanitization and some cleaning. NOTICE TO BULK EMAILER(S): Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500 US.                                                                    

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There is a vast difference in chemical reactions involving dry vs. anhydrous liquid chlorine. They are not the same when you mix them with water.

        Chemically speaking, what’s the difference?  I assumed that household bleach was the same type of stuff as C-Brite in solution would be. Also iodophor is not a cleaner. It is a sanitizer & a very good one when used properly  but you will be up the creek if you are counting on iodophor to clean organic materials from your kegs.  It will not.

        In the original message, I had reccomended Five Star PBW as the pre-iodophor cleaner. NOTICE TO BULK EMAILER(S): Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500 US.                                                                    

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use? Any non liquid chlorine based cleaner will do fine. B Brite or C brite with hot water or even tsp. Be sure to rinse all the above well. We usually advise that you take the keg apart to clean it since this simplifies cleaning the dip tubes & poppets.         Actually, chlorine and stainless don’t get along so well.  I’d recommend using Five Star PBW to clean it, and Iodophor or a similar sanitzer.  Personally, I only need to use the PBW once in awhile, when I put something strange into the keg that just won’t come off… Other than that, the Iodophor does a great job of both sanitization and some cleaning.

Ditto for not using Chlorine, whether liquid or not (it’s all liquid once you add water) B-Brite also works fine. cheers, -Alan — Alan McKay                Nortel Technologies Norstar Team          amckay at nortel dot ca

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Alan, I’m disappointed and you sell kegs too There is a vast difference in chemical reactions involving dry vs. anhydrous liquid chlorine. They are not the same when you mix them with water. Dry chlorine has no effect on 304 stainless per the chemical resistance charts in the Cole Palmer catalog. It receives the highest non reactivity rating of "A" – no effect Your fears about chlorine & 304 stainless are justified in referring to anhydrous liquid chlorine which receives a reactivity rating of "C" – moderate effect. Also iodophor is not a cleaner. It is a sanitizer & a very good one when used properly  but you will be up the creek if you are counting on iodophor to clean organic materials from your kegs.  It will not. Incidentally, iodophor has the same reactivity rating as dry chlorine when used on 304 stainless.

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I had you confused w/ Robert A per my comment about you selling kegs. Sorry.

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Alan, I’m disappointed and you sell kegs too

Hey, I stand (sit) corrected.  I’m glad someone set me straight, so as not to be spreading falsehoods. cheers, -Alan — Alan McKay                Nortel Technologies Norstar Team          amckay at nortel dot ca

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hey now, i’ve recently bought a pepsi keg…and i’m wondering how to recondition it. it holds pressure…and i have the o ring and the rings for the in and out. i guess what i need to know is how to get the small rings on the in and out off and then the new ones back on. also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use? thanks, jonathan Everthing is better at home: homecooking, homebrew and homegrown! antispam: remove Friedspam from mister pookey at friedsapm dot mindspring dot com to reply!

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i have the o ring and the rings for the in and out. i guess what i need to know is how to get the small rings on the in and out off

You can cut them with a nail clippers or just remove them by slipping asmll screwdriver under them & prying. and then the new ones back on. They will stetch enough to go on easily. Don’t forget to replace the dip tube o-rings (under the connectors) these are normally overlooked in many rebuilds but can be source of leaks. also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use?

Any non liquid chlorine based cleaner will do fine. B Brite or C brite with hot water or even tsp. Be sure to rinse all the above well. We usually advise that you take the keg apart to clean it since this simplifies cleaning the dip tubes & poppets. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -thanks, jonathan Everthing is better at home: homecooking, homebrew and homegrown! antispam: remove Friedspam from mister pookey at friedsapm dot mindspring dot com to reply!

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hey jonathan, As far as cleaning, see a post from Shaun Funk on 1/6/98 re: Cleaning Cornies.  Long and detailed answers follow. As far as removing the little o-rings, I simply dug them out with a paring knife (ie, brute force method) then kind of rolled the new ones into the slots left behind.  It may look more complicated, but was an easy exercise. Good luck. — Mark Nelson Windhund Brauerei Atlanta, Georgia "That guy’s got great hops, baby!" – Dick Vitale * return e-mail spam-proofed, delete the obvious —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -hey now, i’ve recently bought a pepsi keg…and i’m wondering how to recondition it. it holds pressure…and i have the o ring and the rings for the in and out. i guess what i need to know is how to get the small rings on the in and out off and then the new ones back on. also, what’s the best way to clean the inside and what’s the best cleaner to use? thanks, jonathan Everthing is better at home: homecooking, homebrew and homegrown! antispam: remove Friedspam from mister pookey at friedsapm dot mindspring dot com to reply!

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