Dodgy mini kegs

[Dr_Unkenly]

So, a little while back I was having an issue with a metallic taste in some of my brews.

It turns out I have lots of mini kegs which have rust on the inside. Big patches of it.

On one of them, which I cut open to inspect, a big part of the plastic lining had actually come away.

These are all recycled kegs, bought and drunk from the supermarket over a period of months.

I don't think I'm doing anything too strange with them. A little soak with warm Oxi and rinse with cold water. Rinse and then starsan on kegging day.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?

 

[pms67]

Sorry,no but I'm that lazy it may go in my favour.
I only rinse the keg with boiling water and swish around,rinse then empty,that's it,no Starsan or Oxi so not sure if they react with the keg but others on here use them all the time with cleaning products so not sure,hopefully someone will know

 

[Leon103]

Not experienced this (yet).

I rinse after use and make sure its dry before storing.

Before using again I rinse through and swish a small amount of starsan in them.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

I must have binned about 10 kegs so far. :-(

It was suggested to me that I should get more kegs from the supermarket as they were on sale.
I reasoned that I would then actually have to either drink or throw away litres of litres of beer that I don't really want just to use the damn things so I've ended up buying a load of shiny silver ones. They look a lot nicer so it's not all bad.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

Sorry,no but I'm that lazy it may go in my favour.
I only rinse the keg with boiling water and swish around,rinse then empty,that's it,no Starsan or Oxi so not sure if they react with the keg but others on here use them all the time with cleaning products so not sure,hopefully someone will know

Interesting that you use boiling water. I was told that hot water would damage the plastic lining but I guess this is not the case.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

Not experienced this (yet).

I rinse after use and make sure its dry before storing.

Before using again I rinse through and swish a small amount of starsan in them.

I don't make any special effort to dry them but surely that can't be an issue. It's a vessel for storing liquid in after all.

 

[B1gBill]

Maybe as the pre filled kegs are ment as a single use they don't last
Where as the bought unused kegs are of a designed with reuse in mind

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Leon103]

I don't make any special effort to dry them but surely that can't be an issue. It's a vessel for storing liquid in after all.

I think it could be, once oxygen as got in.

A mate bought himself a keg, drank all the beer leaving some dregs. I asked him to keep the keg which he did. When I went to collect it a couple of months later it was full of rust inside.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

I think it could be, once oxygen as got in.

A mate bought himself a keg, drank all the beer leaving some dregs. I asked him to keep the keg which he did. When I went to collect it a couple of months later it was full of rust inside.

Interesting. I had thought that I must be damaging the plastic lining in some way in order for it to rust.

 

[Druncan]

I went over to cornies and had my stock of minikegs just sitting. I decided to make some arty stuff for the restaurant. Split the MK's with a angle grinder.
What a fookin horror story. Some rusty, linings lifting as you found and loads with build up around the taps and I thought had been really careful cleaning.

Now only keg with Cornies,,,:thumb:

Maybe a boriscope camera like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-Waterp...254455?hash=item54486b73f7:g:KM4AAOSwol5Y2y4M
for checking inside the keg after cleaning might prevent contamination/problems?

 

[Bigd2657]

I have quite a sample of mini kegs but I find that you have to drink the beer quite quickly over a short period if you are using them, as they tend to go flat.

But I sterilise them once I have finished with them leave them, to dry and then re steralise them once I am ready to use them.

I don't re seal with any rubber bungs whilst I am not usin g them as this will let the air flow through them.

 

[Leon103]

I have quite a sample of mini kegs but I find that you have to drink the beer quite quickly over a short period if you are using them, as they tend to go flat.

But I sterilise them once I have finished with them leave them, to dry and then re steralise them once I am ready to use them.

I don't re seal with any rubber bungs whilst I am not usin g them as this will let the air flow through them.

You need a party star tap.

 

[Bigd2657]

leon 103,

ive bought the party star deluxe system last month but it is still in the box, as I have been busy with work.

are they as good as the reports from the brew shops say they are.

I take it you have to finish one keg off before you disconnect and go ot another keg.

cheers

big d 2657

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

I've got the party star and it's excellent (actually got it at the same time as my first MKs).

I've also just bought my second Klarstein so I'm pretty committed to my MKs.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

leon 103,


I take it you have to finish one keg off before you disconnect and go ot another keg.

cheers

big d 2657

Ideally yes but I have switched it out before mid way through and it was fine. This is when you can't face another pint of the 8% skull melter you have on and/or have something new that's fresh, ready and calling your name.

I use the grey bungs and you can easily reseal them if you have a spare stopper.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

I went over to cornies and had my stock of minikegs just sitting. I decided to make some arty stuff for the restaurant. Split the MK's with a angle grinder.
What a fookin horror story. Some rusty, linings lifting as you found and loads with build up around the taps and I thought had been really careful cleaning.

Now only keg with Cornies,,,:thumb:

Maybe a boriscope camera like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-Waterp...254455?hash=item54486b73f7:g:KM4AAOSwol5Y2y4M
for checking inside the keg after cleaning might prevent contamination/problems?

That's really interesting. The question is why did that happen as most folk have no rust issues? Could it be something to do with leaving them empty for extended periods?

That camera looks like a fun gadget to add to the collection of brew stuff. Surprisingly cheap too. Cheers.

 

[Fil]

perhaps, and its a wild guess but could your idea of warm water be too hot? I have had rust issues with bought for purpose minikegs after only a few brews through them. and i have tended to use the hottest tap water to prime my laundry oxi soaks.

And i remove bungs the zero scratch way with string...

perhaps a soak @30c would be adiquate to clean, its the temp our washing machine runs at usually and the laundry oxi used in that seems to be doing whats expected??

the bond between steel and plastic film may be sucseptable to softening with heat??

 

[Leon103]

leon 103,

ive bought the party star deluxe system last month but it is still in the box, as I have been busy with work.

are they as good as the reports from the brew shops say they are.

I take it you have to finish one keg off before you disconnect and go ot another keg.

cheers

big d 2657

The co2 certainly keeps the beer fresh. I think i have had a keg open for a month and still ok. It pours a better pint in my opinion. Although I have had an issue with mine recently where the beer splutters out, I will be retesting tonight.

Unfortunately you can only use it on one keg at a time

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

perhaps, and its a wild guess but could your idea of warm water be too hot? I have had rust issues with bought for purpose minikegs after only a few brews through them. and i have tended to use the hottest tap water to prime my laundry oxi soaks.

And i remove bungs the zero scratch way with string...

perhaps a soak @30c would be adiquate to clean, its the temp our washing machine runs at usually and the laundry oxi used in that seems to be doing whats expected??

the bond between steel and plastic film may be sucseptable to softening with heat??

I thought that heat could be an issue but we have had one poster say that he uses boiling water to clean the kegs and his are ok. Perhaps it is only a matter of time though.

I had started to simply rinse the kegs that are ok in cold-ish water. No Oxi or anything to see what happens.

The other thought that occurs is that maybe I've been over pressurising them, causing the lining to split/crack?

Most of the ones I've chucked out seem to have a fairly uniform layer of rust around the bottom section of the side wall, below the ring. It actually just looks a bit darker, like a shadow, when peering in but a brand new keg won't have this difference in colour.

Another possibility is that maybe the QC on these kegs is a bit hit and miss and there are plenty of duff ones out there but it takes a few brews for the issue to show up.

 

[Druncan]

Another possibility is that maybe the QC on these kegs is a bit hit and miss and there are plenty of duff ones out there but it takes a few brews for the issue to show up.

Yup! in my case any scratches to the protective coating open up the base ferrous metal to Star San phosphoric acid? ,,,

For me it was the shock of a big gloop of festering trub sitting under the tap fitting,,, Bugr. My sanitation processes failed big style,,,
Maybe it's just me