I thought I’d give a go at brewing an alcohol ginger ale for my wife who likes Moscow mules. It tastes like ginger beer, so mission accomplished, but it has left a very pungent ginger ale smell in the keg. What would folks do to purge the strong ginger odor that is more than likely to affect anything else put in the keg? It’s quite pungent. Thanks!
Sounds like what I experienced with root beer in kegs when my kids were growing up. I would do prolonged soaks in alkali cleaners, followed by an acid based beerstone remover. Worst case I would replace all gaskets, too.
Give the keg a good cleaning and replace all of the O rings.
Baking soda works well for me
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Thank everyone. I was a figuring a good cleaning with PBW and replacing the gaskets. I might try Denny’s baking soda first. It’s a very robust odor … I surely regret kegging it now!
I had similar problem when I kegged a Raspberry Blonde.
Yes, replace the o rings.
Also, I agree with Denny. A good wash with baking soda and hot water “should” remove lingering ginger.
Thoughts on using white vinegar and baking soda in a corny keg?
If this is a brew you will make again then just dedicate a keg to it.
Easy for the keg, but then also need to replace the keg lines too.
Hi Denny - In this sort of case where the corny keg is left “polluted” by a ginger ale (rootbeer or another culprit) do you have a suggestion for how much baking soda to use, and how long, for a 5 gallon corny keg? Thanks much - I appreciate your posts!
I’ve never really measured, but I’d guess maybe 1/4 cup, then fill the keg with warm water. Let it sit a few days and rinse well.
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My wife would like for me to put one of her rather aromatic meads on tap. I’ve already accepted the fact that I’ll likely have to dedicate that beer line to her meads. Fortunately, I can swap it out easily enough.