I’m going to be storing my kegs for a while and I’m curious if it makes a difference if I sanitize and store under pressure vs. simply cleaning and leaving the top off? Outside of saving time when I actually use them again, will the first option extend the life of the keg at all?
I soak them with PBW, and rinse with hot, hot water (at least 3 times). Push it out with CO2 through the a cobra tap, and leave it sealed up till I need to keg a beer. Has worked for me this way for years.
I soak and clean mine immediately after use with Oxy-Clean and store them open and upside down. When I’m ready to fill them I sanitize and fill.
I doubt that either technique affects the life of the keg itself appreciably. The life of the o-rings, however might be a different story. I’d guess that storing under pressure might keep freshly lubed 0-rings from deteriorating, especially the large ring under the lid, while o-rings stored in the open air might not fare quite as well. Purely opinion, though.
Just getting some eyes on my technique today…
-Cleaned w. PBW, ran this through my lines and taps.
-Cleaned out kegs with clean water, ran this through lines and taps (draining the keg and lines of any liquid) until it ran dry
-Soaked with Starsan, dumped out and sealed the keg with 10 PSI or so.
Look ok?
*Bonus question, how often should I be cleaning out my taps?
Yeah, mostly good. I rinse an empty keg thoroughly with hot water, fill with hot pbw, pump the pbw through the lines, then hot water, then star san. And I do this every time a keg kicks. And BLC (beer line cleaner) a few times /year.
^so you think it’s ok for Starsan to sit in the lines for an extended time?
I pump the starsan all the way out of the lines. That way you’re ready for the next beer.
Clean, sanitize with starsan, lube your o-rings and charge with 10psi of co2, just be sure to purge it a couple times before removing the gas line. If you have a fridge to put them in, do that because the cooler air will keep the pressure stable. When your ready to use again, just release the pressure and fill. I’ve done this many times over the years and have yet to need to replace any seals. As long as you sanitize it properly, have only co2 in the vessel, you will have no bacteria inside. Just be sure to spray the connections down with starsan before use as well.
I do not believe that sealing a soda keg is necessary for long-term storage. What’s important is that the keg is clean and completely dry. I have had kegs that were stored this way for several years that I have had to do nothing other than rinse out the dust and sanitize.
I agree with Mark on this. They don’t need to be pressurized, and they certainly don’t need to be stored cold.
Clean 'em. Store 'em. Sanitize 'em before you fill 'em.
+2
I like to put a bit of pressure on a keg so I know it is leak free.
Yeah I like to do that too if it’s a keg I’m gonna refill in a few days - good to know ahead of time it’s airtight. But I have so many that some get rotated into storage for a while. I don’t worry about pressurizing those if they’re not getting filled very soon.
This is it exactly. Sometimes, by the time I get to filling them I have no idea if I pressurized them or not before I put them away. Easier just to leave them be and re-sanitize when the time comes.
If I have leaks, I put tape on the kegs with a note that the poppet needs replacing or the lid doesn’t seal or whatever.
+1 I do the same
I do the same as my feeble brain simply can’t remember things for that long.