Lingering Cola smell...

Brewing Processes
1

I have a couple of kegs that still have a lingering cola smell.  They’ve all been PBW soaked a number of times, and had complete gasket replacements.  I have served a couple beers that didn’t pick up any noticeable cola odor, so it’s probably not a big deal.  But does anyone know how to remove this long-lasting odor from the keg?  I’ve heard both that bleach might fix the problem… and that you should not use bleach in stainless, as it will pit it pretty quickly.  If bleach is the right answer, what concentration should be used?

Thanks.

2

My experience with this event was that I washed em out with rubbing alcohol
then exposed em to sunlight and fresh air for a few days (outdoors)…the cola odor vanished.
I presume that the UV exposure was a prominent variable.
I also remove the posts and clean all that as well.

3

And to think that people DRINK that stuff… :o

4

I also remove the posts, and leave the kegs submerged, inverted, in PBW for a while, followed by a good scrub, especially when new.  The Light, Sun, & UV sounds like a good idea… I’ll give it a try and let you know.

5

I had one with a rootbeer smell filled with water and added 1/4 cup of baking soda left it over night, no more smell.

6

Oxyclean!

Break the keg down. Wash thoroughly. Soak posts in oxyclean solution.

7

I have done this several times on a couple of new to me kegs, and still couldn’t get rid of the smell.

8

That’s a damn shame. :-\

9

I would think 5 gallons of bear would raise, see and beat a few ounces of liquid carcinogen…

10

But where does one get 5 gallons of bear?

11

I’d love to get a UV light for equipment storage… especially hoses and fittings.  I looked one time and couldn’t find anything for building my own box.

12

One possibility is that the SS corny held rootbeer at one time.  That smell is hard to eliminate.

You said you replaced all the gaskets–good.

Have you taken a sponge/scour pad and scrubed the entire interior of the vessel? 
It isn’t fun–and it is hard to get one’s arm all the way in there sometimes, but it has to be done.
Don’t forget to clean the gas-in and fluid-out pick up tube both inside and out.
Use the corny keg tube cleaner brush–it looks like a gun barrel rod brush.
IME, some chemicals (e.g., oxyclean) still require elbow grease to get the crud/biofilm off.

13

Rather than trying to cram your arm down inside, a toilet brush works well for scrubbing cornies.

For obvious reasons, you would want a brand new dedicated brush.

14

If you have replaced all of the rubber O-rings, then the smell is probably from the rubber top. And no worries about that.
RDWHAHB

15

In the woods.