So I’ve had kegs in my basement for about 6 months aging with the plan being to dry hop them after aging. When I pulled them out of storage yesterday the kegs are covered in mold all over the outside. I’m nervous to open them up for fear of mold spores ending up in the beer. Any suggestions?
I was thinking of bleeding the pressure, removing and cleaning the in and out QD’s and transferring the beer to different kegs via jumper line. It’ll be a pain in the a$$, but I’d rather do that than end up with contaminated beer.
I think I’d just clean them with a bleach solution before opening. Put one in a bathtub and spray it down good, wipe with a scratch pad and then give it a cold shower to rinse.
I would suggest cleaning prior to opening or tapping also. If the contents are under pressure nothing could have gotten in.
Personnaly I would use a strong ammonia solution to clean them as opposed to bleach. Ammonia is highly effective at killing mold spores and is not reactive with stainless steel, unlike bleach which can cause corrosion of the SS.
If you are going to use a strong ammonia solution, by all means do it outside.
I’d use a bleach solution. 5 minutes with a bleach solution followed by a good rinse won’t affect the stainless. I wouldn’t bother to transfer after cleaning them.
By strong, I meant 1/2 - 1 cup per gallon, or double the standard rate quoted on the bottle.
Thanks for the advise everyone. I’ll give them a good cleaning with bleach or ammonia. The only spots that I’m really worried about are the nooks of the relieve valve and the lid, especially since I have to remove the lid to dry hop.
