Ordered a used pin lock keg and regulator kit today and now I’m excited. I ordered it from NB since it’s used anyone know what I need to do to get it ready for beer. I’ll have a beer ready shortly to put in it.
I would clean the heck out of it and replace all the seals. Very easy to do. Soak the keg and all the fittings and tubes with PBW
AND make sure your keg will seal before you put beer in it. I’ve never had one I couldn’t get to seal, but I have one that always takes a bit of fiddling with, I believe because the sealing surface around the lid is slightly bent.
Someone said to fill with water and pressurize to check for leaks
That’s right. After it’s pressurized spray some StarSan or similar around the lid and fittings and look for bubbles.
And if you ever take the connections off spray the posts with star san. This will show if the poppets are stuck. A slow leak on either post can either empty the keg or result in flat beer. As mentioned check the lid after attaching CO2 to avoid having an empty tank the next day.
If by chance you have a difficult lid Williams Homebrew sells thicker o-rings that really work well.
Since I’m picking my gear up today…all good things to know.
Lucky dog, mine hopefully will be here by next weekend. I have two fermenters ready to empty. Not sure who will get the keg, the IPA or the Saison. The other I’ll bottle.
IPA should be kegged and saison bottled. Belgians benefit from bottle conditioning.
Try not to have too much loose hops or trub in your keg. It gums the lines up a bit. Sometimes you can blow it out with increased CO2 pressure. Sometimes I have had to open the keg to clear the lines, not ideal.
That’s what I’ll do. I have one fermenter that just keeps producing IPA. because of demand I keep one going. The other fermenter I will just keep making specialty beers and bottle. I see more kegs in my future. I think my next step will be making some room in my basement and building a conditioning closet. What a great hobby.
I have 14 kegs and try to keep them rotating. After I get my kitchen refinished I’m building a 6’x6’ temp controlled room in my basement. I plan on building it to specs if I want to drop temps enough to use as a fridge but plan on cooling mostly to 60°. I have a heated/cooled conical from MoreBeer but even it has its limits.
My closet may be a little smaller. I plan to keep using a spare fridge for cold temps.
