sterilising a keg

hi brewgang

Been a while since I've been here, hope all is well.
My dad has provided me with a plastic keg (20 litres-ish) with tap that he requests is returned to him filled with bitter.
I gonna brew him a kit in a standard fermentation barrel, then transfer the beer to this keg, primed, and leave it to condition. Then he can draw straight from this keg.

Anyway, my question is thus.
This keg is kinda old. it was sealed but that has not prevented a little bit of 'weirdness' to appear on the inside in the 20 or so years its not been used. Nothing like proper mould, but a bit of discolouring. So I needs a clean and sterilise.

What cleaning products would anyone recommend for my needs? There's only a small opening so it'd need to be a good cleaner, plus me messing about with a big bottle brush or summat.

And if you think it's stupid to use a 30 year old plastic keg instead of buying a fresh 'un... just say.

If you can afford a new one why risk it?

With age, plastic looses it's elasticity. I wouldn't risk using it. It would be a waste if you pick it up and the bottom rips out.

If you are gonna use it get some unscented oxyclean from poundland and fill her up with a spoon or two in it I usually use warm water let it sit for a day or two and occasionally loose a bit out the tap to clean that as well or put a small cup under the tap filled with the same solution.

Has it been stored in the dark? If its been in a bright place for a long period of time I'd reckon u/v light could have made the plastic brittle.
Otherwise, I'd use sodium percarbonate (the active ingredient in oxyclean) to clean it and neat, thin bleach to sterilise it.

Thanks for your replies guys.

It's been stored in the dark, and I've already filled it right up with hot water and fairy liquid. Picked it up by the handle no problem. Even cleaned it a bit.
I'll try the oxyclean approach.

Hoppyland, when you say you use neat, thin bleach to sterilise - is that just thin domestos that you would buy at the supermarket and use around the home?

I don't use Domestos - the stuff I'm aware of has some sort of thickening agent (and/or surfacant added).
What I use for sterilising is "bargain basement" bleach - basically just a solution of sodium hypochlorite in water, nothing else. I use it a lot (some others don't, mainly because it needs very thorough rinsing I believe). But, for something stored in dubious conditions, I believe you can't beat it for pretty well guaranteed kill of any nasties. I use it neat because I think it's more potent that way. You don't need a large volume of it, but swirl it regularly around the inside of your vessel over, say, an hour & most things will be well dead.
To rinse, use several repeated dilutions rather than a couple of big ones. Again, you don't need a huge volume. Pour off as much of the bleach as you can, then add maybe 1 pint of water. Thoroughly swirl this around - preferably shake the vessel vigorously so the water breaks up into droplets. Repeat this process 5 times or more and there won't be much active bleach left. However the air in the vessel will still smell strongly of chlorine - a very little causes a big smell, like at the swimming baths.
I don't worry too much about this, but if you want to be sure it's all gone simply fill the vessel with tap water - all the chlorine smell will be driven off with the displaced air.
OK, you then technically don't have a "sterile" vessel - but it will be as free from infective organisms as if you bought a new one & rinsed it out. It's easy to get too paranoid about things (see recent thread on this subject).
Bleach does divide opinion - search this forum for "bleach" threads & you'll see!
But it works! :)

the_bing said:

Hoppyland, when you say you use neat, thin bleach to sterilise - is that just thin domestos that you would buy at the supermarket and use around the home?

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20 years! The plastic would no doubt have deteriorated. I'm not even sure what kind of poly what's is name. Will be a bit fragile

brumbrew said:

20 years! The plastic would no doubt have deteriorated. I'm not even sure what kind of poly what's is name. Will be a bit fragile

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20 years old??!!
Are you sue it's not made of Bakelite!?

I have a PB date stamped 1982 which I was given. It had been in an cellar for over 25 years. I replaced the cap and dispensing tap and gave the inside a good soak in bleach and a good clean before I tested it.
It's fine, and in use.

I'd recommend give it a good clean. Then put some sparkling water in it. Then taste it. First off you'll be able see if it can stand pressure and then you can taste if it's OK. But I am a bit of a suck and see kind of guy.

cheers guys.

20 years? oh I don't know, but its certainly been around a good long while. It was cleaned and sealed and put in the loft (in the dark). it seems pretty sturdy. I've been hauling it around full to the brim with water. Handles not come off yet :thumb:

Anyway, it's currently full up to the brim in an unfragranced oxyclean solution - gonna leave it 24 hours.

Might do the bleach thing too. Sod it - I like paranoid :-?