How Do I Get Into This Keg

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Cracka

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Hi all,

Have scored one of these kegs and am wondering how to get into them.

271154397.jpg

I've unscrewed the top part but there is still something stopping it from coming out <_< .

Any help would be appreciated. Also are these kegs illegal to own :huh:
 
Ohhh... good score! Those 20L kegs are bloody handy!

Yes it is illegal, and I have seen people try to get into them before, not sure anyone has had much luck though.

I wonder how you would get the beer into it?
 
Ohhh... good score! Those 20L kegs are bloody handy!

Yes it is illegal, and I have seen people try to get into them before, not sure anyone has had much luck though.

I wonder how you would get the beer into it?



Its interesting you say that because I bought it of Ebay :eek:
 
Its not that unusual a fitting... one of the several sankey type fittings. A bit of googling should lead you to which type of sankey fitting it is (I think they go by letters, A, D, F etc) and from there you should be able to find a walk through on how to remove the spear etc.... But be careful... make sure you de-pressurise the thing properly before you try to take it out, or when it does come out, it will do so in a big hurry and maybe kill you on the way.

I would (if I were to engage in the terrible habbit of illegal keg use, which of course I wouldn't) not bother trying to pull it apart at all... you are going to need the correct type sankey fitting to use it... and you can fill and empty through that.

Don't bother with a really thorough cleaning routine for it... just give it a rinse out and a sanitise, use it a half dozen times, and then ditch it at the same place you "found" it... meanwhile liberating another of the same type, freshly clean and sanitised from the brewery, with nothing worse inside than 500ml of nice sterile Heinekin. Kinda like swap and go, where the brewery does all the hard work of cleaning the keg for you. Which is what I'd be doing if I were using any of the normal 50L sankeys as well.

Thirsty

PS, just saw your last post.... most likely still illegal. Did you get a letter from the brewery stating that they had given/sold the keg to the previous owner?? If not, then its still their property and you potentially could get in trouble for having it.
 
As someone else has already stated, don't try to take the keg apart unless it's leaking (and thus needs to be fixed) and also is completely depressurized.

You'll need a sankey type fitting to connect to this thing. Have a look here at the 1st and 3rd pictures on the page. You'll have to determine exactly which type you'll need. The larger orifice, pointing straight up, is for liquid out, and the smaller one on an angle is for gas in.

To drain it, simply hook up your CO2 to the gas in connector, and your beer line & tap to the liquid out. The connector, with its handle up, gets screwed onto the keg. When it is locked in position, you move the handle down toward the keg to push the keg's spring-loaded closing mechanism down into the keg, thus opening it. To remove the connector, pull out on the handle, then move it up away from the keg to disengage the keg opening mechanism. Then unscrew the connector.

To clean it, you'll first have to depressurize it (bleed pressure off of the gas in fitting). Then pour some water straight down into the connector's liquid in fitting. Disconnect, slosh, reconnect, drain. Same to sanitize. To fill, just hook up your racking hose to the liquid in fitting and either let gravity take over (if your fermenter has a tap) or just suck on the gas in fitting to start a siphon (if racking from a carboy).

Once you get the proper fitting and play with the keg a bit, the whole procedure will become obvious. The nice thing about sankey fittings is that they're all threaded - I find them much easier to disconnect/clean/etc than simple barbed fittings. Hope this helps.
 
Its not that unusual a fitting... one of the several sankey type fittings. A bit of googling should lead you to which type of sankey fitting it is (I think they go by letters, A, D, F etc) and from there you should be able to find a walk through on how to remove the spear etc.... But be careful... make sure you de-pressurise the thing properly before you try to take it out, or when it does come out, it will do so in a big hurry and maybe kill you on the way.

I would (if I were to engage in the terrible habbit of illegal keg use, which of course I wouldn't) not bother trying to pull it apart at all... you are going to need the correct type sankey fitting to use it... and you can fill and empty through that.

Don't bother with a really thorough cleaning routine for it... just give it a rinse out and a sanitise, use it a half dozen times, and then ditch it at the same place you "found" it... meanwhile liberating another of the same type, freshly clean and sanitised from the brewery, with nothing worse inside than 500ml of nice sterile Heinekin. Kinda like swap and go, where the brewery does all the hard work of cleaning the keg for you. Which is what I'd be doing if I were using any of the normal 50L sankeys as well.

Thirsty

PS, just saw your last post.... most likely still illegal. Did you get a letter from the brewery stating that they had given/sold the keg to the previous owner?? If not, then its still their property and you potentially could get in trouble for having it.




Already have the coupler. It has been degassed and the spear is loose. Just still catching on something on the way out
 
As deadly said on a similar thread some time ago,
put a $2 coin in the bottom of the well, then action the coupler.

This pushes down the fitting far enough to disengage this security lock. You should then be able to unscrew the keg top.

MHB
 
As deadly said on a similar thread some time ago,
put a $2 coin in the bottom of the well, then action the coupler.

This pushes down the fitting far enough to disengage this security lock. You should then be able to unscrew the keg top.

MHB



Thanks Mark. I'll give it a go shortly. Just so you know, I have already unscrewed it and it is loose, but as you say there may be a security lock still stopping it.
 
EDIT:
Checked on Micromatics website and they say its an Sankey S type. Similar to the D type but a lower well, I think. http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/k...tter=h#couplers

Pictures look the same, so I'll take that back and say its an S type (also known as European Sankey)"not" D type. They look very similar. Micromatic maybe your best bet for buying an S type coupler.

S_system.jpg


D_system.jpg
 
MHB you were spot on :super: :super:

For future reference I took some pics.

PH_010.jpg

PH_011.jpg

PH_013.jpg

you can see the $2 coin which is just the right spacing

PH_012.jpg

this is the coupler I have which also does the carlton keg

PH_015.jpg

you can see the small lock tab on the right

PH_014.jpg

because of the size these will make a really good adition to any homebrew setup. Just would still like to know if
they are illegal or not <_<
 

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Just on the last pic, has anyone got a spare male coupler the same as in the pic. :D
 
Your coupler looks like a D type coupler, not an S type. So it will fit the CUB kegs properly but not your keg, as I believe it won't open the keg properly.

Check the pics below for the differences: As you see the S system protrudes from the bottom of the coupler because the S system has a deeper well than the D system.

D-type S-type

D_system_7485E.jpg


S_7486E.jpg
 
Thanks, but the credit goes to deadly

When I had the same problem I spent 1/2 an hour carefully shaping a piece 3/4" O.D. SS bar into something the size and shape of a $2 coin.
Sometimes it pays to think laterally.

MHB
 
because of the size these will make a really good adition to any homebrew setup. Just would still like to know if
they are illegal or not <_<

LOL, you can be 99% certain its not legal. If its says Heineken on it, Heineken owns it.
 
Cracka,

Glad you got it apart.

As far as are they legal or not. In all probability... not legal. You might be able to buy a keg like that legally from someone... but it probably wont have Heineken or XXXX gold stickers on it !!

Basically, if there is any kind of brewery identification on the keg, then someone at some stage pinched it from somewhere and its not legal. The big breweries are very reluctant to sell current format kegs to anyone; and on the rare occasion when they do, they will supply a letter with the keg serial number included, stating that you have obtained the keg legally. Older style kegs and casks are a different story, but if they are the sort that are currently in use (and yours are) then a legal one would be the exception rather than the rule.

If the keg is completely unbranded... then its probably kosher.

So, you might be legit... but probably not. Sorry.

Thirsty
 
Coin system works only with some of S kegs.
Tried with Amstel Heineken 20lit kegs and they worked perfectly.
Than I tried with other S 30 liters kegs and nothing.
I use srewdriver 'technik' and manage to open keg.
Different safety fin , can't be open with coin

050.jpg
 
Try using 5c pieces, they are thinner than 2$ coins and you can build a stack of varying heights, that has gotten me out of trouble a couple of times.
There appear to be some newer kegs with quite advanced tamper resistant spears, they require special tools (or bruit force), in a lot of cases the spear can then be replaced with a Type A spear making later removal really easy.
Mark
 
Here is a pic of the s type filling valve and coupler. ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1428628303.463069.jpg
 
@MHB hope you seen pics , are you saying that lower system on the pic can be open by coin 'system'?
I tried with Dinars and euros, even with some no good old coin but only screwdriver works. :D
Spears are the same only securing thing is different
While euro 20liters have S spear as upper one, 30 liters kegs here are usually like lower tipe.
When you press first one this dip approaches to spear, other type when you press coupler nothing happens

050.jpg
 

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