Keg Management Tips Please!

[Wortgames]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to some forward-thinking hippies who 'liberated' a bunch of kegs when a country pub was demolished years ago, I am now the official custodian of quite a large number of them. :beer:

Being the organised, systematic kind of guy that I am, I need some suggestions on how best to manage them, in terms of rotation, cleaning and storage. I have my existing kegs numbered and keep a log book (I know, pretty anal, but it seems to be the best way to keep track of their history). Obviously with over 20 kegs it's a bit hard to get to 'know' them personally, so I need to manage them in such a way that I can trust them. My plan is to probably cycle them through beer>secondary>soda water>cleaning & storage with iodophor - any comments?

How do you manage your kegs? What products do you use? How often do you completely dismantle and clean them? Do you replace seals regularly or just when you start to notice leaks? Should I leave them filled with iodophor solution between beers?

Any input welcomed!

BTW - I'm not planning on selling any in the near future (sorry), but I'll let you know if and when I do...

 

[Scotty]

Wortgames, keeping a log book is an excellent idea and i think you should stick with that. Keep numbering them and in your log book record when you service them and when you plan to again. Oh yeh, your a lucky *******... Wish i had 22 kegs.

 

[sosman]

Sounds to me like you need a sheep (keg?) dog.

Anyway, I take it you are talking postmix kegs. I used to strip my kegs down each time I filled it, now I don't bother. I flush cleaning and sanitation solutions through them with compressed air, including blowing it out the relief valve.

I have found that my kegs don't suffer from the leaks they used to when I used to strip them down - they seem to bed in a bit after a fill or two. I keep a spare hatch o-ring handy, they go hard after a while and tend to leak.

I also take advantage of keg cleaning time to flush through my serving tubes and pluto gun.