old dirty barrel

[kevthebootboy]

gents,
ive been given a reet old brown boots presure barrel (1995) looks in an alright state, flithy mind you, the fella that gave me the barrel used to keep oil in,does anyone know what the bast way to clean the oil out? or shall i just chuck it and be done with it?
taa, kev

[subsub]

Personally I would dump it, oil being carcinogenic like. Other members may suggest cleaning solutions but I wouldn't trust anything against oil and plastic.

[Parva]

Have to admit that I nearly replied to this earlier suggesting lots of washing-up liquid, bleach and oxy-clean but shyed away as the worth of the barrel and the risks of losing a batch of beer just weren't worth the effort. By all means try if you're determined but I personally would dump it immediately.

[Horden Hillbilly]

I can only echo what the others have already said, get rid of it. You can buy a new one for £26 with a S30 valve & it will give you many years of use.

[kevthebootboy]

thanks fella's,
to be honest im not keen on it anyways, the fact you cant see how much you have in there and all that,
in the bin with it!

thanks again,kev

[sparky Paul]

I have just been gifted a pile of stuff, including a 50L fermenter and four barrels - all pretty scruffy, but at least it's only brewing residues... mind you, a few of them have a few inches of brown liquid in the bottom, I opened the 50L one and the smell would have knocked flies off a bucket of shite...

I think a good bleaching will sort them out.

Anyway, there are two king kegs, one a top tap, and one with a swan neck chrome tap mounted on the lid to a float, together with some sort of regulator/injector, haven't had a proper look yet. Anyone seen one of these before, or got any links to anything similar?

There's also a good budget keg, and a wierd looking white one with handles moulded into the sides - never seen one like it before. It's pretty thick plastic, but the outside surface of this one is all crazed, like old pottery...

[hoppingMad]

not sure just what kind of barrel this might be and what oil either, but any trace of oil and you've stuffed your head. Thats the foam head not the other one...

[CarpHunter]

The only white one I have seen with handles molded into it was a beer sphere I think made by Hambleton Bard but they are so common I am sure you would of seen one before.

[Flaming Barrel]

Bin it, & buy new ones from wilkinson online for 18 quid.

[sparky Paul]

The only white one I have seen with handles molded into it was a beer sphere I think made by Hambleton Bard but they are so common I am sure you would of seen one before.

No, it's not one of those, I'll have to upload a pic. I'm not too bothered about it, it's the grottiest one of the lot, I'm just curious as to what it is.

[sparky Paul]

Mystery solved. I've found one on fleabay, apparently it's another Boots barrel...



You can just see one of the handles moulded into the side.

[wetdog]

You can just see one of the handles moulded into the side.

I think they're actually dents from where it was kicked round the allotment
I had a beersphere off fleabay a while back. completely black inside. I bought a nylon scrubbing brush and got my arm inside it. An hour or so scrubbing plus several bleach and sanitiser soakings and its good as new inside.

it wouldn't work on oil though, even if it were cooking oil it was used for I'd still get rid

[Jim]

Mystery solved. I've found one on fleabay, apparently it's another Boots barrel...



You can just see one of the handles moulded into the side.

I have a barrel identical to that. It was my second one, the first being the brown type - I never got on well with that one; it's a pain not knowing how much is left in it. Eventually it developed a leak at the seam and I chucked it.

[Jim]

............. the smell would have knocked flies off a bucket of shite.....

That's got to be a candidate for expression of the month!

[sparky Paul]

I have to agree that anything that's had oil in is not going to be good, especially mineral oil.

The surface of this Boots barrel looks odd. It has a shiny glaze-like surface, but it is covered in loads of crazing, like you see on old pottery. I've given it a few thumps with a soft hammer, and the plastic seems sound enough, do you think it will be okay cleaned up?

Also Jim, have you ever seen one of the king kegs with the swan neck chrome tap on the lid? There's no taps on the side at all.