cornelius kegs

[maxashton]

Hi guys. Can anyone give me a guide to sanitizing Cornelius kegs effectively?
i'm thinking i'll get one for my birthday in june..

[tubby_shaw]

A good soak in soda crystal solution to get thoroughly clean.
Pressurise the keg and run some of the solution through the tap to get the dip tube clean. Rinse with clean water again pressurising to clear the dip tube.
If you need to clear it of syrup smell use an oxyclean product.
I then personally spray betadine solution into the keg, pressurise and run solution through the tap again to sanitise dip tube and beer line. Make sure to invert the keg to sanitise the gas inlet.
Drain betadine from keg, depress poppet valve on out post to empty solution from the dip tube, drain again and fill

[maxashton]

Thanks tubs. Sounds like one of those things that's easy once you get used to it...

[steve_flack]

I'd unscrew the gas in/product out posts every so often and give them a good soak as gunk can build up in there that's tricky to get at.

[delboy]

just used some oxi clean to deodourise and clean my corny kegs, flipping heck thats good stuff . I tried some on a pot that had a burnt on stain which had resisted all sorts of stuff (power creams etc) cleaned up like brand new.
This was ordinary sainsburys own brand stuff to 500g for £1.49 and it had the added benefit of having no perfumes (i cant believe im getting excited by household cleaning products ).
Surely something this strong must sanitize also!!!

[maxashton]

We've talked about it before in another thread.. in theory oxygen does kill bacterium, but the ordinary consumer products aren't good enough to sanitize properly.
You need either the commercial stuff (which seems to be supplemented by acid sterilizers), or specific brewing products.

IT is damn good stuff tho.

I didn't realise sainsbury's had an own-brand one. What's it called?

[delboy]

its called Sainsburys stain remover powder (with active oxygen) comes in a purple coloured tub in amongst oxi products. I reckon all the big stores will have their own brands (all hopefully without the perfume).
I don't want to kick start some old debated topic but surely the sodium percobanate breaks down to hydrogen peroxide which is antimicrobial. The entry for it in wikiapedia certainly attributes it with anti bacteria and anti viral properties.
Also this link http://www.wlchem.com/template/e-zc1.htm
"Acts as a disinfectant on both bacteria and viruses likely to be encountered in the home"
We use a product called virkon in the lab quite a lot, basically its just a glorified detergent with some peroxide agent and it kills just about everything.

BTW has anyone tried reacting acetic acid (vinegar) with the hydrogen peroxide released from sodium percorbanate to get peracetic acid on the fly so to speak (Im not personally recommending it i have no idea how vigirous the reaction would be or even if it would happen at all).

[maxashton]

Steve is a phd chemistry, so he will probably tell us how dangerous it is.
As i recall, the reaction is v. exothermic, and peracetic can *detonate* at above 110 deg c.

I'd be v. careful if i were you

[delboy]

im from Belfast we know a thing or two about explosives also . Only joking we seem to have put all that nonsense behind us thank goodness .

As i said im not recommending it but it could be a fun experiment to do in the garden with very small volumes!! (i wonder would the Na carbonate react with the acetic acid before the H202).
I reckon a teaspoon of oxi clean and some heated vinegar poured in at arms length for maximum reactivity/explosions!!!

[tubby_shaw]

Give it a try
If you have any fingers left type out the results

[delboy]

just worked out you would need to use the oxi stuff at about 300g per litre to yield about a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution.
So probably not so good for sanitising as has been said,but its still tremendous stuff for cleaning

[steve_flack]

wonder would the Na carbonate react with the acetic acid before the H202.

General rule of chemistry - acid/base reactions are very fast. You'd end up with sodium acetate, CO2 and a bunch of foam before you'd get peracetic. Remember also that peracetic acid is ermmmm... an acid and would also react with carbonate...even if you made some.

My personal belief with sanitisation is that truly there are only a few things I really trust

1. Boiling
2. Chlorine (bleach, antiformin)
3. Peracetic acid
...a long way
4. Iodophor

I used Starsan for a while and to be honest, even though I never had an infection whilst using it I never felt...'convinced' using it.

[maxashton]

I feel the same way about Iodophor, Steve. It seems to work OK, but it doesn't have the same "OH MY GOD MY SINUSES!" thing going on.

[Andy]

No rinse sanitiser? it's ju-ju man!

[delboy]

wonder would the Na carbonate react with the acetic acid before the H202.

General rule of chemistry - acid/base reactions are very fast. You'd end up with sodium acetate, CO2 and a bunch of foam before you'd get peracetic. Remember also that peracetic acid is ermmmm... an acid and would also react with carbonate...even if you made some.

Thanks for the info steve i guess you'd need unadultered H2O2 to make that work and some glacial acetic acid. Not that you'd want to after all 'peroxides kill chemists' or so the saying goes.
BTW what kind of chemist are you organic or inorganic?

Daab i take it the oxi clean debate is one of those polarising subjects a bit like batch sparge or the work of the devil fly sparging (still haven't made my mind up which one is for me).