Mini Kegs for Aging?...

[EJHintz]

I am thinking of using mini kegs for aging my high gravity beers, because they are smaller than 5 gal. soda kegs. Which means I can age more beer in my small storage area. And can serve more variety without tapping a 5 gal. keg that wont get finished right away. I am interested to know about the performance of the lining inside of the keg and the rubber bung. Are there any issues with leaking or sanitation? I'd love to hear from someone that has experience with aging in mini kegs?

[bassetbeer]

I've aged (and later drank) beer in minikegs up to about 3 months with pretty good results (i.e. no noticeable contamination or other off flavors). The lining *seems* to hold up pretty well on that scale.

The cans don't hold up so well aesthetically, particularly those that have been used, emptied, cleaned, and left to air dry. Some superficial rust and light pitting does occur (it's only lightly zinc coated afterall). I've got a couple minikegs in the garage that have been just sitting there (emtpy) for a couple years. I'll take a look this evening and let you know if there's any lining issues.

I do have a reasonably large stock (~8 minikegs), well large for me anyway, in storage. I stopped using minikegs about 2003, mostly because they're a pain in the @$$ to clean for as little as they hold.

However, if you can give me until this weekend, I'll pop one of 'em and let you know how the long term storage went.

[bassetbeer]

Alrighty... sorry for the delay on posting a follow-up.

Popped a mini keg this weekend from 2002. I have to say, the stuff has aged pretty well. It wasn't great (but the beer wasn't that great to begin with), but it was drinkable and I didn't pick up any off flavors from the lining or the can.

The carbonation was little high, guessing that it was just over primed to begin with. Do be careful when you prime in the minikegs, they will bulge and deform (I've even heard a couple stories about blowing the bung - that sounds bad doesn't it?).

Anyway, looking at the (empty) cans I've got in storage, I don't see any visible signs of lining deterioration or other physical issues (other than some minor aesthetic rust and pitting, but nothing I'd worry about).

If you re-use the minikegs (and there's no reason you shouldn't), plan on spending some time cleaning the things. It's not particularly easy to get the yeast scum off the bottom or make sure that everything's clean inside. One tip though: the little bung plugs (that sounds bad too) that are set into the bungs... take a handful of those and toss 'em into the keg when you clean. A little BBrite (or your favorite cleaning solution), some hot water, and those plugs. Shake and swirl really well and that should take care of most of it. The plastic thingees are less likely to damage the lining, but still provide some abrasive surface to work on cleaning.

Anyway, long post, but the bottom line is that you should be fine aging in minikegs. Watch how much you prime (can bulges and over carbonation), be sure they're really clean (that is, rather than wasting a bottle's worth if it's not clean, you just ruined ~1/4 of a 5 gal batch), and give it a shot.

I know most people move to minikegs because of size or cost restrictions preventing full kegging systems. They're a great intermediate. However, consider full kegging - you'd never regret it (why do you think I gave up minikegs in 2003?).

Good luck.

[Kevminator]

Talk to Dan Listermann at Listermann Manufacturing.

www.listermann.com

He is a big fan of mini kegs and is a plethora of knowledge on the use, cleaning, care, resurrection, etc. of mini kegs. Also, he makes several neat gadgets for mini kegs that are extremely useful, like the pressure relief bung.