Plastic Keg Review and Cleaning/Refilling Experiment

This review on the PET plastic kegs includes the pros and cons compared to traditional metal kegs. We also perform an experiment to see if we can clean and re-use these kegs.

[@JMR101]

Hi there. I've washed and reused these kegs for the past two years. I generally get about six uses out of them before they get scuffed and damaged. Depends on how they are treated... A colder run on the keg washer works and I made a tool to take the spears out and then you can bump them back on after cleaning... Great for domestic so you aren't worried about your keg being returned. A small deposit keeps them coming back generally.

[@TwistedElkBreweryLakeCityPA]

Great tip!

[@cliffthegardener]

As a home brewer i have two 30l chubby fermenters. The instruction have them with a 2 year life, without pressure testing. They advise max of 55°C /130F and to avoid pinging the vessel. So avoiding the vacuum effect - which i struggle with. That said i do like them whether as pressure fermenters or dispense. Weight and non return of metal kegs loss at events being the other cost benefit

[@scottayling5835]

If like fermzilla they market max temp 50c which I believe is about 122f

[@alexey.manoylo]

Hi, I use plastic kegs, and I also ferment beer in them under pressure. The only problem is that the lids burst from time to time when I ferment under pressure, since there is a pressure device on it and it bends it. But they are cheap, you can change them every 2-3 months.

[@LagerThanLife]

Homebrewers can take a risk, they definitely have value after they are used.

[@thirstbuster78]

I've been using a 1/6 barrel for a few months, just as good as my aluminum sankes.

[@TwistedElkBreweryLakeCityPA]

That's awesome, are you manually cleaning them or running them on a keg washer?

[@user-do7lp9fl8i]

Update ?

[@TwistedElkBreweryLakeCityPA]

So far I've successfully cleaned and filled the plastic keg 3 times. This summer will be the true test during festival season when I will be using them all summer long.