Cl in kegs

[svobodajohn]

OK Here's my issue. Make a long story short, I use a Chlorinated Alkaline compound to clean my kegs. I've been using O2 to purge the kegs as not to neutralize the stuff. Now I've been told that Cl in a bright tank and / or kegs will cause pitting as well as poor head retention if all the Cl is not removed. I do not have a compressor nor can I afford one. My question is this. Does Cl in an O2 environment have the pitting effect? My chemical guy says no but I'm not sure. The kegs are very clean on inspection, but I'm spending a boat load on O2. If I were to get a compressor, (electric oiless) how do I determine the horse power I need for a 4 keg station? Also the Cl issue. Thanks JS

[imabrewer]

I should ask the obvious non related question...if you are spending a "boat load on O2" then why can't you afford an air compressor to press out your kegs? Go and buy a small Sears oil-less compressor for $350.00 and you'd be all set, just a suggestion. Now on to the real question...
The biggest issue you should deal with is to not let the chlorine evaporate in the keg. Pressing the kegs out for too long may accelerate this effect. If the chemicals are left on the keg wall and the water evaporates, now you have concentrated chlorine attacking the stainless and you'll get bad pitting and eventual weld failures. Granted, the chlorinated caustic is not as bad as using straight chlorine, so if you are careful you may never have issues (which is probably what your chemical guy is thinking). YOu can also switch to a non chlorinated alkaline product and probably get the kegs just as clean. You should be rinsing your kegs after the caustic before you can sanitize and fill them anyway correct? The water rinsing and subsequent sanitizing should help remove any residual chlorine too.

Then I would try to fill the kegs with beer right away and never store them "wet" unless they have been heavily rinsed to get out all the caustic and chlorine. You want to do whatever you can to prevent any chlorinated vapor from drying in the keg. We stay away from chlorine in general just because of the stainless steel issue, as well as the fact that residual chlorine in contact with your beer will give you a medicinal flavor in your beer (like chewing on a band-aid). Hope this helps.

Curtis

[svobodajohn]

Thanks

Yes it's true that the O2 expence can be elliminated by an investment in a compressor. Will the sears type have the "balls" to evacuate 4 kegs? How do I determine the capacity that I need for the job? I have been rinsing the kegs with hot H2O and then doing a final purge with CO2. This I felt would neatralize the base but I did not think about the halogen component. Will long rinse do the trick? Myother issue is my keg cleaner does not have a heating element. That's why I use the Cl product in the first place. So the answer is: Get a compressor and find away to heat the NaOH. Is there a "drop in" heating elent? McMaster Carr? Thanks for your input. Most appreciative JS

[RobZamites]

Shouldn't be too difficult to find an electrician who'll work for beer to put in a submersible heating element and thermostat for you. WRT the "balls" issue, the two-keg station I used had a 80 psi demand for air, but that was for working the burkett valves, etc, not for purging.

[Moonlight]

Nitrogen would be a much better gas to purge with than oxygen due to oxygen's brutal damage to the beer. A purge cycle will not eliminate all the previous purge gas, so there will still be lots of oxygen in the keg at beer filling. You are wise not to use CO2 to purge caustic as it would neutralize the caustic.
I suspect the oil-less air compressor would be your most cost-effective solution, but I am considering switching to nitrogen to lessen the damage to the beer from the oxygen remaining from the compressed air purges.