Beer in kegs that were used for Kombucha

[baer19d]

I have an opportunity to but several kegs locally that were bought new and used for Kombucha. They have been sitting empty for about 1 year. The current owner has removed and boiled the spears to kill off any SCOBY bugs but his product has previously tested positive for Brett. Does it seem like a safe bet to use these kegs for beer (non sour) if we give them an extra long caustic cleaning and sani cycle?

[dick murton]

I'd be tempted to clean a batch of kegs, drop and clean out the keg cleaning tanks and pipework, make up with a fresh set of solutions and then re-clean the kegs. If you are using hot (circa 60 deg C) caustic and appropriate strength sanitiser, then I wouldn't expect a problem after this. If you have problems, you are likely to also be having problems with a single clean on your "normal" kegs.

[UnFermentable]

I would be inclined to do a double wash as Dick suggests, but I would also plate on agar and incubate to see if I had concerning growth. In this case, acetobacter plates would be my main focus.

It is a good idea to plate on multiple agar for microbial concerns to verify your procedures.

I would still pull a spear or two out of the lot and visually inspect for mineral deposits. If deposits are found, I would run a scale removing solution in the wash cycle. Once it passes visual and microbial checks, then I’d put beer in them.

[baer19d]

Sorry for the late reply. We ended up passing on the kegs just to be safe. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth.