Cleaning pressure barrels

Hi Guys and Girls, I have just recently started homebrewing and with great success on my first batch, as a result a friend of my dad has kindly given me 2 king keg pressure barrels. The only snag is they have been kept in a shed for a long time and are very dirty.

As I am only on my second brew I am very much a novice and require some advise from people that have more experience on how to clean them. I was thinking of giving them one hell of a scrub down several times and sterilising them as well. I was also going to change the taps and cap.

But if you can give me any other advice/experience for a novice homebrewer I would greatly appreciated. I have already gone through these forums and gavered quite a bit of information already but more the merrier.

Thanks in advance.

Oxyclean or PBW cleans all. Fill them, soak them overnight, and the rinse thoroughly. I'd follow up with a round of starsan.

+1 to what was said. If the soak doesn't clean them out you could use a stainless steel cleaner like Bar Keepers Friend to gut the gunk off. I would also think about replacing the o-rings.

I don't know what cleaners are available in UK, but you need something that is going to work with soaking and not scrubbing. Scrubbing is a no - no with a plastic container as it can scour the surface and lead to infections. It is also necessary to look for an unscented cleaner as plastics can absorb the scent.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-1.html gives some useful information on cleaners.

-a.