A shot Keezer and mildwew/mold

[h0psnobery]

My father-in-law's keezer may or may not have kicked the bucket. For some reason he tipped it over to clean it out and it hasn't been cold since. That sucks all on it's own, but he also placed the 20 gallons of homebrew we made for his daughters wedding back in the warm keezer and left it for a month. When we opened it up everything was covered in mildew/mold. Although the beer might've gotten a bit warm in his garage, it was at least carbed up. What are the chances that the beer is salvageable?

We have one free corney, so I was thinking I could add some Co2, siphon the beer in and then disassemble and clean the dirty keg and repeat the process, checking the beer as I go. All of the posts were exposed, should I replace the seals, gaskets, or any other parts? I was thinking about tossing all of the tubing that was in there, but what about plastic connections, any other equipment that I should ditch?

Lastly , I've heard that tipping a freezer will damage the compressor, but is there anything that can be done usually? Any other thoughts? Thanks everyone!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

If its not getting cold your likely SOL, the cost to hire a guy to come out and potentially fix it will cost more than buying a new one...hell just getting him to show up at your door is going to be $100 before he even says if he can fix it.

Consider it a lesson and tell him not to do it again

If the beer was in kegs i see no reason to bother transferring any of it, its in a sealed container. I would clean the outside of the keg as best you can and then when your empty open it up and sanitize/bleach the big lid seal and around the posts, but i see no reason to do much else...

new tubing is cheap so thats a good idea because its likely molded inside.

 

[surffisher2a]

The beer is fine.

Tipping it on its side should only cause temporary problems until the oil/coolant balances back out. (you should wait 24 hours after tipping it to plug it back in). Can you hear the compressor kick in when its running? Does it turn on at all? What are you using for temp control on the keezer, and have you tried running it without just to see if it works? The only problem I see from tipping it that would cause longterm no cooling is if one of the coolant lines flexed when the weight of the compressor changed where it was being supported at and the coolant gas leaked out.

Fuzzewuzze is right about calling a repairman, it will cost you more in parts and labor than just going out and buying a new deep freezer. Home Depot and Lowes usually have GREAT 4th of July appliance sales! I got awesome deals on a Fridge and new washer / dryer last year on those sales.

PS -- easy way to clean the outside of the keg is to take it to your local car wash and give it a spray (no soap or wax). That will knock all the mold and etc off it. Just be-careful not to use too much pressure around the seals.