Remove Sprite smell from corny?

[sideshow_ben]

Hi gang. I have a used corny that came to me reeking of Sprite. I have cleaned it umpteen times with PBW, let Star San eat away for days, and used various combinations of 91% alcohol, sand, vinegar, baking soda...the odor persists and I'm afraid of putting beer in it because I don't want those flavors. I also don't want to trash a $50 keg. Any magic remedies I might have missed?

 

[LovesIPA]

You didn't say whether you completely disassembled the keg, replaced all the o-rings, poppets and pressure relief valve (all are or have rubber parts that absorb odors and flavors), and cleaned and sanitized the tubes and posts. If you didn't, that's probably where your odor is coming from.

When I get a new keg, the first thing I do is fill it with 5 gallons of hot water and a scoop of oxyclean. Take the posts off and remove both tubes and re-insert them. This makes sure the insides of the tubes get exposed to the cleaner as well. Let it sit overnight. Clean the top exterior, including the lid, with a brush and warm soapy water. Take it apart, cleaning each part and then soaking it in sanitizer. Rinse all the oxyclean out and put about a quart of sanitizer in it. Put it back together, having cleaned each part, new and old, and soaked it in sanitizer. When it's back together, shake it around a few times and it's ready for beer when you need it to be.

 

[hopdoc]

If you open the keg and leave it open for a few days, I have noticed that the smell seems to fade....

 

[bob1852]

Did you change out all of the rubber seals, including poppets?

Those soda smells can hide forevever in those.

 

[sideshow_ben]

Sorry that I left out the disassembly. Yes, I took everything out and replaced all the rubber seals. I suppose I can try again. It's as if the metal got impregnated....which isn't possible.

 

[BobTheFourth]

Maybe its just the rubber on the outside that still smells?

 

[sideshow_ben]

Nope. Not the outside. I shoved my head inside and wow is it strong. :-/

 

[hopdoc]

All of my kegs reeked of soda and fanta when I got them. None of these smells ever carried over to ant of my brews.

Did you say you cleaned your keg with sand???

 

[bd2xu]

You didn't say whether you completely disassembled the keg, replaced all the o-rings, poppets and pressure relief valve (all are or have rubber parts that absorb odors and flavors), and cleaned and sanitized the tubes and posts. If you didn't, that's probably where your odor is coming from.

When I get a new keg, the first thing I do is fill it with 5 gallons of hot water and a scoop of oxyclean. Take the posts off and remove both tubes and re-insert them. This makes sure the insides of the tubes get exposed to the cleaner as well. Let it sit overnight. Clean the top exterior, including the lid, with a brush and warm soapy water. Take it apart, cleaning each part and then soaking it in sanitizer. Rinse all the oxyclean out and put about a quart of sanitizer in it. Put it back together, having cleaned each part, new and old, and soaked it in sanitizer. When it's back together, shake it around a few times and it's ready for beer when you need it to be.

+1 on the oxyclean FREE and hot hot water. Works as well as pbw and a LOT cheaper. But I would add pushing both the oxy and sanitizer through with co2.

 

[sideshow_ben]

All of my kegs reeked of soda and fanta when I got them. None of these smells ever carried over to ant of my brews.

Did you say you cleaned your keg with sand???

Yeah, I read somewhere to put sand in with isopropyl alcohol and shake the hell out of the keg so it effectively scrubs the metal clean. Boy were my arms tired!