Beer Forum

I was filling my CO2 tank at a local fire extinguisher place and got to talking. He gave me a 2.5 gallon stainless steel extinguisher to try and put beer or soda in. He said its only had water in it. Anyone think this is a bad idea so far?

Here are the details: It has a plastic dip tube that comes out with the head. It also has a short, 7", plastic sleeve at the opening that will not come out. It has a small metal bike tire style nub to pressurize it and I took off the spray hose and it has a threaded opening.

I was thinking of trying to serve some beer out of this after cleaning and sanitizing. Hookup a cobra tap, fill it from a bike tire CO2 thing. Any thoughts on if the plastic dip tube and sleeve could give me infections or leach some chemicals?

It certainly would lend a certain sort of panache to the act of drinking from it.

Just because it is stainless does not mean it is food grade. What kind of Stainless is it? Is it 304? There are different types.
What are the welds made from? do they contain any lead?
I wouldn't use something that is not made specifically for food. I would rather know my friends are safe drinking my beer.

David Oh

A man after my own heart...been a firefighter for 12 years, and I've got one of these sitting in my basement. It's on my to do list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Would it be perfect? No. I wouldn't want to store anything in it for awhile, but for a fun dispenser (or a way to smuggle brew...) it should be fine. I think we've all drank from worse. I'd just clean and sanitize, maybe look into replacing the hose. Water sits in those things for years. Double check the plastic sleeve...it should come out. That's there to ensure headspace, so when you fill water up to that sleeve there is enough headspace to pressurize with 100 psi compressed air. You should be able to pull it out, or unjam it with a screwdriver. Remember...the gauge (if there is one) is calibrated to 100 psi...not recommended unless you want a REAL FAST pour!

[quote="Luthierzan"]What are the welds made from? do they contain any lead?[quote]

I am familiar with lead used in steel to make for a free machining metal (and it is a pure joy to machine) I have never heard of any lead used in SST. Have you? Am I missing something?

Cliff wrote:

Luthierzan wrote:What are the welds made from? do they contain any lead?

I am familiar with lead used in steel to make for a free machining metal (and it is a pure joy to machine) I have never heard of any lead used in SST. Have you? Am I missing something?

I'm not a professional welder by any means, but I do tig weld from time to time, and if it is made out of 304 stainless I wouldn't worry too much. Obviously the welds are not sanitary welds, but for short term storage I think it'd be fine.

II think people are misreading my post.

I didn't say it was lead nor did I say that t was 304. My only point was you do not know what it is made of.
Therefore I would not use it as a vessle to put food in.

Thanks all. It does not say what kind of stainless. I just noticed it says not to pressurize with Carbon Dioxide. Odd. In then end it was free and if here is a chance it will make people sick then its not worth it. I may contact the company and ask them about it.