Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:34 pm
I used an old Heineken keg for a batch last summer. The result tasted like metal. So it wasn't so much contamination that would be my concern (you're right, you can't get into that canister inside for proper cleaning), so much as rust over the long term. Apparently the lining inside these kegs doesn't last forever. Maybe a year, tops, before the beer will taste like metal. So buy a new keg and start over. No big whoop. Drill a hole, sanitize, and you're set. The hardest part of using these kegs is to rig the bung with the bike tube valve. If you can do that, and you've got a reasonably fresh keg, you're golden.
Dave
"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption. Let us give praise to our Maker, and glory to His bounty, by learning about... BEER!" - Friar Tuck (Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves)