Be ready for anything the weather throws at your keg fleet

THIELMANN prides itself on the resilience of our kegs. Under standard working conditions, our kegs, and other associated parts, such as spears, maintain their integrity, inertia, and hygiene no matter the demands of storage and transport.

That said, you can’t always rely on completely consistent working conditions. There are various reasons why a brewer might find itself with a surplus of kegs in the warehouse; take the coronavirus pandemic as just one extreme and unexpected example. During an average year, it may just be down to fluctuating demand.

It is important to bear in mind that kegs, particularly their spears, can present performance issues when faced with prolonged lack of use. In addition to this, extreme weather – whether that be hot or cold conditions – can also affect their performance.

However, there are measures you can take to maintain the condition of your keg spears. As a valuable THIELMANN customer, we wanted to share some fundamental tips on how to use your kegs safely following an extended storage period, where they may be exposed to extreme heat or cold.

General tips for extended storage:

• Any keg, new or used, entering a keg line following an extended storage period may have a hardened CO2 gasket. When activating the spear, this can cause the rubber to crack.
• It is advisable to tap kegs when empty by running them through the keg line without filling them. This will soften up the rubber on the spear’s CO2 valve in order to make it more pliable.
• Once complete, the keg can then go through the entire keg line process as usual, including filling.

Extreme weather tips:

• Extreme weather may cause the CO2 gasket to harden, even if the keg hasn’t been stored for a long period of time.
• It is important to keep in mind that when kegs have been exposed to extreme temperatures, they need to acclimatize before activating the spear. This will avoid cracks in the rubber.
• Additionally, under very cold conditions, any used keg due to enter a keg line may also have frozen liquid residue inside from the previous cleaning. It is important to thaw and empty this residue before refilling.
• We recommend following the same process recommended above for kegs coming out of long-term storage. Tap the keg when empty by running it through the keg line without filling, to make the spear’s rubber more pliable. Following this, the keg can go through the entire keg line process as normal, including filling.

We hope that you have found this information useful. Remember, the THIELMANN team is here for you each and every step of the way. To contact one of our representatives simply get in touch here and somebody will get back to you right away.