The Redhook brewery explosion that took the life of employee Ben Harris has focused the beer world on the safety of plastic kegs. As the investigation moves forward, there are reports of additional explosions surfacing and all seem to relate to kegs manufactured by Plastic Kegs America (PKA). Details from Fosters:
However, since the accident, Foster's has learned of at least four other breweries around the country where plastic kegs have exploded while being cleaned in a pressurized keg washer.
In each instance, the breweries were using plastic kegs manufactured by a company called Plastic Kegs America.
In August, an unidentified brewery also submitted a report to the Consumer Product Safety Commission detailing explosions of two plastic kegs, with photographic evidence. Both were manufactured by PKA, according to the report.
Mount Pleasant Brewing: Then on Aug. 6, one of the plastic kegs exploded while it was being cleaned on an automated machine, Holton said. One half of the keg soared upward, denting a 20-foot-high ceiling, and the bottom half slammed into the machine.
At Marble Brewery in New Mexico, it was a brand new 15.5 gallon keg received with a shipment from Plastic Kegs America that exploded. The keg was being washed for the first time when it failed at the seam weld.
On Aug. 14, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission received a report from an unidentified brewery regarding plastic keg failures. It states a pair of 5.2 gallon kegs from PKA burst at the seams while being cleaned during this year. The most recent incident occurred on May 18, according to the report, which is available at SaferProducts.gov.
Like some other breweries using plastic kegs, Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Fla., has constructed a new blast cage around its keg purging station.
Founder Joey Redner said in 2009, a Plastic Kegs America product blew apart at the seam while it was being washed. The new cage was installed this year after the fatal accident at Redhook in April.
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