Keg Cleaning

[jeffpn]

I'm not as diligent with the lines and taps.

 

[jmcnamara]

The tap I recently cleaned since it was stuck in place after we got home from vacation. still have to clean the actual line itself (only had a little over 2 corny kegs go through it, so it's probably about time)

As silly as it is, I was pretty happy when I found a wrench in home depot that fit the posts, makes it so much easier. although no one looked at me funny when I brought the empty keg in there

 

[Head First]

Have to take kegs apart to clean dip tube but lines and taps have beer in them all the time. Only do a BLC cleaning once in a while. Intertap taps the spout is removable so parts exposed to air are easy to give a quick scrub when needed without taking completely apart.

 

[GFHomebrew]

My last keg was Friday I rinsed out the little bit of sludge then filled with oxycleen sat for 24h rinsed out with house then boiled kettle doused keg with boiled water put lid on shake to build up pressure then depress poppet to run water up dip tube then filled with star San soaked till ready to rack in. I clean my lines fortnightly same way. Yep I love intertap my other one gets gummy after about a week. I spray star San up tap after every pour till I get too drunk to remember

Here is a trick I use for cleaning lines and dip tubes I use that pump spray bottle I fill it with whatever solutions I'm either cleaning rinsing or sterilising with.

 

[jeffpn]

You spray your taps after every pour? Wow! I wonder how many bars in the world do that!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

this uses a lot of C02 but what I do is fill a keg with whatever, cleaner/star sans then take a 1/2" silicone hose, it fits tight over the nose of the faucet, let that hang into another keg with the lid off then just pull the lever and empty the sealed keg

 

[Brew Cat]

A good bar will flush their lines with beer every day.

 

[jeffpn]

A good bar will flush their lines with beer every day.

I don't follow. The lines already have beer in them.

 

[jmcnamara]

I think he means if a bar is selling enough beer, it's not sitting in the tap lines long enough to go bad?

 

[jeffpn]

Gotcha. My beers seem to stay on tap for about 2 months each. Sometimes the taps stick. I either loosen them up by drawing that beer, or I'll run OneStep through the line and tap if I happen to be cleaning a keg. I never do daily (or more often) maintenance.

 

[GFHomebrew]

You spray your taps after every pour? Wow! I wonder how many bars in the world do that!

I'm anal when it comes to sanitation I live in a hot humid environment it pays to play it safe up here in qld

My bottle of sanitizer lives at my keg fridge so I pour beer then squirt till it comes out that little hole simple it just rinses the beer residue from the outside of the tap.

 

[nzbrew]

Usually just a good clean with sodium percarbonate (oxyclean) when empty. Starsan before filling. About once a year a full strip and clean.

 

[GFHomebrew]

How about keg lube? Anyone use this. I bought it when overhauling my brothers keg system when he thankfully gifted it to me.i was in a state of disrepair maybe another thread. I hear it extends the seel life?

 

[jeffpn]

I bought keg lube when I got everything. Used it a couple times. The seals still feel soft.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I bought keg lube when I got everything. Used it a couple times. The seals still feel soft.

Yea it's a bit like that knowing when to use I know how this sounds lol but what before racking in wash beer or when you do the strip down clean

 

[jeffpn]

I still always disassemble. I lubed the seals every time in the beginning. I don't lube every time anymore.

 

[thunderwagn]

I'm resurrecting this old thread as I was just curious myself so I did a little search. I clean and use Star San on my kegs and lines after each one kicks. I use beer stone remover once a year or so.
Days like today however, I'm contemplating just rinsing the keg real quick as I'm basically filling it with the same thing. To be honest, it's the first time I've even considered doing it. For some reason the thought never really crossed my mind, but today I asked myself why?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Ive gone to a shake clean, I fill about a gallon of hot tap water in the keg with pbw, shake then turn over the shake again then rinse well and add a gallon of star-sans and shake the same way, I don't clean the dip tubes but once or twice a year just the keg from yeast and sludge and smell

 

[BOB357]

Every time I empty a keg I rinse it a few times and mix about 3 gallons of hot tap water with either PBW or Oxyclean Free in it. I let it sit upside down for a good soak, invert and let it sit again. I then hook up CO2 and the beer line and run a pint or so through into a 2 qt. measuring bowl, leave it sit for about 15 minutes and repeat until the solution comes out clean after the soak. After that I rinse the keg well, add a couple of gallons and run most of that through the tap. Once every 3 months or so I follow that cleaning with Starsan.

In the past I tore the kegs down every 6 months or so and lubed all of the seals when reassembling. I had never run a brush through the dip tubes until a couple of months ago. When I did, I got absolutely nothing out of any of them, so it looks like my cleaning process is solid. Also, in more that 10 years I've never had any sigh of an infection.

After reading the post about cleaning the kettle with citric acid, I think next time I'll use that for the acid wash instead of Starsan. And yes, I will continue to tear down the kegs every 6 months.

 

[GFHomebrew]

ive found on hoppy beers some hop gunk can get cought in poppets. other than that i just do as above. if not using them ill store upside down and when need boiling water clear the liwuid line phosphoric shake clear the liquid line empty rack in beer. ive forgot to empty phosphoric once! it was a moment mid transfer.