Beer line and keg cleaner/sanitizer

[Pugdog1]

Hey everyone just wanting to know what everyone is using to clean their beer lines and kegs with these days.

And if you have any nifty diy things that have made the process easier I'm always keen for those as well.

Cheers

Ben

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Sodium percarbonate I use for cleaning lines on the keg and beer engine, though as soon as this lot is finished will be moving to sodium perborate, so either one will do.

 

[razz]

Hi Ben. I use hot PBW about once a month through the beer lines. I let it sit for an hour or so and then run Starsan through them and leave them sit until I next have a beer. Taps get pulled apart at the same time. I do the same for an empty keg but empty out the Starsan, mark the kegs as cleaned and sanitised so they're ready next time I keg.

 

[JDW81]

I clean my kegs and lines after use with hot PBW/Some other sodium percarbonate based agent. Everything then gets a good thorough rinse to remove the cleaning agent and the kegs/lines get dried prior to storage.

I don't store my kegs with any sanitiser in them, as I'm worried about rust etc. I store them upside down, in a clean cupboard in my garage.

Prior to use they get a wash with dishwashing detergent and rinsed with cold and then boiling water. Everything gets sanitised with steam. Lids/lines/posts etc over a pot of boiling water and I use a karcher steam cleaner to sanitise the kegs and dip tube. I'm able to get the inside of the keg to >90 degrees, which is more than enough to kill any bugs likely to spoil my beer.

I'm also trying to reduce the amount of chemicals I use at the packaging end of my brewing (I know starsan is meant to be food grade, but hey, thalidomide was s'pose to be safe as well).

Probably not the method for everyone as there are a couple of extra steps, but it works well for me and I haven't had any issues with spoilt beer/infected kegs.

JD

 

[phildo]

Steam cleaner is a great idea!

 

[JDW81]

Steam cleaner is a great idea!

Works a treat. Gets everything as hot as Hades, and can be used on pretty much all of your brewery gear

 

[phildo]

They use the industrial ones at my work, never even thought about using one. I just did a quick search to look at the costs

 

[JDW81]

This is the one I use. There's enough capacity to sanitise 2 kegs in one go. It heats up quickly, and is only the size of a kettle.

 

[phildo]

This is the one that turned up, I only checked the bunnings link. I'm going to look into one, I think that it's genius

 

[Mr B]

I use sodium per carb for the lines. Have a pressure spray bottle from Bunnings filled and connect that to the tap with a short but of silicon hose. Then open tap and hold the press thingy on the post connect, circulate a bit then let sit. Flush with starsan then blow it out with air, all using the sprayer.

 

[Mr B]

For kegs use per carb as well. Rinse out. Put about 1.5l of hot water and a couple or tsp of percarb.

Seal up and shake. Press the disconnects to get a bit coming out with the pressure.

Sit for a bit, shake and rinse.

Put a bit of starsan in and spray a bit down posts. Seal and shake.

 

[phildo]

I generally clean my line when I clean the keg so I use whatever I cleaned the keg with. Most often I use sodium percabonate but sometimes I use sodium metabisulfite or sodium metasilicate and sometimes a mixture of them. When I am in a jam I have used tri sodium phosphate (tricleanium not the PSR kind)

I clean the keg, then a quick rinse then mix up a second cleaning solution, pressurise the keg and flush the line before letting it sit for a period of time. Then I rinse the keg thoroughly add a couple litres of water then use that to rinse the line. Then I sanitise the keg usually with phosphoric acid or Iodophor and push some of that though the line and leave it until I use that tap again (sometimes I clear the line with co2)

I am looking introducing a third and fourth type of sanitiser because I think that it's best practice to change cleaners and sanitisers regularly.

My lines are also reversible and I heard somewhere that it's also good practice to change the direction of the flow.

 

[Coodgee]

my kegs sit full of napisan solution until ready to be filled. then I just rinse 3 times, santise with starsan and fill. beer lines I only clean sporadically. I always check that there is no visible build up though.

 

[phildo]

I use sodium per carb for the lines. Have a pressure spray bottle from Bunnings filled and connect that to the tap with a short but of silicon hose. Then open tap and hold the press thingy on the post connect, circulate a bit then let sit. Flush with starsan then blow it out with air, all using the sprayer.

Thought of your comment last night when I watched this gash slug YouTube video

 

[Madscientist86]

Line cleaning I use a pressure sprayer from bunnings with percarb and an adaptor I found at work.

 

[Mr B]

Thought of your comment last night when I watched this gash slug YouTube video

Thanks phildo, that would be a lot better - will get around to that.....one day.....

 

[phildo]

I think that I will be investing in a pressure washer for the co2 savings, it's a brilliant idea! I am also looking into the submersible pump and and bucket method, cost wise not a huge difference so flow rate and pressure will be the deciding factor.