Beer Line Cleaning

[user 384]

How does everyone clean their beer lines?

There is a good article on cleaning beer lines in the latet BYO magazine. It involves a home made pressurised line cleaner. It's basically a pump action pressure bottle like the small back pack types for weed killer etc (Sosman has used them for his own mini keg). On the out line they have attached a beverage out tank plug. Fill the bottle full of cleaner, pressurise, hook up to your beer out dosconnect, then open the tap. Cleaner is then forced through the line and tap under pressure.

I know you can do this using a keg and CO2, but this does seem to be nice easy way, without the need to use your CO2 bottle.

I've got a nice little do hickey (picture attached), where you can remove the tap, and attach a barb (only good for US screw on taps). You wash the tap seperately, then pump cleaner through the lines. I was considering using a cheap pond pump and recirculating the cleaner for 5 mins.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Cheers
MAH

 

[sosman]

That sounds like a neat idea. If you have a compressor I find the easiest way is to make an adaptor so you can force compressed air into the keg. I also know someone how used an old dishwasher pump to recirculate cleaner via the QD's.

 

[jgriffin]

I simply pour boiling water and some sanitizer into an empty keg. Seal, shake, and plug in line. The steam causes pressure which forces the hot water / sanitizer mix through your lines.

 

[big d]

im with jgriff on this one MAH.
cellarman mixed with boiling water left for 5-10 minutes then open the tap and the steam pressure blows most of it out.for the last bit i sometimes add a bit of co2 pressure.

cheers
big d

ps thanks for the post as it has reminded me its about time i cleaned my beer lines again.

 

[Doc]

Whenever I have an empty keg I clean it with PSR. Half fill with hotwater and PSR, shake the shit out of it. Run it throught whichever tap hasn't been cleaned for the longest (I keep a record), then half fill the keg with cold water and run through the tap again.
Clean keg, clean beer line, clean tap.

Works for me.

Doc

 

[Bobby]

i do the same as doc. after cleaning the lines i flush them with a fair bit of water

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Bringing up an old topic here!

I kegged a Aus Sparkling Ale a few weeks ago, proceeded to drink it yesterday and was dismayed to find little black sh!t floating around in the glass.

On closer inspection the black stuff was coming from the tap, now when I clean my kegs I usually fill them up with psr and cold water, shake and then run the liquid through the line and out the tap.

Never had a problem before, should I be using boiling water and some other cleaning product, is there some magic tool that you guys use to get up the spout of the tap to give it a good clean, and will Doc's method above clean everything out next time?

Cheers
DK

 

[rwh]

Never had a problem before, should I be using boiling water and some other cleaning product, is there some magic tool that you guys use to get up the spout of the tap to give it a good clean, and will Doc's method above clean everything out next time?

Probably worth pulling apart and cleaning periodically. The Craftbrewer instructions for a pluto gun will probably give you a fair idea of how to go about this.

 

[Punter]

I found the same thing yesterday DK.
Took the taps off and pulled them to bits.
The amount of black crap stuck inside them was amazing
Supprised I havn't had an infection from the tap.
Gave them a good soak and clean in nappysan then rinsed
and soaked in idophor for a few minutes.
Look brand new now.

 

[rwh]

Don't forget to lube them up with a bit of food-grade lubricant before you put them back together, to avoid wearing out your seals prematurely.

 

[oldbugman]

or get a little faucet brush(like a tiny bottle brush, test tube brush) and give the spouts a clean and scrub. most of the black gunk is in the outlet of the tap. I tend to give my taps a quick spray of water after use to was them out on the go and prevent the black stuff coming.

 

[goatherder]

I found the same thing yesterday DK.
Took the taps off and pulled them to bits.
The amount of black crap stuck inside them was amazing
Supprised I havn't had an infection from the tap.
Gave them a good soak and clean in nappysan then rinsed
and soaked in idophor for a few minutes.
Look brand new now.

You probably have had an infection from the tap - you just don't notice in the glass.

About a year ago I bottled a beer from my normal keg tap for a comp. The beer was pouring just fine but by the time it reached the judges it was a rancid debacle. I'm a bit more pedantic with my bottling routine now...