How Often Do You Clean Your Taps?

[gibbocore]

Hi brewers,

I decided to take apart my font and giove my taps a once over, so i dismantled and was pretty much horrified with what i found inside them. I usually run warm caustic through them once every few months and have never taken them apart. What i found in the moving barrel of the tap was truly gross, big solid lumps of something yuck, just solid muck, god knows what this has been doing to my beers, however i havn't noticed a taste issue and all my kegs seem to have a long shelf life, currently soaking the bits in caustic and hoping that when i get it all back together by beer is gonna taste amazingly better. Kinda like finding a turbo button hidden in your car you never new about. Always looking on the bright side and all that.

So i guess my question or topic of discussion is how often do you clean and will running cleaning soloution more often fix this?

 

[AndrewQLD]

At the end of every tax quarter (so I remember), so 4 times a year. It's surprising no matter how well you think you clean the lines just how much build up is in the taps.

Andrew

 

[Jye]

I try for about every 3 months like Andrew. Just did them this week and left them to soak in PBW over night and they came out sparkling without any scrubbing... I love PBW :wub:

 

[mika]

I run a couple of litres of sanitiser thru them every keg. The only time I've pulled them apart I found nothing wrong, so I've continued with the same regime. Maybe I need to have another look :unsure:

 

[Sammus]

I pulled apart mine once after about a year and they didnt have any noticeable build up, havent done it since. I run through some keg/line cleaner every now and then...nothing interesting ever comes out.

 

[Mantis]

I clean my kegs at every fill by rinsing them out well, then adding a kettle of boiling water and a capful of %10 phosphoric, and pull this through the lines .
Havent pulled the tap apart yet , and really dont know how to. :unsure:

 

[captaincleanoff]

do mine about every three months. Did them just the other day and there was quite a bit of crap in there.. I'm going to try to get into the habit of running sanitiser through after every keg..

 

[kenlock]

I run keg/line cleaner through them after every keg has finished. That's not as often as it sounds because I have four taps.

 

[pokolbinguy]

When ever I can be bothered plus generally when I change kegs.

I currently have a bundle load of water in the bottom of my keg freezer at the moment so about time I cleaned it out.

 

[Tony M]

I know when its time to clean my taps. It's when a great black turdmonster plops into my glass rolls over a couple of times then lies on the bottom waiting for me to throw back that last mouthfull. It cures a man of the evil drink for an hour or two.

 

[crundle]

Haven't pulled my taps apart yet, but think I might soon after reading this thread.

I normally run a few litres of boiling water through the tap after a keg blows and has been cleaned, and haven't noticed any funky flavours or bits in my beer, but better to be safe then sorry I guess.

Crundle

 

[wakkatoo]

Clean mine after every keg. Soak in boiling water then give a good clean and then a rinse in sanitiser.
Found the hotter the climate the worse they get. In creswick now, so not too bad, Bundy last year they gummed up a bit, but in Cairns the year before, well it was just :icon_vomit:

Havent pulled the tap apart yet , and really dont know how to. :unsure:

Do it really carefully 1st time round so you remember how it goes back. Its not hard, but can be confusing 1st time round

 

[ozpowell]

Once every couple kegs per tap. Good soak in Sodium Percarb and then 5 Star Sanitizer.

 

[Pumpy]

Warm Soapy Water and then rinse in clean water

Nothing too agressive unless all SS

How often do I clean my Gold plated Cellis ,

not often enough !!

should do it at least once a week.

I find heavy beers gum them up more .

Pumpy

 

[KHB]

So im guessing everyone on here that replied had taps mounted in fridge, my taps are mounted on a font on a bar. I run water through to clean lines after a session and send through some cleaning agent every keg. Does anyone else with this setup do the same??

Cheers

Scotsman

 

[jayse]

Hey Scotsman,

Those do get gunk built up, undo the snaplock from the font and have a geezer inside. I am guessing this is where the people who were horridified might have found some gunk.

I just soak all the bits in hot napisan.

 

[mckenry]

So im guessing everyone on here that replied had taps mounted in fridge, my taps are mounted on a font on a bar. I run water through to clean lines after a session and send through some cleaning agent every keg. Does anyone else with this setup do the same??

Cheers

Scotsman

I have a 3 tap font. I use a keg & line cleaner after every keg. Pull a bit through to fill the lines. Let it sit for half an hour. Pull the rest through. Usually a bit of gunk, that looks like hop material comes through. Dont know where it comes from... I never dry hop the keg and I filter prior to kegging.
Then I run another 5L fresh water through and connect the next keg.