Keeping A Kegging Setup In Working Order

[unterberg]

I am just about to get a kegging setup and was wondering how often one has to clean the beerline/tap?
Doesnt the beer go of faster in the beerline if for example no beer has been poored for days (would only happen if I am not there of course !)?!
And does anyone have experience with beer going off while on tap (e.g. after one months)?
The reason why I am asking is because I vaguely remember that we had to clean the lines every day and had to use up a keg within 3 weeks in my Dads pub in Germany. But that might have just been regulations by law...

 

[Bakes]

Dont know too much about how often people clean their lines.

However your beer will last much longer than 3 weeks in a keg if the volumes CO2 is kept correct. Im pretty sure this is the reason you would have to have gone through a keg in 3 weeks. In pubs gas is used at serving pressure, which is lower than the carbonating pressure in the kegs. So after time the beer will lose carbonation and go flat.

At least that is my understanding.

 

[cdbrown]

Cleaning lines every day has probably something to do with hygene requirements.

the longer the beer sits in the line then the warmer that will be and of course not taste as nice, but usually that's only a very small amount. If mines has been sitting for a few days I'll just pour 1/4 of a pint and tip it down the drain. This get's rid of the warm, relatively flat beer.

My beer tasted a little off towards the bottom of the keg, but that was due to a slight gas leak through the keg seals and having the gas off while away for over a week. Came back and there was enough dissolved gas in solution which gave the "off" taste. Now the gas has been left on since the beer is tasting much better. I really do need to replace the seals on these kegs to prevent this in the future!

Beer should be fine under gas for a very long time. The 3 weeks probably has to do with the brewery or suppliers requirements to turn over the beer regularly to ensure it's "fresh". May also have to do with the beer style as certain beers are better drunk early and finished quickly while others get better with age.

Bakes I think it's the other way around, pubs will have the pouring pressure higher as generally they have much longer beer line runs requiring higher pressure to get a pour than the typical tap mounted on a fridge.

 

[Brewer_010]

I rinse my lines after every keg with napisan and very hot (not boiling) water (5L), then a couple of L of sanitiser. I've done this throughout the life of my system (five years).

I recently pulled apart and cleaned my taps (after 5 years) and was surprised at how clean they were, only very small amounts of green gunge. Obviously without flushing them they would be as manky as a manky thing, but keeping them flushed regularly seems to work pretty well. I will do this every 6 months I think.

Just replaced my 5 year old beer lines too, but at a few dollars each line I may do this every year or two. Essentially I've been lazy and done no maintenance until now.

On this I'd recommend regularly cleaning lines after each keg or a flush through at least once every two months.

 

[jeremy]

Had my keg setup for a couple of years.

I just flush with sanitiser, then hot water, then cold after every keg. Never replaced, dismantled, lubricated, etc, and never had any issues. I figure you need to rinse the dip tube on the keg when you clean it anyway, why not run some sanitiser, and some water through the keg setup at the same time.

CHeers,

Jeremy

 

[MartinS]

Here's what I do (in ridiculous detail):

At the end of a drinking night, I try to give the beer disconnects a little swoosh in a cup of warm water, and tip some warm water over the beer posts, which I leave disconnected. I find they build up a bit of gunk over time otherwise, and start to stick, but I don't always remember. I squirt a bit of water up into the (closed) tap to stop the build-up of dried beer at the opening.

When a keg empties, I rinse it out with water making sure I run a bit out through the beer post. It gets about 2-3 litres of "gas and line cleaner" that I get from my LHBS, which I shake in the keg, and run through the beer line and tap. I rinse again to get the suds out of the keg, then 2-3 litres of water through the line again. I let the gas run for a few seconds after the water has cleared the line to try and dry things up a little.

Before putting a new keg on (which doesn't always happen right away for me), I put a little sanitiser through, followed by water, and another little burst of gas.

After about a year, I tore my font and taps apart, and scrubbed each part separately with a toothbrush in warm water. All the seals got replaced, and it got a good polish. When I bought the font, it was an absolute mess. It took a few scrubs, plus a caustic and an acid bath to get the grime off. I'm about due for another yearly service, actually...

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not too bad if you get in the habit. My yearly service takes a bit of time, but is kind of rewarding in a strange sort of way. To make the keg-changing a bit faster, I have one of those plastic tap disconnect things, and a gas line with disconnect branching off before the line goes into the fridge so I can put a bit of gas into the kegs without messing about with the lines in the fridge.

 

[wakkatoo]

I flush the lines with a napisan solution (let sit for and hour or 2) followed by hot water at the end of every keg. I never disconnect the beer line from the keg whilst its in use. At the end of each keg I also dismantle the tap, soak in napisan and give a good clean. I find the warmer weather up here encourages some very ugly growth so it has to be done.

 

[SJW]

as soon as my kegs are empty I rinse the sludge out of the keg and run some pink stain through the line, then again with some Iodophor and then its ready to go again. Just dont leave pink stain in the keg over night.

STEVE

 

[A3k]

Gee, everyones making me feel bad about my keg cleaning practices.

I try and clean the lines out after every keg with the nappysan from cleaning the keg, but dont always bother if Im in a hurry. Havent noticed anything bad about it. I dont think Ive ever taken my tap apart, but am wondering if maybe I should now. I think I will just out of curiosity. Kind thought the nappysan coming out of the tap would do the trick, and Ive never had any problems, but Ive had the tap for about 7 years, so maybe its time. Actually, I cant believe Ive never had any problems with it now that I think about it.

Probably don't follow my keg line cleaning practice. Just don't freak out about keg cleaning being a massively time consuming job. Much faster than bottling.

I dont worry about disconnecting the lines from the keg unless to put the tap onto my other keg.

As for the life of the beer in the keg, dont worry about it. When Id first started kegging in the k&k days I heard that theyd go off reasonably quickly. Then I moved house during summer and left a keg full of beer outside for a few months before getting the setup setup again. The keg was perfectly fine.

I now try and cold condition a lot of my beers anyway, so I figure more time in the keg is a good thing. They generally get better and clearer as they get nearer the end of the keg, just so you're more pissed when the keg ends. Which i think is going to happen to me tonight.


Cheers,
Al

 

[drsmurto]

I generally flush thru a few L of sanitiser inbetween kegs altho it may have been a few since the last rinse.

Only been a tad over a year but feel the taps should be pulled apart and cleaned as well as all the disconnect etc Some of starting to get a little sticky

Prob should do all that before the case swap......

 

[TidalPete]

as soon as my kegs are empty I rinse the sludge out of the keg and run some pink stain through the line, then again with some Iodophor and then its ready to go again. Just dont leave pink stain in the keg over night.

STEVE

My procedure is very similar Steve. I only have Bronco taps & wait until the keg is finished before rinsing the keg throughly, then running boiling water through both keg & Bronco tap & line (Twice) & finishing with a flush of phos. When I need the keg again I flush with boiling water then phos. Never had a problem yet --- Fingers crossed.

TP :beer:

 

[Offline]

Beer will last as long in a keg (or line) as it would be in a bottle that is treated the same way, ie refrigerated, left in the sun or leaking gas.
Keep your beer line length outside the fridge to a minimum, or run a flooded font. This will reduce the amount of warm beer you get at the start of a drinking session. Warm beer will release its CO2 rapidly when pored into a glass.

I dont clean my keg stuff ever time I empty a keg and have not had a problem yet. Sorry to anyone who has tried my kegged beers, which may be all of them once I get my counter pressure bottle filler up and running.

I dont clean my kegs out until Im ready to fill them, especially if theres room to leave them in the fridge. As long as they hold pressure and are keep cool they should be fine.

 

[unterberg]

Thanks for the replies! Glad that its not overly time consuming and forgiving if you have a lazy day

Cant wait to pore my first beer!