Keg and Beer Line Cleaning

[Crafty66]

Ok probably another Newbie question, but with all the different connection's available and lots of different opinions is there a simple way to clean dispensing lines, kegs and taps.
There are multiple video's etc but what one's are the best or do you all use??
I have a 3 tap Series X running, beer, CC & Dry and Soda Water.
Thx in advance.

 

[golfandbrew]

The keg for water, is it a corny keg with ball lock disconnects?

 

[Crafty66]

Sorry, all 19L kegs with ball lock disconnects

 

[lonesailor]

For lines something like this is pretty simple and works.

 

[JDW81]

Lots of different options, but my approach was the following.

Pull keg/tap/disconnects/posts/lines apart as soon as the keg is empty and rinse well, followed by a soak in sodium perc/PBW for an hour or so. Rinse well with cold water and dry. I'd use a spray bottle or a little funnel to get the solution into the lines. Rinsing well, before anything dries on is key. Pulling everything apart is also essential (particularly posts/taps).

Store in a clean container, then sanitise in your usual method before next use.

Worked perfectly for me every time, with no infections and no expensive kit needed.

JD

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Lots of different options, but my approach was the following.

Pull keg/tap/disconnects/posts/lines apart as soon as the keg is empty and rinse well, followed by a soak in sodium perc/PBW for an hour or so. Rinse well with cold water and dry. I'd use a spray bottle or a little funnel to get the solution into the lines. Rinsing well, before anything dries on is key. Pulling everything apart is also essential (particularly posts/taps).

Store in a clean container, then sanitise in your usual method before next use.

Worked perfectly for me every time, with no infections and no expensive kit needed.

JD

I'd disagree with pulling the taps and disconnects apart every keg. Depends how long your kegs last I suppose as a variable. But I typically do a tap breakdown clean every 6 months or so, I have definitely pushed further than this. I tend to clean the lines/taps/disconnects "in situ" by just filling a mini (2L or 5L) with a PBW (bit more effective than perc alone) solution, pushing through a pot or pint worth per tap with a 10-15min soak in between, until the keg is empty. Then fill keg with hot water and push through equal amount on each tap, then fill get with santizer and push through equal amount again. My lines are on a upright fridge type kegerator so completely refrigerated except the tap itself. I leave the starsan solution in the lines until a fresh keg is ready to tap on them then just push through to a waste cup until I see beer. Been doing that for almost a decade with great success. I have never disassembled a disconnect unless I have had a hop blockage as I find the PBW rinse through very adequate to clean them. I re-lube all seals when I re-assemble taps after the breakdown clean too.

 

[elmoMakesBeer]

I don’t bother with extra kegs or gas. I keep two soft drink bottles with carb caps. One with PBW and the other with no-rinse sanitizer. After finishing a keg (or whenever) I disconnect the beer line, plug it onto the PBW bottle, squeeze the bottle and turn on the tap until just PBW comes out. After a couple of hours I change over to the sanitizer. Flush out the PBW, then a bit more for sanitizer to sit in the lines for a bit. I don’t think it’s good to have acid in the lines for too long so if it’s going to be more than a day or two I’ll flush with water, then re-sanitize before hooking up the next keg.
I rarely break it all down.

 

[BAA]

For the lines and taps I find that removing, breaking apart and soaking in PBW is great for that through occasional clean, I use the kegland cleaning pump and an old coke bottle for the more regular cleans - its cheap and works extremely well. Gas Free Ball Lock Line Cleaning Kit (Yellow Hand Pump, PCO Tee (fxmxm), Carbonation cap Yellow, 30cm EVABarrier 5mm x 8mm) - KegLand