Service Your Gear

[mobrien]

So I have been brewing for a while, and kegging for almost exactly a year. All was brilliant to start with, but over the last month or so, bugs have been creeping into the works. To start with, black sediment was appearing in the beer (eek!), but I didn't have time to find the source. Then my beers were pouring with more and more head, and my restrictors had to be dialled way down. Until finally, last night I couldn't pour a beer - all head, and the sediment turned up again.

Oh, and did I mention that the thermostat probe fell out of the freezer, so I had beer slushie?

Today was the day - we have people coming over for a BBQ at lunch, so I had to have the beer working. I pulled everything apart and cleaned - bloody hell what a lot of gunk was in the tap and restrictor! Moral, clean every month at a minimum - 12 months is too long!

Then I checked the keg pressure - somehow it has been creeping up and up, and it was at 25PSI today! Probably in part to the beer slushy effect - so degassed the kegs, shook like buggery, left and regassed to 10PSI.

While I was at it I made another temp tap (since the font/bar has been 12 months in the works) so now I can have two kegs on the go, without having to swap taps (5 kegs in there!).

End result - perfect beer poured in 10 seconds (compared to all head in 30 seconds yesterday). No black gunge (that was the tap) and a much happier me. Of course I had to drink two beers and its 10am... the day has to go better from here!

So my lesson and advice - don't let the gear service lapse like I did - I'm going to 2-4 week cleaning schedule from now on. I think I was lucky and my beer/kegs are all fine - I could have easily ended up with contaminated kegs/beer.

Of course, now I am inspired to go and work on my SCUBA font... time to get that baby working.

Live and learn.

Matt

 

[redgums500]

DAMN IT MOBRIEN !!

Another bloody job to do today! Really though, thanks for the top advice. Have never really thought abut cleaning beer taps etc before. The Missus is off to some art exhibition and I'm on baby sitting duty, sounds like a good job for the little 'uns.

cheers

Redgums

 

[Jye]

When ever a keg blows I flush the beer line and soak the dismantled tap in napisan. So about every 6 weeks the line and tap get a good clean.

That reminds me Ive been meaning to pull my kettle apart for a good clean <_<

 

[mobrien]

Part II.....

Now to find that annoying gas leak! Everything was fine when I set it up, but lately the main line (before the manifold) wouldn't hold pressure. Armed with a spary bottle filled with soapy water (20:1 water to morning fresh) I sprayed all joints, and what do you know, bubbles at the manifold. Aparently either the barb had worked loose, or contracted in the cold. Anyway, a 1/4 turn fixed the leak, and now pressure is holding.

Bring on the BBQ and beer

M

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Any good pub will clean their lines every two weeks...even the ones used to serve VB.

Given this, we should be cleaning ours at least that often, if not moreso, as our beer still contains yeast, which will build up in the lines, taps, etc.

Please don't take this the wrong way man, but I think it totally insane to go 12 months without cleaning :blink:

PZ.

 

[peas_and_corn]

I've been meaning to clean my taps for a while now but have been run off my feet recently with the thesis keeping me at uni till 10pm on many nights. I'll clean them once I've handed in my last essay.

 

[Sloth]

hey all,

I must admit I have never sat down and pulled apart taps for a dedicated cleaning session. When I finish a keg, I'll run some hot keg & line cleaner through it. In general, I try and keep everything pretty clean as I go. Is this sufficient?? Cause I really dont have time to clean taps every month.

Sloth.

 

[bindi]

Big D recommend cellarman beer line cleaner in a post just over a year ago, and that's what I now use, ah found the post This is it.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Most publicans that I know clean their lines EVERY WEEK

You can taste the difference that a week can make in a pub's beer lines.