Cleaning tap lines

[berryman]

On another beer forum I go to the question was asked on cleaning beer lines on kegged. Yes I am fairly new to kegging but think my method seems to work for me. After a dead keg, PBW, then rinse and flush later with starsan, first pore not so good, after that all is good. How you all do it?

[Beer-lord]

I just use line cleaner after each keg. I'm told you only have to use this if you only clean your lines a few times a year but I chose to do this with each keg.
I see no reason why PBW then Star San wouldn't work. Heck, even water would work if you clean your lines often enough.

[BlackDuck]

I do it exactly like you do Sir Berry. Soak in PBW, rinse with water, then StarSan after each keg. I’ve not had a problem with this process yet.


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[berryman]

Good to know I am at least in the ball park on this. Some of them seem to go overkill on things on that forum. Brian, Mash and Kealia might relate on this as they go there sometimes too.

[RickBeer]

The Brewer's Association puts out a free Draught Beer Quality Manual. This is the bible. It discusses line cleaning, as well as faucet cleaning (yes, we had the discussion here about how a particular brand of faucet didn't need to be disassembled, and that was shown to be incorrect).

Many may scoff at these guidelines and procedures, because they recommend cleaning on a much more frequent schedule and in a much more thorough manner. Not worth arguing those points. However, to not read this manual is silly, then make decisions for your environment that work for you.

[LouieMacGoo]

The Brewer's Association puts out a free Draught Beer Quality Manual. This is the bible. It discusses line cleaning, as well as faucet cleaning (yes, we had the discussion here about how a particular brand of faucet didn't need to be disassembled, and that was shown to be incorrect).

Many may scoff at these guidelines and procedures, because they recommend cleaning on a much more frequent schedule and in a much more thorough manner. Not worth arguing those points. However, to not read these manual is silly, then make decisions for your environment that work for you.

Rick, thanks for sharing the link to that document. There's a lot of good information there. I'm curious what do you do personally to clean your taps/lines etc? Do you follow the Quality Manual?

[RickBeer]

The Brewer's Association puts out a free Draught Beer Quality Manual. This is the bible. It discusses line cleaning, as well as faucet cleaning (yes, we had the discussion here about how a particular brand of faucet didn't need to be disassembled, and that was shown to be incorrect).

Many may scoff at these guidelines and procedures, because they recommend cleaning on a much more frequent schedule and in a much more thorough manner. Not worth arguing those points. However, to not read these manual is silly, then make decisions for your environment that work for you.

Rick, thanks for sharing the link to that document. There's a lot of good information there. I'm curious what do you do personally to clean your taps/lines etc? Do you follow the Quality Manual?

I don't follow it at all, but that's because I don't keg.

I did learn of the process in depth though, just not ready to keg. May never be.

[BlackDuck]

That might be a great guide for commercial establishments. 122 pages of info is a little overload for this homebrewer!!! I've been kegging for a number of years now and the method I mentioned works great for me.

[RickBeer]

That might be a great guide for commercial establishments. 122 pages of info is a little overload for this homebrewer!!! I've been kegging for a number of years now and the method I mentioned works great for me.

Hint - Read the Table of Contents

Chapter 7 - System Maintenance and Cleaning - pages 61 through 79. Summary on page 78. Even an old homebrewer can read a summary, no?

It's also good for someone designing a system, to understand that a system has to be balanced to not have the beer foam when dispensed, and how having a dispensing temperature of 38 degrees is the target. I read many posts on different forums where someone has tons of foam being dispensed, and they don't understand the basic concept of balancing the system, and waste time and money AND BEER changing tube length and other things instead of doing the math.

The best part, this manual can be yours today for the price of $0.00. Yes, that's right, this limited time offer (no, it's forever) is just for you!

[LouieMacGoo]

That might be a great guide for commercial establishments. 122 pages of info is a little overload for this homebrewer!!! I've been kegging for a number of years now and the method I mentioned works great for me.

Hint - Read the Table of Contents

Chapter 7 - System Maintenance and Cleaning - pages 61 through 79. Summary on page 78. Even an old homebrewer can read a summary, no?

It's also good for someone designing a system, to understand that a system has to be balanced to not have the beer foam when dispensed, and how having a dispensing temperature of 38 degrees is the target. I read many posts on different forums where someone has tons of foam being dispensed, and they don't understand the basic concept of balancing the system, and waste time and money AND BEER changing tube length and other things instead of doing the math.

The best part, this manual can be yours today for the price of $0.00. Yes, that's right, this limited time offer (no, it's forever) is just for you!

Seriously, I just find it interesting that you're providing information about something that you don't actually do to people that have been doing it for years. I would trust Chris', Paul's and other's feedback over yours when it comes to kegging even if your providing documentation of how breweries do it it doesn't always translate well to what works best for the individual.

[RickBeer]

That might be a great guide for commercial establishments. 122 pages of info is a little overload for this homebrewer!!! I've been kegging for a number of years now and the method I mentioned works great for me.

Hint - Read the Table of Contents

Chapter 7 - System Maintenance and Cleaning - pages 61 through 79. Summary on page 78. Even an old homebrewer can read a summary, no?

It's also good for someone designing a system, to understand that a system has to be balanced to not have the beer foam when dispensed, and how having a dispensing temperature of 38 degrees is the target. I read many posts on different forums where someone has tons of foam being dispensed, and they don't understand the basic concept of balancing the system, and waste time and money AND BEER changing tube length and other things instead of doing the math.

The best part, this manual can be yours today for the price of $0.00. Yes, that's right, this limited time offer (no, it's forever) is just for you!

Seriously, I just find it interesting that you're providing information about something that you don't actually do to people that have been doing it for years. I would trust Chris', Paul's and other's feedback over yours when it comes to kegging even if your providing documentation of how breweries do it it doesn't always translate well to what works best for the individual.

Whatever floats your boat. Whether it's a commercial brewery or a home brewery, a line's a line and a tap is a tap.

FYI, every post today is resulting in this screen - The file ./styles/art_ultra_blue/template/bbcode.html is missing.

[berryman]

I've had some bad draft beers in bars over the years and a lot of people I know won't drink a draft beer because of that. Long lines and lack of proper cleaning. I use to tap kegs at a local bar for the bartender girls that couldn't lift them (free drinks and hoping for more ) and their cleaning was nothing. No wonder why some people won't drink draft. The only good thing it was keg after keg of the same commercial beer. On home brewing, might go from a porter to a light blond on the same tap and line. Yes does need to soaked, flushed and sanitized, but that seems to work on a small scale home brewer level with just 10 ft. of 3/16 line. I also spent the extra money on Antimicrobial and PVC Free line.

[FrozenInTime]

What's worked for me over the years, empty a keg, clean it out, put some Star Sans in keg, pressurize, blow some of this through the lines. Empty, put some distilled water in keg, pressurize, blow lines with d/water then C02. Next keg in and enjoy. Never had a problem. Oh, every 3-4 times, before doing the star sans I run some oxy-free through for a couple minutes.

[Kealia]

Count me into the group that does this between each keg:
PBW flush
Hot water rinse
StarSan flush
New keg pouring

I've taken to replacing my lines annually, around Christmas. And I'm now using anti-microbial lines, too.



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[berryman]

It's also good for someone designing a system, to understand that a system has to be balanced to not have the beer foam when dispensed, and how having a dispensing temperature of 38 degrees is the target. I read many posts on different forums where someone has tons of foam being dispensed, and they don't understand the basic concept of balancing the system, and waste time and money AND BEER changing tube length and other things instead of doing the math.

Rick I appreciate your input on this and know you are just trying to help and always have good advice.............But , yes I have been only kegging for a year, but have already run quite a few kegs through this deal now and it is working well. I have done a lot of research and listened to those that have done it a lot longer then me and made my own mind up on how would work best for me. Yes can do the math, but why? Online calculators that will get you close and just some fine tuning after...