System cleaning

[FedoraDave]

Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd start a thread to let people share their techniques and insights on cleaning their kegging systems.

It came about this way...

A little over a week ago, I kegged a batch. I had two kegs already on tap, so I connected the gas to the new one to let it carb until one of the others punted the pail. Well, this weekend, that's what happened, so I knew I could connect the beer line to the new keg after cleaning things up. I didn't get to it until this afternoon, which I'm not pleased about, but here's what my process was.

I disconnected the gas-in line and the beer-out line, and vented the gas. Opened the keg and ran water into it to clean out the trub. Did this about three times to make sure it was rinsing clear. Put about a gallon of Oxy-Clean Free solution into the keg, sealed it, and shook it up. Rolled it across the floor. Emptied it and repeated, but then I connected it to the system and ran some of the Oxy-Clean Free through the line and the tap. Did a similar process with clean water, rinsing the keg three times and running clean water through the line and tap. Put half a gallon of Star San into the keg, rolled it around like before, and ran some through the system. Then I hooked it up to the new keg and drew some until a good amount of beer was drawn, which I dumped, of course.

Now, I should mention that just before I hooked up the previous keg, I had completely dismantled and cleaned everything; the tap, the quick disconnects, the beer line, so I figured I didn't need to do all of that again.

Anyway, what's your process? Knowledge is power, after all, so share.

[Beer-lord]

After my keg kicks, I usually give it a quick wash with a hose at full blast. Then I take it in to my utility sink and use a heavy duty bottle washer and rinse it out for a good few minutes.
Then it's on to PBW and hot water to the top and I let it sit for a few days until I have a few minutes. I empty the PBW batch and then on to the bottle cleaner again for another good rinse.

Then I fill it about 1/3 to 1/2 full with Star San and shake the crap out of it and leave it a few minutes depending on what else I'm doing at the time. I remove all the parts, clean and soak in Star San and use a keg line brush to clean the beer line. I put it all back together, lube the ring and cap and fill with gas. I give it a few good shakes then empty the Star San with a picnic tap until empty. I fill it back with air and then store until needed.

I did this when I first started kegging but stopped for a year and just left them empty which I then did a mini re-clean before filling but after a conversation with Inkleg telling me he left his takes for long periods of time clean and with gas in it, I started doing that again. I never had a problem with it, just worried that the gas might get stale if left too long but I've got no reason to think that.

I try to keep things simple for this simple minded homebrewer.

[Gymrat]

According to Denny Conn this stuff is cheaper than oxyclean or PBW and works much better.
http://craftmeister.com/all_products-products/12

[BlackDuck]

Here's another option on cleaning stuff. It's called Brew Clean. I bought some when I bought my keg system from kegconnection.com. It works the same way as PBW but it's half the cost. A 4 pound bag costs about $14.50. I pay almost $30 at the LHBS for a 4 pound tub of PBW.

[Dawg LB Steve]

I have the liquid Beer Line Cleaner, the green stuff. When a keg kicks I leave the co2 on it till get the chance to clean it, sometimes more than one and I have a jumper made that goes from out post to out post to transfer. I rinse w/very hot water to get the sediment out then mix up the BLC load a gallon or so into the keg, pressurize and shake up real good, if doing more than one it hook up the jumper and transfer thru the beer out dip tube and repeat, then dump the BLC. Fill the keg full with very hot water and remove the ball lock at the fitting from one end of the jumper and push out the rinse water till it is clear, dump Starsan shake up and push out thru beer, or transfer to another keg if doing more than one, out post till empty and hit with co2 and store.

[Beer-lord]

My anti-microbial lines are easy to clean. BLC in a quart pump container thru the lines.....let it sit 10 minutes and rinse and done. Actually, if you do this every time a keg kicks, you don't even need to wait 10 minutes. BLC works instantly and I can be done in under 10 minutes total.
I do like Brew Clean and got a sample years back when I ordered a keg from Kegconnection and it seemed to be just like PBW to me.

[BlackDuck]

I'm still on my first keg, but here's what I plan to do when it kicks.
Rinse the keg a couple times with hot water and push some of that water through the serving line to clear the beer out. Use the Brew Clean I mentioned above, filling the keg with hot water and mixing in the Brew Clean. I'll push some of that cleaner into the serving line. I'll let that sit over night. In the morning, I'll remove the serving line and let it drain clear of the cleaner, disconnect the beer dip tube, the post and poppet and drop that into the keg and let it sit until the evening. Then I'll rinse everything out, sanitize, put everything back together and pressurize slightly with CO2 and let it sit until it the next batch goes in.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Pretty much no need to disassemble each time for sanitizing posts, dip tubes and poppets, probably in the neighborhood of every 6 fills or so.

[BlackDuck]

I was wondering about that....especially if I push some of that cleaner into the serving line, it would be in contact with all those items anyway. Thanks for clarifying that for me!!!

[Beer-lord]

I usually use a brush to clean the line with star san each time but that only takes a few seconds. Since you let them soak a while, there's nothing there to worry about.

[Kealia]

Wait, we're supposed to clean our kegs and lines?!?!?


My method:
- Keg kicks
- Rinse a few times with hot water, push the last rinse through the beer line and tap
- Add PBW, wipe down, soak for an hour or so including pushing some through the beer line
- Rinse again with hot water, pushing through the beer line
- Mix up StarSan, sanitize keg, push some through the beer line and tap

I do this after every keg kicks and it really doesn't take much time at all. I take the kegs apart 1 or 2 times per year which is only a couple of rotations since I don't go through them that often, really.

[FedoraDave]

Thanks for the responses, guys. It seems that our methods are fairly similar; a lot of the differences are small and can probably be attributed to Brewer's Choice.

One of the reasons I asked was because the batch in the keg that kicked had a slight vinegar taste to it, and I wondered if I had done something that fouled the line somewhere, or worse, created an infection in the tube. However, I've had a few pints of the batch that I just hooked up, and there's no off-taste at all, so it must have been the batch itself. And even then, it may not have been an infection, it may just have been that particular recipe. Aside from the keg itself, nothing was different -- same carboy, same feed line, same tap.

[Rebel_B]

Anyway, what's your process? Knowledge is power, after all, so share.

I mix a batch of One Step no-rinse cleanser in a bucket, then disconnect & remove the empty keg from the kegerator. I then rinse the keg out with warm or hot water, ensure there is no visible residue & wipe with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser. I remove the posts & lid and drop them into the One Step bucket. Pour some no-rinse cleanser into the keg, replace the posts & lid, wipe down the outside of the keg, then I connect it back to the kegerator.
I finish by turning on the gas to the keg, and running the cleanser through the line & tap. I will typically leave the cleanser in the out line & tap for at least 10 minutes, or overnight.
Keg is now ready for the next batch!

[Beer-lord]

It all seems to work for us and there's no reason for anyone to change what works.

[Inkleg]

Wait, we're supposed to clean our kegs and lines?!?!?


My method:
- Keg kicks
- Rinse a few times with hot water, push the last rinse through the beer line and tap
- Add PBW, wipe down, soak for an hour or so including pushing some through the beer line
- Rinse again with hot water, pushing through the beer line
- Mix up StarSan, sanitize keg, push some through the beer line and tap

Pretty much this for me too.