Keg Cleaning

[bpgreen]

I'm curious what others do for keg/line cleaning. I think I may not be doing enough.

I've got a spare keg that I keep filled with Oxiclean (although, as I think about how it works, I should probably fill with star san).

When a keg kicks, I'll often just swap in the next one in line. Sometimes, I'll run some of the Oxiclean through the lines first (probably depends on how thirsty I am, so it's usually just hooking up the new keg).

I rinse the finished keg out, then fill with water and add a scoop of Oxiclean and let it sit for a day, then run some of the Oxiclean through the liquid line. Then I leave the lid off until it's ready to fill. When it's ready to fill, I use one step to sanitize the keg, largely because the oxygenation builds up pressure that I can use to force through the liquid tube.

But I recently found a bookmark that recommends disassembling the keg after each use.

I'm curious about what the rest of you do.

[MrBandGuy]

I disassemble everything every time. Well, except the poppets. It all gets a soak in oxyclean, then rinsed, Star San, lubed, and pressurized. Lately I've been replacing o rings too. Lines get a quick 15 minute soak and star San between kegs. But I'm on picnic taps which are way easy to take apart quickly.

[FedoraDave]

I rinse the keg with water to remove the trub, then use OxyClean; about a gallon or so, swirling it around and making sure it gets every surface in the keg. Then I hook it up, pressurize it a little, and run the OxyClean solution through the line/tap. Disconnect, triple-rinse the keg, hook it up, pressurize it, and run the clean water through the line/tap. Then I put StarSan in the keg, swirl it around, hook it up and sanitize the line/tap. After dumping the StarSan, I hook the keg up to the gas line and put just a touch of CO2 in. This way, the keg is sanitized and sealed, and if it vents before the next use, I know nothing has been able to get in, and it's ready to be filled.

That's on a regular basis. Every fourth or fifth batch, I disconnect the lines and take the tap apart and use PBW and a soft nylon brush to give it all a really good cleaning.

[ScrewyBrewer]

The very best way to clean a keg that's kicked is to do it right away while the shmootz is still wet. The faucet on my utility sink has a male garden hose end connector on it for threading on a 90 degree dishwasher elbow. It connects to a beer line connector with a length of 3/8 inch vinyl tubing. Once connected to the sink and the empty keg, the force of the water from the faucet is flushed through the beer poppet, through the pick up tube and blasts the bottom of the keg with a forceful stream of hot or cold water. The blast of water alone and some keg shaking cleans out 99% of the keg insides.

Adding a half a gallon of warm water with a teaspoonful of oxiclean to the rinsed keg then snapping the lid on tight and shaking the keg will freshen the keg up and help to remove any strong odors. After a fast rinse and dump, to remove all of the oxiclean mix, running a quart of StarSan through a picnic tap with a little Co2 will sanitize the keg for storage until it's ready to be filled.

[RickBeer]

Don't use kegs, but Screwy's comment re: "while the shmootz is still wet" is key to me. And, not leaving Oxiclean in for an extended period since it leaves a film.

I either clean my bottles after pouring or rinse them and then fill them with water and clean later in the day. That way the shmootz can't dry.

[Beer-lord]

I wash mine out right away too, then use a very good jet bottle washer on my utility sink to clean it out. Then I fill it with PBW and hot water and let it soak a day or so. When do, it's gets a good washing, then I clean ALL the parts each and every time, put some star san in it, lube the rings as I check for wear and tear then empty the star san thru a picnic tap, fill it with some gas and it's ready when I need it.

[Inkleg]

I leave it in the keezer if I'm not cleaning it that day. I've left them that way for a week, it's no different than before it kicked. Cold environment and full of Co2. When ready to clean I'll dump and rinse till clear. I'll then add a gallon of hot water and some PBW put the lid on and shake it like it owes me money. I'll then pour some of the PBW from the keg into my keg line cleaner (I'll add a picture later) and run it through the out post and the serving line (if that wasn't immediately hooked back up to the next keg). I'll then rinse 3-4 times in the same manner. After that I'll toss in some Star-San shake and pour it out. I'll put a little lube on the lid o-ring and seal the keg with 30 psi and set aside until I use it again. Before setting it aside I'll spray the lid and poppets with some Star-San and look for bubbles. Any noted at a poppet are quickly reset with a push from a thumb nail. That way it's ready to go next time.

It's been some time since I broke down a keg for cleaning. I marked one keg and used it for 6 batches. After I broke it down and inspected it I couldn't tell any difference than when I started the experiment.

[Whamolagan]

I keep a steady rotation going I have 2 kegs that have PBW and I transfer via co2 from clean keg to rinsed kicked keg. I keep Starsan in another keg, after pbw is rinsed, I transfer starsan via co2. That way everything that ever touched beer gets touched with cleaner. And the clean keg is charged with co2. It may waste co2, but I feel it is worth it. Once a week I run pbw through the lines and let it sit for an hour, then run starsan through. hook up to keg and run beer though it til beer comes out. I got some of those caps for the taps and put those on when we are done drinking beer. I can use the cleaner for about 2 months before I make new pbw and starsan.

[Inkleg]

My cleaner and jumper




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gymrat]

I clean my lines with One Step as soon as each keg is empty. I never use oxy clean anymore because One Step cleans just as well but I don't have to concern myself with thorough rinsing. I clean my kegs at my convenience because an air tight container will not dry out. There is no place for evaporation to go. I rinse thoroughly with the garden hose then add One Step and clean with a brush then rinse.

[FedoraDave]

And the clean keg is charged with co2. It may waste co2, but I feel it is worth it.

It's not a waste if it's productive. I don't mind using a little more co2, or sanitizer, or increasing my water bill a bit if it benefits my beer. Think of it like a sacrifice fly in baseball. A productive out is a good thing. And a little extra c02 is pennies compared to potentially compromising an entire batch of beer down the road.

[Rebel_B]

I rinse an empty keg out with warm water, use a Mr Clean sponge to make sure there is no 'schmootz' inside. I will remove the posts & dip tube, immerse the components in a bucket of warm water & one step cleanser, then run a brush through the dip tube. Inspect everything, re-assemble, then put a couple of quarts of the one step in the keg, seal, & turn upside down. Then I pressurize the keg & run the one step through the out line & inspect the tap to see if additional cleaning is needed. Then I empty the keg of cleanser & fill it up with a new beer, or close the lid & store it.

[Jon]

I have *never* disassembled any of my kegs, and I'm still using the first 2 kegs I got for $25 each in early 2009. PBW or Oxy when empty, followed by a water rinse and then starsan.

Every once in a while, I run PBW or oxy through my beer lines, followed by water, followed by starsan, followed by water (or beer).

Only off flavors I've gotten from kegs/lines/taps were from when I had all the chrome get stripped off the inside of a cheap chrome tap and it rusted, and started imparting a metallic flavor.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I have *never* disassembled any of my kegs, and I'm still using the first 2 kegs I got for $25 each in early 2009. PBW or Oxy when empty, followed by a water rinse and then starsan.

Every once in a while, I run PBW or oxy through my beer lines, followed by water, followed by starsan, followed by water (or beer).

Only off flavors I've gotten from kegs/lines/taps were from when I had all the chrome get stripped off the inside of a cheap chrome tap and it rusted, and started imparting a metallic flavor.

@Jon I have to agree with you on this, after buying my kegs new some years ago, I've never had to disassemble them for cleaning either. I did remove the beer poppets, in order to trim the pickup tube lengths, but other than replacing worn O rings that's about all that I've done to maintain them.

My point is not to say that anyone here has posted a right way or a wrong, its just that for me the tear downs aren't warranted.

[BlackDuck]

I clean them within a couple of hours after they kick. I rinse with water, then add hot water and PBW and let them sit over night. I run water through the beer line. Then run some PBW into the line and let that sit overnight too. I always remove the beer out post and take that apart to clean. Even though I'm careful transferring from fermenter to keg there is usually a little bit of stuff that gets transferred to the keg, and I've found that there is usually a few pieces of hop crud that gets caught in the poppet spring. The next day, I dump the PBW, run some Star San through everything, close the keg up and pressurize, then it's ready to go when I need it.