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johnsmh2 · 01-25-2011, 11:55 AM

Hi everyone,

Do any of you see a problem with cleaning and sanitizing the keg, valves, gaskets and beer lines a week before putting the beer in the keg? ( I will re-sanitize the the lid once beer is racked into keg).

Thanks.

ArcaneXor · 01-25-2011, 12:00 PM

Most sanitizers are wet-contact, so they'll stop working once they dry. You can just fill the keg up with sanitizer a week early and pop the posts/o-rings in the microwave to sterilize with boiling water on brewday. Run the sanitizer off via the beer-out, beer line and faucet, and you're good to go.

**mtbiker278** · 01-25-2011, 01:34 PM

I believe Starsan leaves an sanitary film once dried. So if you flush you keg with Starsan and all the liquid lines and blow everything out with CO2 you should be ok. Maybe leave the keg under a couple pounds of pressure and cover up the end of the tap. This way you won't really have to purge the keg after filling.

shortyjacobs · 01-25-2011, 01:59 PM

I pump about 1 gal of starsan through the posts into each keg after I clean/rinse it. I shake, then stick it in my basement. On kegging day, I give it one more shake, then pop the lid and dump out the starsan, and rack into the keg. Never had a problem, had sanitized kegs sit for months before using them.

**Sea** · 01-25-2011, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shortyjacobs

I pump about 1 gal of starsan through the posts into each keg after I clean/rinse it. I shake, then stick it in my basement. On kegging day, I give it one more shake, then pop the lid and dump out the starsan, and rack into the keg. Never had a problem, had sanitized kegs sit for months before using them.

I used to do this as well until it was pointed out to me that starsan is acidic, and over time, it will damage stainless steel. Causes pitting apparently.

shortyjacobs · 01-25-2011, 02:13 PM

Hmmm, I thought I'd read that starsan, (correctly diluted), won't damage SS......Oh well, haven't seen any problems yet...

johnsmh2 · 01-25-2011, 03:26 PM

Thanks for all the responses. I think I may sanitize and let it sit for a week and see how that goes.

hoplobster · 01-25-2011, 10:25 PM

I've got a keg in the basement that I sanitized w/ Star San on the 21st (sanitized, dumped the solution and then sealed it w/ 5lbs of gas) and I got it filled at a local brew pub on the 28th and the beer is no worse for wear. I did the exact same thing with the previous keg that was filled at the brewpub and that beer was on tap for a month before I kicked it. The beer didn't get infected.

I guess I'm just not that worried about filling a sanitized keg with alcohol

**RandalG** · 01-30-2011, 06:11 PM

I'm about to keg my first batch and have two questions.

1. I have a kegerator with a tower. Should I push some Starsan through the tap before hooking up the keg for the first time?

2. Is it necessary to purge the keg with co2 before racking on top of it. If so do I just hook up the gas to the out post and turn on the gas through the dip tube and for how long?

**mtbiker278** · 01-31-2011, 01:30 PM

I just started kegging as well. To sanitize everything I put some warm Starsan solution in the keg, shook it up, and blew the solution out the liquid line. It shouldn't hurt to do that through the keggerator lines.

I been told after you fill up the keg with your beer of choice, you can fill and purge with CO2 a couple times to get a majority of oxygen out. It'll be a smaller head space and you'll waste less gas (although it's not really expensive). I've also head that unless you plan on keeping the keg for more than 6 months the oxygen in the keg is so little that it'll have minimal effect on the beer.