How often do you clean your beer lines?

I was just reading an article by one of the big suppliers and they say to clean your lines every keg, or every 2 weeks... For residential...

That just seems like an AWFUL LOT. I probably don't clean mine often enough, but dang!

Does anyone have any experience with how much difference it makes?

I clean after every keg. But, I am also a accomplished liesurely drinker.

yeah i clean between every keg. so far they've only been lasting 3 weeks. altho I have a commercial tap that's been there for 2 months (stuff isn't that great), and i'm noticing its getting....less "not that great"......

it's just part of my keg-cleaning process, soak, rinse, run rinse water thru lines, star-san, run star-san thru lines....

I run starsan through the lines after every keg to flush it out. I rarely use BLC (although I probably should).

Bopper said:

I run starsan through the lines after every keg to flush it out. I rarely use BLC (although I probably should).

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So, one day I ran out of BLC. No matter, it wasn't very good at cleaning my lines at Normal dilution anyway. I had the technical rep from 5 Star on the line to enquire about a color change in my Acid #5. Anyway, I asked him about their Liquid Line Cleaner and Acid Line Cleaner since I have pesky water.

Turns out, the LLC is PBW relabelled as a Line cleaner for commercial applications. Has something to do with required labeling in some jurisdictions. So, I have been mixing up a strong solution of hot PBW and letting my lines soak in that over night.

They've never been so clean and it's never been easier to clean them.

GilaMinumBeer said:

So, one day I ran out of BLC. No matter, it wasn't very good at cleaning my lines at Normal dilution anyway. I had the technical rep from 5 Star on the line to enquire about a color change in my Acid #5. Anyway, I asked him about their Liquid Line Cleaner and Acid Line Cleaner since I have pesky water.

Turns out, the LLC is PBW relabelled as a Line cleaner for commercial applications. Has something to do with required labeling in some jurisdictions. So, I have been mixing up a strong solution of hot PBW and letting my lines soak in that over night.

They've never been so clean and it's never been easier to clean them.

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Interesting. I never knew that. I'll have to start using PBW! That's easy enough. Thanks!

I keep a keg full o' starsan. After a keg kicks, I run starsan through the line.

I know starsan is not a "cleaner, but for the amount of soils that would build up after one keg, it's worked fine for me. YMMV

I clean my beer lines after every keg. 1st I run oxyclean, then starsan through my lines. I clean the recently emptied keg at the same time.

It depends on my pipeline. If I have nothing ready to put on tap I'll do a pretty intense cleaning. If I've got something anxious to be put on tap I'll do at minimum just a hot water rinse/soak. Either way something is happening after each keg. I'll also take the shanks and faucets off maybe once or twice a year and give them a good soaking. Again depending on how quickly I keep the pipeline filled.

After every keg unless it last's over a month, the flavor WILL start to change, with this.http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/line-cleaning-pid-CFP-1.html

And I NEVER use sanitizer, wasteful and unnecessary. I never understood the theory of simply flushing beer lines with star san, and reconnecting a new keg. What are you doing, sanitizing the beer stone?

wildwest450 said:

And I NEVER use sanitizer, wasteful and unnecessary. I never understood the theory of simply flushing beer lines with star san, and reconnecting a new keg. What are you doing, sanitizing the beer stone?

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+1 to this wildwest.

wildwest450 said:

After every keg unless it last's over a month, the flavor WILL start to change, with this.http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/line-cleaning-pid-CFP-1.html

And I NEVER use sanitizer, wasteful and unnecessary. I never understood the theory of simply flushing beer lines with star san, and reconnecting a new keg. What are you doing, sanitizing the beer stone?

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We move through kegs pretty quick in my home. Usually every two weeks is a keg's lifespan.
I guess I assumed (wrongly) that frequent rinsing would suffice?

Hugh_Jass said:

We move through kegs pretty quick in my home. Usually every two weeks is a keg's lifespan.
I guess I assumed (wrongly) that frequent rinsing would suffice?

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I wouldn't recommend it. Star san is not a cleaner(as you stated). It only takes me 15 minutes to clean lines, and 13 of that is just waiting on the cleaner to do it's job. I know for a fact that commercial lines get cleaned every two weeks in most places, and they serve the EXACT same beer through their lines, keg after keg.

I clean all of my lines every time any keg blows. Figure as long as I'm setup to clean, why not do them all? I clean any party taps that are in use as well. Fill each one with line cleaner, wait 30 minutes, repeat. Flush with hot water.

Hugh_Jass said:

We move through kegs pretty quick in my home. Usually every two weeks is a keg's lifespan.
I guess I assumed (wrongly) that frequent rinsing would suffice?

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wildwest450 said:

I wouldn't recommend it. Star san is not a cleaner(as you stated). It only takes me 15 minutes to clean lines, and 13 of that is just waiting on the cleaner to do it's job. I know for a fact that commercial lines get cleaned every two weeks in most places, and they serve the EXACT same beer through their lines, keg after keg.

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+1 Calcium Oxalate (BeerStone) collects gradually until it become a visible deposit, usually in a bend in the line. A heavy cleaner is needed to break the bonds the beerstone has on the surface so that it can be flushed out of the system. Once the deposit is formed it takes more time or effort to remove it.

david_42 said:

I clean all of my lines every time any keg blows. Figure as long as I'm setup to clean, why not do them all? I clean any party taps that are in use as well. Fill each one with line cleaner, wait 30 minutes, repeat. Flush with hot water.

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Yup. I break it all down, disconnects, lines, faucets, shanks, and soak it overnite. Helps to have several taps for this.

So, soak the line in line cleaner for 15-30 min. rinse, repeat as necessary.

Thanks - I swear I learn something new every day on this forum. Check this off today's list.

Hugh_Jass said:

So, soak the line in line cleaner for 15-30 min. rinse, repeat as necessary.

Thanks - I swear I learn something new every day on this forum. Check this off today's list.

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Yup, I like the micromatic brand cleaner. I unhook the tap and keg disconnect, pull the top off the disconnect and put the guts and the tap in a small (1qt) tupperware container. Then I have a 1 Qt bottle that connects where the tap was. It pumps cleaner through the lines. I do this until the tap and disconnect are submerged in water. Then let sit for 15 minutes, pump the remaining cleaner through the line, rinse and reconnect.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Yup. I break it all down, disconnects, lines, faucets, shanks, and soak it overnite. Helps to have several taps for this.

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well hell, i definitely dont do that each time. I go that extreme like 2-3 times a year or if something starts sticking. I run PBW through it and let it sit for a while, then flush it out.

flyerwire said:

well hell, i definitely dont do that each time. I go that extreme like 2-3 times a year or if something starts sticking. I run PBW through it and let it sit for a while, then flush it out.

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I've never taken apart my QD's...probably should be doing that too.

flyerwire said:

well hell, i definitely dont do that each time. I go that extreme like 2-3 times a year or if something starts sticking. I run PBW through it and let it sit for a while, then flush it out.

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Takes me 3 months to a year to float a keg. And, it's all open anyway so why not. Like I said it helps to have multiple taps so you still have beer. And I have a hybrid system using swivel nuts and flare ends so it's easy to break everything down, chuck it in a dish tub, and leave it soak overnight.

I don;t have multiple taps because I drink that fast. I have multiplke taps because I don;t drink fast enough and like variety.

Sounds like I am seriously ignoring my cleaning requirements!

I usually go through a keg in about 3 months, maybe a little less. Hard to say since I have two kegs going at the same time. And I drink a bunch of commercial beers along the way too.

The last time my keg kicked, I took everything apart and noticed that the faucet and the QDs were pretty nasty. This made me wonder if I ought to start cleaning in the middle of a keg or not.

man i wish my kegs lasted this long.

oxyclean soak as good as pbw soak?

motobrewer said:

oxyclean soak as good as pbw soak?

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Not the same but I am not sure if the differences make a difference.

From what I understand, the percarbonate base of Oxyclean only works to sort of "bleach" embedded stains. Not break them up and remove the soils so much.

Oh man. I am ashamed to admit that I have not cleaned my lines, um, at all.
I've read about so many different methods for doing so, but I am not sure what would be best with my setup (dual tap Sanyo 4912 setup). I don't own any PBR or BLC, just Oxiclean and StarSan.

Watch chris knight's videos on youtube. That is what I have been doing. Break the keg down, soak in oxyclean. Run oxy through the lines. Rinse, soak posts and popets. Lube orings, reassemble and sanitize.
Doesn't take as long as it sounds.

When it was "difficult" ie. removing the faucet, line and soaking everything I didn't do it that often.

I built a 1 quart pumper bottle and now do a blc treatment after every keg.

At first I thought it would be a real PITA, but it's so easy to do all the lines ~once a month or whenever a keg blows. I'm washing the keg anyway, so I clean it, mix a gallon of BLC in it, hook up the co2 and run it through each line. Rinse the keg while it soaks and put a gallon of RO water in it, flush the lines with this, done. Then I don't have to worry about leaving chemicals in any unused lines, it's just clean RO water.

I never clean my beer lines. I just take the beer line off the dead keg and put it on the new keg and pull a pint to clear out the old beer/foam.

Maybe one day I'll clean them?

Depends on the keg.. When my pipeline is full, and we are active.. we kick a week (give or take). When thats the case, I sometimes just hook up another keg and flush the line with beer. I do clean them about once a month, and I usually clean them all at once. I fill a keg full with hot water and oxyclean (strong mix). I run this through all of the lines, one at a time until they are hot and let them sit for 15 minutes. Flush with hot water and continue.

Just filled a keg with about a gallon of hot water and a tbsp of oxiclean free. I ran that through and rinsed with star-san. I've used BLC before, but this did tremendously well and cost WAAAAAY less. Plus, I have to go to the LHBS to get BLC. Totally not worth it.

SevenFields said:

I clean my beer lines after every keg. 1st I run oxyclean, then starsan through my lines. I clean the recently emptied keg at the same time.

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I do exactly the same thing.

Wow, I'm way undercleaning by everyone else's standards. I have 12 faucets around the house and gender neutral cave. My kegs last a bit longer due to the variety, but I clean the lines every 6 to 8 months. I don't notice any off flavors. I definitely need to get that pressurized sprayer rig going, since my line cleaner is a cheesy pump thing that is a real pain to use.

I just cleaned one of my lines the other day when I switched kegs up. I have a pump bottle thingie and I ran a bottle of hot water thru the line followed by a bottle of Starsan. Once in a while I run multiple bottles of Starsan, BLC, hot water thru it but I was in a hurry and just did 2 bottles.

How often do you change your liquid lines?

I hadn't cleaned my lines in over a year. They were brand new when I put them on, and I hadn't noticed a problem. But then, I started to see some nasty gunk building up, and really didn't want that travelling down the diptube and into the keg.

When I ran a mild solution of oxiclean (from an extra corny) through the lines, I could literally see where the cleaner was coming in contact with the gunk. It pushed through the line like some kind of effervescent wave, and everything left in its wake was clean as a whistle. For good measure, I let it soak for 30 mins before rinsing with starsan. My lines look brand new again! I'll probably be doing this once a month from here on out.

wildwest450 said:

I know for a fact that commercial lines get cleaned every two weeks in most places, and they serve the EXACT same beer through their lines, keg after keg.

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Every two weeks? My restaurant must've not been on the rotation. I was there 4-5 days a week for two years and the beer lines were cleaned 3-4 times. I asked the general manager and he said it wasn't really necessary to clean the lines, just protocol!!!

He said they always have beer in them, dirt can't get in there.

Damn, I don't want to drink there. I think the law here is 1 week at bars for every cleaning

I should ask the guy at work who owns a local bar. They are getting Oberon TODAY! and I want to make sure it tastes right!

Watch this news story. Contaminated Beer Lines Found at Popular Pubs. It's eye opening. I've started cleaning my lines a lot more often.

Apparently, the law in most states is every two weeks. Equally apparently, very few places follow it.

I push starsan through the lines after every keg, but once a year I re-line the taps. I scored a free spool of line so replacing it costs me nothing. I do notice some beer stone in the lines when I replace them