Refill without a clense

I have about a pint left in my keg and an aged beer in the carboy. Is it ok to refill my keg without cleaning it?

Are they the "same" beer? If not, I'd definitely clean it. But this is like asking if it's ok to wear the same pair of underwear two weeks in a row.

Could you do it? Sure.
Should you do it? Why would you?

At the very least just dump/rinse the keg. It definitely doesnt need to be completely torn down in between every beer.

I agree with the above totally.

Don't be lazy clean the keg, would you drink a bottle and add beer without cleaning it...........Come on Man!

Ok. I guess I'm being lazy. Will clean. My amber won't taste like my last IPA.

And for the record, I DO change my underwear regularly.

While you're at it, clean the line that keg was on too. I just use the solutions that are in the kicked keg to do that. So run the PBW from the keg through the line (has the added benefit of also cleaning the liquid dip tube, post and poppet), run some clean water through (after you rinse the keg out) and then some Star San solution. Longest part is usually the cleaning soak. Once that's done, and the keg is rinsed out, it's only a few minutes (tops) to do the rest of the steps.

BTW, I'm talking about running 1-3 quarts through the line for each step. No need to do more than that. Also, for the record, I do this for each keg that kicks and the line it was on. While it might be overkill to some, I've not had a single issue with any batches with this method.

Yeah I would rinse the keg, then sanitize it. No need to break it down, but if your just pouring new beer in, your being lazy and risking your beer. It's best to clean your lines every so often any way, so mix up some starsan put in the keg, swril it around, then hook it up and run through the lines to clear them out. Takes all of 5-10 mins total.

Eh Im guilty of not cleaning a keg before refilling once or five times. My justification (other than laziness)? CO2 is already purged in the entire headspace. I use paintball tanks so I dont like wasting CO2 (less refills).

But that is only when the beers are very similar, the kicked beer was great tasting (highly unlikely to have been infected), there is very little to no sediment, and I am in an ultra hurry to get somewhere.

Really not worth it. But the first step is admitting.

Yeah, I would a least rinse the keg out to get rid of the sediment from the last beer.

I don't break my kegs down to clean and sanitize until they start to look iffy, but I always rinse them out between refills.

Golddiggie said:

While you're at it, clean the line that keg was on too. I just use the solutions that are in the kicked keg to do that. So run the PBW from the keg through the line (has the added benefit of also cleaning the liquid dip tube, post and poppet), run some clean water through (after you rinse the keg out) and then some Star San solution. Longest part is usually the cleaning soak. Once that's done, and the keg is rinsed out, it's only a few minutes (tops) to do the rest of the steps.

BTW, I'm talking about running 1-3 quarts through the line for each step. No need to do more than that. Also, for the record, I do this for each keg that kicks and the line it was on. While it might be overkill to some, I've not had a single issue with any batches with this method.

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Good advice. I have been overkilling it though. I've been running 2-3Gallons of PBW mix, then 2-3G of starsan when I change kegs. I'll try to dial it back to a gallon each. It burns through a lot of c02 to use as much solution as I've been using.

jbaysurfer said:

Good advice. I have been overkilling it though. I've been running 2-3Gallons of PBW mix, then 2-3G of starsan when I change kegs. I'll try to dial it back to a gallon each. It burns through a lot of c02 to use as much solution as I've been using.

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I generally mix up 1-2 gallons of PBW in the kicked keg. I run 1-3 quarts through the line and out the faucet that it came off of. Usually at a higher pressure rate (to push it harder ) with a different CO2 source. I then rinse the keg out with tap water before adding 3-4 quarts of Star San solution to it. Get it to coat the entire inside of the keg, then run 1-3 quarts through the line (having already run clear water through it to flush the PBW out). While I could probably skip the clear water in the middle, I do it anyway. I might even switch to using filtered water there. I'll rinse the keg out with tap water, drain, and then maybe use the good filtered water. I've also been using filtered water to mix up my Star San lately. Might not need to, but I feel better about it. Besides, it only costs me maybe a few cents per gallon through the filters.

^ I find my starsan solution lasts much much longer when I start with really clean (RO in my case) water as well.

I cleaned with oxyclean, rinsed with water and then used Starsan. I did this for the lines as well. How often should I remove the hose connector ports and clean them? This is only my second keg experience. Thank you Santa!

Jacktar said:

I cleaned with oxyclean, rinsed with water and then used Starsan. I did this for the lines as well. How often should I remove the hose connector ports and clean them? This is only my second keg experience. Thank you Santa!

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Are you talking about the keg posts or the QD's?? For me, it depends on what went through the QD and such. If I'm cleaning the lines and putting another keg on it, I don't take it apart. I will spray some Star San into the QD (part that goes over the post) as extra insurance. If I suspect something could be in the QD, I'll either change it or remove it and take it apart for a good cleaning. If it's on my keg jumper, I usually take them apart and clean after use.

I was talking about the posts but I guess I need to know about the QDs . Didn't know I could disassemble those. Will do this too.

So when should I disassemble the posts and clean them. I did this the first time I filled the keg on Xmas day.

Jacktar said:

So when should I disassemble the posts and clean them. I did this the first time I filled the keg on Xmas day.

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Depending on the brews going through them and such, I think people go somewhere between 2 and 20 fills between times. IMO/IME, it's a judgement call on your part. While I don't think you need to do it after each batch, it might not be a bad idea to do it every 2-5 batches. If you have enough kegs, that could be some time between each strip-down.

The QD's are a lot easier to take apart. Just need a flat head screwdriver. You'll see the notch on the top of the QD. Just be careful to not bugger it up, or lose the o-ring at the top. I'd do it over a towel the first time, so you don't lose any parts. You might want to get a couple of replacement o-rings as well as parts to rebuild the QD's with. Not bad to have at least one rebuild parts set on hand. I have a couple of the o-rings and one each of the rest. Haven't needed to use all those parts yet.