Why to use BLC in beer lines

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sherpa FE

The < 1% Club
HBT Supporter
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
818
Reaction score
20
Location
Blairsville
I just wanted to post this, because i didnt know it, and thought I might share, just incase you didnt know it.

When I clean my beer lines after a keg I do the following, and the lines always run clear, or seemingly clean with no aftertaste in the next beer.
1) rinse lines with HOT water.
2) rinse with oxi-clean free
3) rinse with hot water
4) rinse with Star-San, and let sit in line till I serve from that tap again.

Here's what I did different this time.
1) rinse with hot water
2) Rinse with oxi-clean free
3) rinse with hot water
4) rinse and let sit for 15 minutes BLC and cleaned taps.
5) rinsed with cold water
this time when I rinsed yellow gunk came out from the beer line, even though it ran clear with hot water and oxi-clean. When I clean a tap and line its RIGHT after a keg is floated, so it never sits there empty without being cleaned.
6) rinsed with Star-San.

I was really shocked at how I THOUGHT I was cleaning the beer line, but not doing as well as a job as I could be with using BLC.

Anyways, you all probably know this, but though I would share my experience.

Prost
:mug:
 
If you have an infected line, speaking from experience, running StarSan through the line is NOT enough to solve the problem as Sherpa said. The bacteria are sticky and grow in colonies and while the StarSan will kill most of them, some that are in the middle of the colony will be protected by their dead brethren. StarSan doe not do a good job of loosening up the sticky colonies. BLC however is very good at unstickifying the colonies. My procedure is to hit the lines with BLC, then a water rinse (a requirement, not a suggestion, as the akaline nature of BLC will negate the sanitizing action of StarSan), then the StarSan, followed by more water. Also, take apart the tap and clean that too, even BLC and StarSan treatment isn't enough to get rid of the bacteria, again speaking from experience.
 
If you have an infected line, speaking from experience, running StarSan through the line is NOT enough to solve the problem as Sherpa said. The bacteria are sticky and grow in colonies and while the StarSan will kill most of them, some that are in the middle of the colony will be protected by their dead brethren. StarSan doe not do a good job of loosening up the sticky colonies. BLC however is very good at unstickifying the colonies. My procedure is to hit the lines with BLC, then a water rinse (a requirement, not a suggestion, as the akaline nature of BLC will negate the sanitizing action of StarSan), then the StarSan, followed by more water. Also, take apart the tap and clean that too, even BLC and StarSan treatment isn't enough to get rid of the bacteria, again speaking from experience.

Why do you rinse with water after flushing with starsan? Isn't that defeating the purpose of it being no-rinse?
 
Why do you rinse with water after flushing with starsan? Isn't that defeating the purpose of it being no-rinse?

Yes it is. It is absolutely unnecessary to run starsan through beer lines. Many people may do it, but it's still unnecessary.
 
Bacterial biofilms are amazingly tough and unless a cleaner is designed to dissolve them OR you scrub, the little buggers will just snug down & laugh.
 
Bacterial biofilms? I can understand people being anal about sanitizing their fermenters. And I can see sanitizing bottles and cornys. But regular cleaning of the beer lines, coupler and faucet should keep the bogeyman at bay. I'm just sayin'...
 
BLC adds a green tint to the cleaner doesn't it? I forget the brand name of the cleaner I bought but it looks like antifreeze. When I add an ounce to a gallon of hot water, it changes to a pale green/yellow color. I let that soak while racking another beer to a keg then rinse with hot water.

If you have more than one tap morebeer has a gadget that allow you to connect two taps together. You just remove both faucets and install the adaptor with a piece of hose connecting them. This way I can run BLC in one keg and catch it in another, same with rinse water. I just disassemble the faucets and throw them in the bottom of one of the kegs to soak.

Linc
 
1) rinse with hot water
2) Rinse with oxi-clean free
3) rinse with hot water
4) rinse and let sit for 15 minutes BLC and cleaned taps.

Prost
:mug:

Why both oxi and BLC. BLC should be sufficient, No? I only use hot water and starsan. No problems yet, but may use BLC next time. Charlie
 
I have never cleaned my beers lines (because I just got the kegerator). Could someone just explain how I would go about cleaning them? I have BLC already and oxyclean.
 
I have never cleaned my beers lines (because I just got the kegerator). Could someone just explain how I would go about cleaning them? I have BLC already and oxyclean.

When a keg blows I open it, clean it out w/ hot water(ASAP), leave some water in it, fill w/ co2, squirt it out through the lines, refill w/ starsan , fill w/ co2 and squirt it out the lines leaving some in the lines until I need the lines/faucets again.
Read the first post to see a more thorough cleaning procedure and some else there's an even more thorough procedure that includes cleaning the faucets.
Cleaning the faucets might mean the SS perlick types, poster didn't say. I will soon have Perlicks and I've got to set it up with cleaning in mind.
 
When a keg blows I open it, clean it out w/ hot water(ASAP), leave some water in it, fill w/ co2, squirt it out through the lines, refill w/ starsan , fill w/ co2 and squirt it out the lines leaving some in the lines until I need the lines/faucets again.
Read the first post to see a more thorough cleaning procedure and some else there's an even more thorough procedure that includes cleaning the faucets.
Cleaning the faucets might mean the SS perlick types, poster didn't say. I will soon have Perlicks and I've got to set it up with cleaning in mind.

Sorry guys I have been gone for a couple of days.
Yes I have the Perclick style faucets, and as suggested above, Oxi-clean is not necessary with the BLC. I did it as a test to see if the oxi-clean was good enough to clean or not. from now on I will use hot water, and BLC probably ever 4th keg or so.

Prost.
:mug:
 
Back
Top