Keg Cleaning Tips?

I'm pretty neurotic when it comes to cleanliness... never had a single infected batch in over 10 years of brewing. I just got into kegging this year and was wondering how others clean their keg equipment? What I've been doing: as soon as a keg is cashed (within an hour), I clean it with hot water and oxy clean, rinse until there is no residual soapiness, then fill it with about 4 gallons of warm water and add some IO Star Sanitizer (I almost always keg more beer the day I run out of another). Once full with the water/Iodine solution, I run about a gallon or 2 through my beer lines to cleanse and sanitize them. I've not experience any issues, but was wondering if there is anything I should be aware of? I've read about "beer stones" and I'm aware they make specific beer line cleaners, but I don't usually buy into the hype. Should I?

Thanks and cheers!!

I completely disassemble the keg and soak everything in oxi-clean or PBW solution for 30-60 minutes, then rinse. When I sanitize I spray with a Star San solution instead of filling it up to save on sanitizer.

jerryalan said:

I completely disassemble the keg and soak everything in oxi-clean or PBW solution for 30-60 minutes, then rinse. When I sanitize I spray with a Star San solution instead of filling it up to save on sanitizer.

Click to expand...

Me too, except I don't soak for that long. If the keg is nearly emptied, and hasn't had time to dry, I rinse with super hot water. I take off the posts and run hot water through the diptubes then hold them up to the light. (You would not believe the crud I've seen in there!) I rinse off the poppits and eyeball everything. I wash with a small scoop of oxiclean and hot water, then rinse well. I feel the rubber o-rings and poppits, sanitize, lube, reassemble.

That sounds like a lot, but it's like a 5-8 minute job.

I would suggest a "real" beer line cleaner, for the lines. Sanitizer doesn't clean, and oxi won't touch beerstone. Lines are one thing that can be cleaned, and not sanitized, if done properly.


_

When a keg kills:
1. Rinse everything thoroughly with hot water.
2. Dissolve 2T Oxy & 2T TSP-90 & add to the keg with 3 gallons of hot water. Clean the Out Tube with a Dip Tube Brush! Lube the Out Dip Tube O-ring & poppet with keg lube & replace the post. Put the lid on and shake the bageebees out of it. Run the cleaner through both dip tubes & relief valve & let it sit - one day right side up & one day upside down, shaking it in between. Thoroughly rinse with hot water
3. Fill with 1 gallon of hot starsan solution. Spray starsan on the lid O-Ring & lube if necessary. Put lid on and shake the bageebees out of it. Run the starsan through both dip tubes & relief valve. Pressurize to ~20PSI.

That's how I roll.... Cheers!!!

Wow now I feel lazy I have never taken my kegs apart except to replace o rings
All I do after I kill one I leave it in the frig till time to refill ( like 2 or 3 days) I flush the inside with a gal of water and shake it drain then repeat maybe 3 times.
After it looks clean I put a gal of sanizer in it shake the piss out of it then go to the kegerator and run about half of the sanizer through the lines then keg as usual never had a problem

Within a few months of a keg kicking, I rinse with hot water, throw it on my pump driven washer, which recircs 212F oxyclean through the keg and diptubes, hit it with about a gallon of starsan, shake it all around, and let sit until I refill.

I prolly should take it apart each time, but I'm lazy, and I figure the boiling oxyclean being forced through the posts should take care of most and kill the rest...