Keg line cleaning

Greeting to all homebrewers!
I've got a question that I hope some here will be able to help me answer. After a 13 year break in homebrewing, I'm at it again, however this time instead of laboring over cleaning bottles, I've gone to kegs (this is made up for going from extract brewing to all-grain). Anyway, my first batch went well, and as time permits, anyone interested in a great red recipe I'll post it. I now have a situation that I'm unfamiliar to, I'm getting ready to keg my second batch (a red and an IPA) and I'm unsure as to the best way to clean my keg lines. I've seen products out there for this purpose, albeit, at $50, and wonder if anyone has used them, or how other keggers are cleaning their lines? Please let me know how it's done, or what you do to accomplish this daunting task.

Thanks,
dj

I have a idea for you, I worked in a food plants for years and what we do to clean any liquid lines and tanks, is to C.I.P. (Cleaning In Place) basicly you rince the lines with water then a caustic solution then a acid soluton then a sanitiser... basicly making a loop where you pump these chemical laden waters through the lines and return to the take where you took the solution from.. Now for a keg line I would think a good 20 minute hot water rince fallowed by a cold water flush and then a One step santizer flush would be perfect for a keg line..That should kill anything in there.. All you would need is a little water pump like they use in aquariums for water circulation.. Here is a link.. the $15.00 pump would work fine if you have a short line to clean with little head pressure... but if you have a long run look for you run length in the chart.. you can look at there other pumps also

http://petsolutions.com/product.asp?pn=88350151

A small pump like that and a gallon pail to submirge the pump in and a way to return the flow from the keg line to the pail will create you water circiut and provide a great easy cheap way to clean you keg line.

Im Planning my bar area of the house and my drip tray from my tap will be my return line to complete this circuit and clen the prip tray at the same time as I clean my lines.. I dont know your situation but im sure you can make this work out for you.

Other wise remove the line and get a turky baster and do the same process just manually.. That should also work just fine.. 20 minute hot water rince and then flush with cold and sanitize should kill almost anything that could be in the line. Oh when I say Hot water the hotter the better but not boiling.

Jaosn

dksj said:

Greeting to all homebrewers!
I've got a question that I hope some here will be able to help me answer. After a 13 year break in homebrewing, I'm at it again, however this time instead of laboring over cleaning bottles, I've gone to kegs (this is made up for going from extract brewing to all-grain). Anyway, my first batch went well, and as time permits, anyone interested in a great red recipe I'll post it. I now have a situation that I'm unfamiliar to, I'm getting ready to keg my second batch (a red and an IPA) and I'm unsure as to the best way to clean my keg lines. I've seen products out there for this purpose, albeit, at $50, and wonder if anyone has used them, or how other keggers are cleaning their lines? Please let me know how it's done, or what you do to accomplish this daunting task.

Thanks,
dj

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Hello, I am new to the world of beer-on-tap...I recently converted a refridgerator to a kegerator via Kegworks single tap conversion kit. I have just finished my first keg, a 5 gallon sanke of a local micro-brew, Heizelmannchen Ancient Days Honey Blonde Ale. Very tasty brew to say the least. I now want to clean my lines/faucet before my next keg. I have been reading but have quickly gotten many quaestions racking my brain.

First; should I clean AND sanitize my equipment?

Second; I am looking at the StarSan and PBW chemicals(possibly Oxi-Clean Free, but have read mixed reviews), but nonetheless need to devise a plan to pump the solutions through the lines and such. So which chemicals do you all suggest(and what recipes for the solutions) and how can I DIY pump them through? I see cleaning kits but at $50 a pop I want to try and save a few bucks.

Any tips are greatly appreciated, one day I will make my own beer, but until then I need to know how to enjoy fresh tasting draught beer with my DIY Kegerator.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

I fill a cornie with oxy clean solution and run some through the lines. then i repeat with a star san solution. Takes only a few minutes.

i clean and sanitize my lines as i clean and sanitize my kegs. After i empty a keg, i put some oxyclean and warm water in it. I then hook it back up to the kegerator, and oxyclean out the tap for about 15 seconds. I unhook the keg, and let both the keg and the oxyclean in the lines sit for a few hours. I then rinse the keg with hot water, and hook it back up to the kegerator, run hot water through the lines for a minute or so. Next, i mix hot water with a little bit of white vinegar. swish it around the keg real good, then run that through the lines. This gets the soapy residue out that was left from the oxyclean. Finally ill sanitize the keg, and run sanitizer solution through the tap lines. if im not immediately using that faucet, ill just leave the sanitizer in the line until im ready to hook up another keg. Might be a bit over kill, and i havent had any issues from leaving sanitizer in the lines, but thats my process

Adam

ps - welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the fast responses! Any ideas on where to buy cornelius kegs at?
Also, what ratios of chemicals to water do you all use?

if you are getting a kegerator kit, most come with cornie kegs. Otherwise, most online brew shops carry them. I got my keggerator kit from kegconenction.com

As for the oxyclean, i dont really measure. I use about 1/8 of a scoop for 5 gallons of water id guess. As for the vinegar, i just splash some in. Probably a couple tablespoons and mix with a couple gallons of warm water. Starsan i mix per the direction on the container. 1 oz per 5 gallons.

Thanks for the tips, I am off to get some star san and PBW. I will check the brew store for cornie kegs.

i use an actual beer line cleaner (BLC from micromatic) but basically the same. make the mixture and add to a corny... throw some co2 on it to pump it through the hoses, let it sit for like 20 minutes, then rinse out the keg, add water and pump a lot of it through the lines to get rid of the beer line cleaner, then hook my new keg up and get ready to serve.

Noob question alert...What tap do I need to use a cornie with? I found a refurbished cornie locally for $32 so I am going to get it and the chemicals.

there are two - a quick disconnect for the gas line and one for the liquid.

Ok thanks. I have an off-topic question, sorry...Should I be cutting off the co2 supply from the keg in between drinking? For instance, after I drink a few brews when I get home in the evening, should I cut the regulator/tank off until the next time I go to drink? Or should I keep pressure going to the keg? Thanks. FWIW, I did a search but was unsuccessful in finding the answers.

I use BLC (from AHS). I fill a corny, flush lines, wait 20 min, flush again, wait again, flush again. I do this about every 4 months, (I don't worry about flushing between every keg, I just do this to fight any buildup). Works great, no fancy equipment required.

^ EXACTLY what I do also, works like a charm.

gsxunv04 said:

Ok thanks. I have an off-topic question, sorry...Should I be cutting off the co2 supply from the keg in between drinking? For instance, after I drink a few brews when I get home in the evening, should I cut the regulator/tank off until the next time I go to drink? Or should I keep pressure going to the keg? Thanks. FWIW, I did a search but was unsuccessful in finding the answers.

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just keep it on unless you have a leak (obviously). sometimes when the temps in my garage are making my carbonation whacky, i will shut off the CO2 for a few pours and then charge it back up, but this is only after it has reached the carbonation level I want.

New question... I hope same topic.

Has anyone made a manifold from brass fittings and extra corny liquid posts so that you can simply move multiple corny liquid ball locks from the kegs to the manifold and use a pump to clean you beer lines all at once on a recirculation type system? If so, do you know what the threads are on the female side of the corny ball lock posts? I don't want to buy the parts if the threads are an off size/style.

Thanks

I would try and find a stainless steel fitting as opposed to brass if possible, just a thought.

Hopefully someone is still following this thread, but my question is HOW LONG after flushing the beer line w/ sanitizer is it actually still sanitized and safe to run the beer through? A little background, I got my keg all set up to rack into (cleaned and sanitized thoroughly, including the liquid out line), but I did this while I was waiting for a new Co2 regulator in the mail. I had a regulator that allowed me to pressurize the keg enough to push the sanitizer through the line, but the gauge was busted, so I was doing it "blindly". Anyway, immediately after sanitizing the keg and the line, I racked my beer into it and put it in the kegerator to chill. Yesterday, I got my new regulator and am now in the process of force carbonating, so there is currently beer in the line. Is my beer line clean, or should I remove it and re sanitize? Removing it will not be fun, as it's clamped on tight to my kegerator faucet, but if neglecting it means ruining my whole keg of beer, I will do it!

I don't think that beer lines are normally sanitized. Usually cleaned with BLC and flushed with water. You should be fine as long as the beer in the line was kept cold. Just pour off the first glass, or at least enough to flush what was in the line.

I have never sanitized my beer lines. I clean every couple of months with oxyclean but otherwise I just rinse when i change kegs.

whoa, no need to sanitize beer lines...good to know.
this is my first kegging experience and i just want to make sure i cover all bases.
thanks guys!

JUSTBEERPLEASE said:

Removing it will not be fun, as it's clamped on tight to my kegerator faucet, but if neglecting it means ruining my whole keg of beer, I will do it!

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You should not need to remove the line from the faucet. You can clean/sanitize the line and the faucet at the same time. Just put a little bit of tubing over the end of the faucet to direct the liquid you are running through your lines and faucet into a bucket. This has the added benefit of allowing you to use the faucet as a shut-off valve for your cleaning process.

I didnt want to start a new thread, so I decided to put this here:

I bought a kegerator and I am about to put my first keg in it. The "line cleader device" that seller provided was just a plastic squeeze bottle with some plastic tubing sticking out of the top (the plastic tubing is a larger diameter than keg line). Is there a way I can hook this up to the line in the kegerator and just squeeze it through? Or should I just find something that I can hook up to the CO2 and force it?

If you are legging your own beer, just put some cleaning solution in a Corny keg and force it through with CO2. The plastic bottle is for people that only buy kegs with Sanke connections

Buying a commercial keg, so I don't have an empty to use.

rjwhite41 said:

I have never sanitized my beer lines. I clean every couple of months with oxyclean but otherwise I just rinse when i change kegs.

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+1 to this. I have MFL connections on all my lines so that i can take them apart for cleaning with ease. I usually just soak the line in my sink with oxyclean and hot water while I am cleaning the empty keg and faucet that came off. Rinse, and hook back up.