Cleaning Cornies for First Use - No Dip Tube Brush

We're planning on doing our first kegging this weekend and find ourselves without a dip tube brush. The kegs appear to be fairly clean and still have some sanitizer/cleaner inside. I will be replacing all the seals before using the kegs but really wanted to take a brush to the dip tubes. Does any body have a suggestion on how to clean the dip tubes without a brush? Do you think pushing cleaner out the dip tube with CO2 and then letting it soak for a while would get most of the nasties?

 

Honestly, I've never cleaned the dip tube with a rod. I just remove it an use my kitchen sprayer to run some hot water down it and then spray it out with sanitizer.

Not sure how clean it really is, but no issues yet.

I imagine that there are some gun cleaning kits with rods and brushes that could be used in place of a dip tube brush (not sure what size).

 

Hmm I've also not cleaned my dip tubes, they soak in the oxyclean like the rest of the keg for at least 12 hours, sometimes a week.

 

I with McK on this. Don't own a brush, never will. When I kick a keg I rinse everything out real well and then do an oxy soak for 24hours.

 

I give a good rinse when it is empty, and fill it with oxiclean, run some through the picnic tap and let it sit until the day I refill, when i rinse it out very well, and sanitize.

 

Thanks everyone. Kegging is on for Sunday. We just recently started brewing and have three batches fermenting but haven't tasted anything yet. Hopefully we haven't made the same mistake three times. But as I read here on the forum "there's no such thing as bad beer, just limited editions".

 

Northern Brewer sells a diptube brush, check it out if you want one. I have never used one and I am not sure if it's really needed.

 

I have a dip tube brush and only really needed it once - old soda gunk was built up something fierce.

But having said that, if needed, I usually will rinse it out with a high-pressure hose sprayer attachment. Sams sells a variety pack of hose attachments for $11 or so, and one is the high pressure. It's been great for cleaning out the keggle after brewing, run it thru the CFC right after use before anything cakes on, etc...

 

I could understand wanting a diptube brush if you dryhopped in the keg and didn't do it with a hop bag. If you are serving pretty clear beer, a good Oxiclean soak will definatley take care of you!

 

I own and use a diptube brush, but agree that a soak in hot Oxyclean will do the trick. If you hold one end to the light and look through the other, you can actually inspect the interior quite well...better than you'd think.

 

I own one and use it. I know hot water and Oxi will clean out almost anything, but I still use the brush.

 

I have found that my multi-pattern garden hose spray nozzle works wonders for cleaning just about anything. The high pressure jet setting is just the right size to fit dip tubes, hoses, racking canes etc. and produces pressure far beyond the sprayer in my sink. so much in fact that I have to be sure to hold both ends of my hoses so they don't hit me in the eye.
the "cone" setting gets water to those hard to reach places under the neck of a carboy, and the "shower" setting rinses quickly....and the pressure is adjustable with the flick of my thumb.
combine this with some oxy clean and you're good to go.

 

I bought a brush after buying a set of 6 used kegs that had old oxidized beer sitting in them for a year. $10/keg made it worth buying a $5 brush. A couple kegs only came clean after pouring in a gallon of boiling water with PBW.
If your kegs are in good condition, I wouldn't worry about it.