Cleaning Kegs

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

Curious if anyone had any tips for a keg-newbie. What is the best way to clean a keg? I've seen quite a few ideas but wanted to see how all ya'll make it work.

PBW? Oxyclean? Carb with CO2 and purge the system with the cleaner?

Thanks!

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I keep it simple. Rinse the keg thoroughly, dump a gallon of the cheap Walmart version of Oxyclean into it, and let soak over night. I will turn it on all sides to let soak the various parts. Rinse again, and it's clean as a whistle. You can use the liquid to clean other things afterwards.

 

[raysmithtx]

This is what I use:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=481451

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm with the KISS method. Better off not overthinking it. Appreciate the advice!

 

[Anyhowe]

I think it is more about thoroughness than product. Here is how a home Brewer of the year does it. [ame="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChNfgLaUFeA"]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChNfgLaUFeA[/ame]

 

[Yesfan]

This is what I use:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=481451

The inspiration for my build.



I love the "scrubmaster" I made from that thread. It is great, especially if you have multiple kegs to clean. If you can't, or just don't want to, make one of those you could just get by with some Oxy/hot water mix. If there's some crud, a toilet brush is a great cleaning tool as it gives enough reach to get to the bottom of the keg. Obviously, buy a new one and don't use the one that's already used for the "other things" LOL.


I would use one of those while my posts/poppets were soaking in a cup of the Same Oxy solution. After a hot rinse, and I put the kegs back together, I hit it with sanitizer and store until it's ready for the next batch. The Scrubmaster speeds this process as I can have it running for a few minutes while I'm doing something else.

If you're cleaning recently purchased used kegs, it is recommended you change all the Orings as they can retain some of the soda flavors that keg once held. There's a pinned thread in this section (or the keg/bottling section), that lists the Oring sizes you need to order if you buy them from McMaster-Carr.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Curious if anyone had any tips for a keg-newbie. What is the best way to clean a keg? I've seen quite a few ideas but wanted to see how all ya'll make it work.

PBW? Oxyclean? Carb with CO2 and purge the system with the cleaner?

Thanks!

I dump the trub, rinse with water and use my carboy pipe cleaner to get all the way to the bottom. Fill it with PBW close it up swish it...carb the water flush the lines which takes like 5 mins really, then I dump it all hit it with star san and call it a day.

Every other time I break it down and take all of the pieces off but the process is the same.