Cleaning Kegs

[Mskin]

I'm wondering if its necessary to clean and sanitize my keg between beers. for instance, i finish the keg... why not just keep it pressurized in the fridge until my next batch is ready? Theoretically, if my last batch didn't spoil, the keg should be in pretty decent shape in terms of bacteria and such. Does anybody do this?

 

[Auger]

I would not. The kegs are sanitized, not sterilized. If there's a little speck of contamination, it might not show up in the time it takes to kill a keg, but over time it could propagate enough to ruin a future batch. I had this thought for a while, but before doing it, I ended up having to dump half a batch due to an unrelated infection. I quickly decided that the extra 10-15 minutes it takes to properly break down, clean, sanitize and reassemble a keg was nothing in comparison to spending 5-6 hours brewing a batch of beer, caring for it through fermentation and carbonation, only to have to dump it due to infection.

 

[stratslinger]

I always find that there at least a bit of sludge in the bottom of my kegs after they kick - usually just a bit of yeast that's fallen out of suspension over time (though sometimes there's also hops in there too, if I just got through a heavily dry-hopped IPA). I prefer not to transfer a new beer onto that sludge, and instead get it good and cleaned out first.

Now, if I were instead going to refill a keg with the exact same brew that I had just kicked, I'd be less hesitant to do it. (IE, if I kicked a keg of my house stout, and had another fermenter of it ready to go into the keg right then, I might be more willing to do exactly what you describe.)

 

[kev211]

I would not. The kegs are sanitized, not sterilized. If there's a little speck of contamination, it might not show up in the time it takes to kill a keg, but over time it could propagate enough to ruin a future batch. I had this thought for a while, but before doing it, I ended up having to dump half a batch due to an unrelated infection. I quickly decided that the extra 10-15 minutes it takes to properly break down, clean, sanitize and reassemble a keg was nothing in comparison to spending 5-6 hours brewing a batch of beer, caring for it through fermentation and carbonation, only to have to dump it due to infection.

I agree with this. However, I have done OP's method before when only leaving the keg for a short while. If the keg kicks, and Im filling it tomorrow, no need to pull the posts and everything. Ill just give it a quick swirl of star san solution to rinse everything that settled out from the previous beer.

However, I had a keg kick last night. I took me about 15 minutes to completely break down the keg and thoroughly clean everything and set it aside. So its not like Im really out a lot of time at the end of the day

 

[Mskin]

thanks all.

Typically, i do a full break down. Soak it in PB overnight, then flip it so its upside down in a gallon bucket and soak it another night. I break the valves down too and soak them. then everything soaks in sanitizer for a couple of hours. so, it generally takes me days (although not that much time, collectively). I figure if im going to go through the hastle, i might as well do it correctly. I mean, once you open the thing up and start touching stuff - infection potential increases. But you guys leave the dip stick and CO2 stem in and just rinse with a star san solution?

 

[kev211]

thanks all.

But you guys leave the dip stick and CO2 stem in and just rinse with a star san solution?

I break the whole thing down. I typically boil the parts (lid, o-ring, posts, and dip tubes) while Im cleaning the keg to help get the keg lube off. I never use PBW, rather give the thing a good wipe down and then rinse with tap water. Then on fill-day I give the thing a good star san cleansing

 

[stpug]

I break down each keg completely after each batch, but I usually wait for a "batch" of kegs to be dirty before cleaning (2-5 kegs, depending on circumstance). All dip tubes, poppets, posts. Everything goes through some oxy clean with a scrub. I use a 3 foot line cleaner for the tubes and a keg-dedicated, toilet bowl scrubber for the kegs. Rinse, sanitize, pressurize with small amount of sanitizer. In all, it takes 1-1.5 hours depending on how many kegs I'm doing. Very reasonable considering the amount of time I used to spend cleaning bottles.

 

[fun4stuff]

I will leave keg in kegerator until I'm ready to fill it. Then I rinse gunk out real with water and then starsan and run starsan through posts/poppits/lines until it runs clear. I'll break it down every few kegs/couple months. No need to break down every time.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/08/29/keg-care-and-cleaning-pbw-vs-oxiclean/

 

[scaesare]

Wha??

Break down the keg.. are you guys talking removing the ball lock connectors/guts, and everything? Boiling them?

I rinse 'em out with hot water. Get the sludge out, use a carboy brush if needed. Leave some hot water in it and pressurize with a bit of CO2, purge the ball-lock/hose/tap by spitting hot water thru it.

Dump that, and fill with StarSan. Shake/invert. A little more pressure and spit some StarSan thru the line/tap.

Repeat for next keg in line, using same batch of StarSan. When done with final keg, divide up the StarSan some some sits in each keg until next batch of beer is ready.

When kegging next batch, shake StarSan in keg one last time, pour it out, making sure to slosh over the top of each ball-lock connector. Set upside down to drain.

Takes 5-10 mins per keg. No tools required. I only remove a ball lock to repair.

My buddies all follow similar. No infection issues...

 

[Auger]

Until recently, I wasn't breaking down the posts more than every 3-5 fills. I started doing it every time. Once a keg is emptied, the posts and poppets come off and go into PBW, keg gets filled with PBW halfway, posts and poppets get rinsed and reinstalled, keg lid put on, keg tipped upside down with PBW. Dump that, rinse, repeat with starsan, use gas to push starsan out to sanitize the tap lines, then open keg and rack starsan into a carboy for reuse. Fill keg, purge, tap.

Probably overly cautious, but like I said before...I realllly hate dumping infected beer.

 

[day_trippr]

I always clean every keg between batches.

I've timed my corny keg cleaning routine and I can totally tear down a keg, clean everything to within an inch of its life, sanitize all the post parts, lube all the rubber bits, reassemble everything and fill with a standard iodophor solution in just over 15 minutes...

Cheers!

 

[iijakii]

Who here has had an infection in a kegged beer that's been in the fridge the whole time? The typical stuff doesn't really advance at 30-40s F.

 

[broadbill]

Who here has had an infection in a kegged beer that's been in the fridge the whole time? The typical stuff doesn't really advance at 30-40s F.

Not me. As such I rarely break down a keg for a complete cleaning. I usually hose out the gunk, soak to get anything that is stuck on, then air dry.

It gets a quick star-san swirl before filling time. That's it.

 

[Yooper]

For those who never break down a keg, just do it one time. Then take out the long diptube and hold it up to the light and "eyeball" it. It should gross you out, even if you've been running star-san and/or PBW through it.


I clean my kegs at every fill- but then, I always wash my dishes after every meal, too. I guess I could put my dirty dishes in the fridge, since I'll use them again later today anyway, but I'd rather wash them and have clean dishes.

To me that's the same thing- dirty is dirty. It takes like 10 minutes to thoroughly clean and sanitize a keg, including running a diptube brush in the diptube. I can't imagine any reason NOT to clean or sanitize the keg when I've spent tons of time brewing and fermenting the beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Not me. As such I rarely break down a keg for a complete cleaning. I usually hose out the gunk, soak to get anything that is stuck on, then air dry.

It gets a quick star-san swirl before filling time. That's it.

I'd consider that a potential problem where bugs and mold might grow somewhere.

1. After the (PBW) scrub/clean and soak and a good rinse, mount the clean, sanitized lid
2. Pressurize to say 10psi, swirl/shake with a couple quarts of Starsan
3. Invert
4. Over a bucket, pull PRV then push the gas poppet (use a nail set or screwdriver)
5. Set back on its feet push out Starsan through the liquid line (use picnic tap).
6. Now your keg is clean and sanitized, not much if anything can grow in it
7. Either push out the rest of the Starsan or leave it in until you're ready to fill it. A quick swirl then will rewet the sides

If you do 100% Starsan pre-purges, you can do that instead of the 2 quarts. Leave it ready for filling.

I stick a piece of marked blue tape over the bail, so I know it's either clean or pre-purged.

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] Then take out the long diptube and hold it up to the light and "eyeball" it. It should gross you out, even if you've been running star-san and/or PBW through it. [...]

Agreed, that tube should be clean and smooth on the inside too. I run a 3/8" diptube/draw brush through the diptube, with plenty of BKF and scrub and scrub. The gray-brown paste coming out either end is a sign of accumulated gunk over the years. Repeat until it's to your standards. Rinse well. After that, there is little reason to clean it each time you fill a keg. But do so once in a while, say every 3-5 fills, when you overhaul the posts and poppets.

 

[stratslinger]

I, too, typically break everything down and clean all the bits and pieces, giving everything an oxy bath. Also, as others have noted above, I typically wait until I've got 2-3 kegs to clean. Which reminds me, I've got some cleaning to do this weekend...

 

[Iseneye]

There is always gunk in the diptube so every keg gets a full breakdown. PBW clean including the dip tube internal, hot water rinse, Starsan. Is it a big deal if you don't do all this? Probably not, but we spend so much time and effort in cleaning and sanitizing everything else during the brewing process so why not do a good job on the vessel that the beer is going to spend the most amount of time in.

 

[iijakii]

I unscrew the posts and spray out with my hose. They rinse clean for me, I don't use PBW every time. I then store sanitized with a few quarts of starsan so they're good-to-go when needed.

 

[UndeadFred]

I break the keg down every time. I run a dip tube brush down it every time. When I fill the keg later I take the posts off and spray Star San down the dip tubes and on the lids. Combined -- both of those procedures take 20 minutes. I lube the seals then too.

It takes me 4-6 hours to brew and $25+ in ingredients. Those are VERY CHEAP 20 minutes if they prevent a problem once...

Once you bite the bullet and switch to Silicon O-rings (at $5 bag of 100 on average from e-bay or Amazon) then you can take the posts on and off 20 plus times without ruining the O-ring.. and if you do, you have 97+ of them left in the bag...