Corny sanitizing and use....

[GANGGREEN]

OK, I apologize in advance if this has been covered over and over but I took a quick perusal and couldn't find the info. I also haven't seen it in the couple of months that I've been reading the board here.

How do you sanitize the outlet pipe in a corny keg? Must you pressurize and blow your sanitizing fluid through there?

How often do the O-rings need replaced in the corny? Can you simply sanitize them over and over or must they be replaced every time, every 3rd time, etc.?

Thanks in advance, I'm getting ready for my first ever beer kegging experiment.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

This thread will have everything you need to know.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sticky-kegging-faqs-43347/

 

[shortyjacobs]

My eyeballs just bugged out looking at the FAQ from Baja, so I'll give you my Cliffs notes.

To sanitize the air side dip tube, I just flip the keg over and depress the poppet with a screwdriver. To sanitize the liquid side, either have enough sanitizer in the keg that you can turn it on its side and do the same, (requires at least 1/2 keg of sanitizer), or if you have starsan, give it a good shake, (which will build some pressure), and again hit the poppet with a screw driver.

I replace o-rings when they leak. It takes quite a few uses for this to happen.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

My eyeballs just bugged out looking at the FAQ from Baja, so I'll give you my Cliffs notes.

Haha, my bad...

I havent brewed in 6 months so I haven't really been kegging either... I'm out of practice...

 

[Montanaandy]

I take the easy/lazy way and hook up my pump to a line that "T"'s off with a gas QC and liquid QC on each end. Fill the corney with water, ada scoop of oxy, (In a wash basin/sink filled partially with water) turn it on and allow the oxy to circulate from the pump through the QC's and out the top of the corny for about 20 minutes. Rinse everything out and repeat with clean water. You can also add Star San and sanitize this way but I normally just fill the keg part way with SS, pressurize and then bleed it out to use to sanitize something else. Montanaandy

 

[Yooper]

I use a socket wrench and take off the posts and clean them by rinsing them off and then soaking in star-san along with the keg lid. They usually have hops debris in the poppits. I pull out the diptubes and run clean water through them in the sink and then hold them up to the light to eyeball them. Sometimes they are pretty clean, sometimes they are really disgusting. I clean them out and then pour sanitizer through them and set on a paper towel while I rinse the inside of the keg. Once it's clean, I pour some star san in it, and shake it up and reassemble. If the o-rings are worn, I replace them. I usually just give them a little smear of keg lube.

That sounds like a lot, I guess, but it takes less than 10 minutes. The keg is broken down, cleaned, and sanitized completely in a very short period of time.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Haha, my bad...
.

Oh hey, not your bad. The idea of a Kegging FAQ is great, but the one we have isn't really useful. There are 300 links there, but no descriptions. I'm just too lazy to click on every link to find one on sanitizing, or whatever it is I'm looking for. (I actually looked, because I was wondering if there was a better way than how I do it!)

 

[GANGGREEN]

OK, very helpful. Thanks all.