Disassemble keg every time?

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Good morning,

I finally made the switch to kegging on my last batch and I am loving it. I am getting ready to keg next batch but have a question.

Does everyone or most everyone break down their kegs each time they fill them?

I plan on finishing the current keg (only have one), cleaning and sanitizing and filling with the next batch.

If it matters, the last batch was a pale ale that went from carboy to keg.



Thanks for any and all comments.

Joe

 

[cfonnes]

Some people do some do not.

I always do, mainly because I let an empty keg (inch of stuff in bottom) sit around for a few months before I use them again

 

[AnOldUR]

For the most part, after a good rinsing with hot water, I'll just force warm sanitizer through the in, out and vent under high pressure.

But like cfonnes said. If you let the keg sit uncleaned for a long time, a more through job may be necessary.

 

[DPBISME]

I frequently just rinse it out and sanitize it,,, especally if I know the beer prior never showed any signs of "little Beasties".

If it has sat around for a while I take it apart.

SUGGESTION:

If you are using a Wort Chiller;;;; Clean (not sanitize) everything you can on a brew day... you have so much excess water that you can fill Fermenters, Carboys, kegs, and bottles with it.... toss in so OXYCLEAN in to item to clean and fill it up.... Some times you even end up with enough water to "rinse"....

Then when you need this stuff all you have to do is Sanitize....

Makes for a harder brew day but, you don't have to alot some other time for this and you will always be ready to brew...

DPB

 

[Jaybird]

I started using this this a long time ago. I use it for rinsing, washing with PBW and sanatizing with Star San. Lets me use my house pressure and get all my cleaners through the gas in and the beer out and the pressure valve of my keg without taking the keg apart every time. So no I dont take them apart every time but I do wash, rinse and sanitize every time.

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Ball_Lock_Corny_Keg_Cleaning_Kit.html

Cheers
Jay

 

[AnOldUR]

toss in some OXYCLEAN in to item to clean and fill it up.... Some times you even end up with enough water to "rinse"....

Then when you need this stuff all you have to do is Sanitize....

Just a heads-up, I've found that if I leave Oxyclean in something for longer than 24 hours it leaves a film that's a PITA to get off.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I started using this this a long time ago. I use it for rinsing, washing with PBW and sanatizing with Star San. Lets me use my house pressure and get all my cleaners through the gas in and the beer out and the pressure valve of my keg without taking the keg apart every time. So no I dont take them apart every time but I do wash, rinse and sanitize every time.

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Ball_Lock_Corny_Keg_Cleaning_Kit.html

Cheers
Jay

So in theory, I can use my keg line cleaning kit to backflow and wash out the dip tub without total disassembly?

That would make things much easier.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I don't even clean kegs every time. If I'm putting the same beer in the keg, and the keg was just pulled from the kegerator, I just fill it again.

Usually though, I rinse, soak in oxy water, rinse, then sanitize.

As to pulling a keg apart, I only do that when the keg is new, or there is an issue.

 

[caioz1jp]

This actually interest me as well since i too just began kegging. I would think filling the keg with hot water and cleaner would be good. I roll the keg back and forth on the floor to create aggitation and cover all surfaces. after that i pressurize to 60 PSI then just run through the tap lines. The lines on my taps are cleaned right away when the keg is emptied. I leave a very low concentration of sani solution in the lines for a day or two. The acid creates a pickle and will break up most stains. You will even see a little sediment in the line. Then i just flush hot tap water through before attach the next keg.

 

[knuckleheadbrewing]

Only take them any further then wash and sanitize if something weird happened to the beer before it.

 

[NervousDad]

I put PBW then Star san through them to clean all of the lines. I suppose that I'll give them a good cleaning after a few more uses.

 

[chemman14]

I like to take my kegs apart and clean them each time. It isnt that hard to do and really gets everything clean. Plus i have to take the dip tube out anyway to use my keg cleaner drill attachment

 

[Photopilot]

I have built a power washer and wait until I have four or more kegs, sankes or carboys needing cleaning then fire it up and clean all at once without disassembling or scrubbing.

 

[Hammy71]

I completely strip and clean. Not saying its right, just what I do. Make sure you get a dip tube brush. Sometimes its scary what you'll find, especially after serving something dry hopped.

 

[r2eng]

I completely strip and clean. Not saying its right, just what I do. Make sure you get a dip tube brush. Sometimes its scary what you'll find, especially after serving something dry hopped.

Yep. Me, too.

Why take a chance with a batch of beer. It does not take long...

 

[Yooper]

I completely strip and clean. Not saying its right, just what I do. Make sure you get a dip tube brush. Sometimes its scary what you'll find, especially after serving something dry hopped.

Yep, me too. It takes less than 10 minutes to take off the posts and pull the diptubes out and clean them and the keg, pour sanitizer on/through everything and close it back up.

I was "talking" on the forum to a guy who never did this and had trouble with a keg pouring foam. He took off the "out" post and held the diptube up to the light. No only was it totally occluded in the poppit, he said the inside of the diptube had a big black goober that made him want to barf!

In a big hurry, I could see just running cleaner and then sanitizer through, but really it wouldn't be any faster than taking off the posts and pouring the sanitizer through them anyway.

Another guy told me he breaks his down every third batch. That works for him, but I think it'd be like doing your dishes every third meal.

So, whatever works for you is the "right" thing to do. I would also guess that it depends on how long it takes you to go through a keg and what you're brewing. I go through kegs FAST (embarrassingly fast) but I make a ton of hoppy beers and I usually have hops debris in the poppit. If I went through kegs pretty fast, but made a lot of kolsch and lagers, I'd probably let some of the disassembling slide.

 

[Melvin]

Get the right tools for the take down and keep them with your brewing gear. Take it apart everytime. Why be lazy when you have all this time into a brew? Start good habbits now so you dont have to break bad habbits later.

 

[ne0t0ky0]

Just a heads-up, I've found that if I leave Oxyclean in something for longer than 24 hours it leaves a film that's a PITA to get off.

I get the same since I have hard water. A quick vinegar rinse removes the build up.