DIY Beer Line Cleaner

[Knightshade]

I got tired of doing the bug sprayer attachment thing this past weekend, too much pump, spray, dump, refill, etc., so I hooked up a smaller pump that I was originally using for wort chilling. Required some gun decking of sorts, but it worked pretty well.

I popped off the liquid ball lock, put on an elbow and extended to a carbonation cap. Connected the pond pump to a 3/8" line and put a ball lock on that end and connected to said carbonation cap. Hooked up an existing growler fill faucet to the tap that I wanted to clean with a line attached and fed it through the back of my kegerator and back into the bucket. This way..I could just walk away and let it re-circulate for as long as I wanted. Flushed out beer with RO water and bug sprayer, did a cycle of BLC for 20 minutes, flushed with RO water and bug sprayer again, cycled StarSan for another 20 minutes, then flushed RO water through the line again, then left the line full of RO water.

I've got a couple T connectors and an extra carbonation cap if I happened to need to do 2 lines at once, but if I'm emptying 2 kegs at once, I've probably been drinking too much!

 

[chipotlemonger]

I have a hand pump that I'd like to use for cleaning my 2 beer lines on the kegerator. Having an issue with finding the right adapter between the pump and the faucet-side of the faucet shank. I would like to screw directly in and clean the beer line in reverse normal operating direction. Any of y'all have insight or a part you can steer me towards? Simply put, I have a male garden hose ending on this line that I want to directly adapt to the shank.

 

[modobrew]

Thanks for the great idea. Im lazy so i add a fish pump to the system vs the hand pump for about the same cost as the hand pump.
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Probably mentioned somewhere else in the thread, but do you have links to the adapters you used to connect the ball lock to tubing going to the pump?

 

[k-os]

Probably mentioned somewhere else in the thread, but do you have links to the adapters you used to connect the ball lock to tubing going to the pump?

Looks to be similar to these.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/carbonation-line-cleaning-ball-lock-cap-plastic.html

 

[Knightshade]

I had to reference my own damn picture in this thread a couple of weeks ago, because I couldn't remember how I connected everything up...lamers.

 

[aceluby]

Found this thread through Reddit and made one of these today for a used keezer I bought off Facebook marketplace. The stuff that came out of the lines was gross. PBW, let it sit for a few hours, flush with more PBW, a couple rounds of water, finished with some star san, and those babies are pristine. Had to use a lot of tape to get a seal, but now it’s working awesome and cost only $25

 

[Jayjay1976]

I've never really cleaned my lines... ~3.5 years and a couple of dozen kegs, all duo tight fittings and 5/32" EvaBarrier lines, my routine has been annual disassembly and ultrasonic cleaning of the faucets; between kegs I'll just blow a gallon or so of fresh Star San through the lines before tapping the next keg. Now that I'm dabbling in sours and wild ferments I'm thinking it's time to start a proper cleaning regimen. I bought a bottle of caustic beer line cleaner and picked up a pair of stainless carbonation caps to rig up a jumper, shopping for a pond pump now.

Any hints/tips/shortcuts on using the beer line cleaner? I'm not looking to use pH test strips to confirm proper rinsing, would prefer to just overdo the rinse and follow with a Star San flush.

 

[SanPancho]

you dont "really" need specialty beer line cleaner. your typical PBW/oxyclean type cleaner will work. if you're using the EVA stuff it cleans so much easier than the old vinyl stuff its crazy. very hard for things to stick to it. i'd just use your existing alkaline cleaner.

as for sanitizing, that's where i'd skip the star san and go with the iodine stuff. 2min contact time and it kills everything. much more effective than star san. so if you wanna make sure your sours /wilds dont cause problems that's what i'd recommend. at 12.5ppm its no-rinse so you're good there. for extra sanitizing power you can double it to 25ppm, but then that needs a clean rinse. so just depends on how far you wanna take it.

 

[Jayjay1976]

you dont "really" need specialty beer line cleaner. your typical PBW/oxyclean type cleaner will work. if you're using the EVA stuff it cleans so much easier than the old vinyl stuff its crazy. very hard for things to stick to it. i'd just use your existing alkaline cleaner.

as for sanitizing, that's where i'd skip the star san and go with the iodine stuff. 2min contact time and it kills everything. much more effective than star san. so if you wanna make sure your sours /wilds dont cause problems that's what i'd recommend. at 12.5ppm its no-rinse so you're good there. for extra sanitizing power you can double it to 25ppm, but then that needs a clean rinse. so just depends on how far you wanna take it.

I've been a-hankerin' to pick up some iodophor to mess with. Sounds like cleaning with 25ppm followed by rinsing with 12.5ppm is a solid practice? I'm happy to spare a pint or two rinsing the lines so long as I can keep my wilds in check. Any idea if CO2 lines are a potential vector for cross-contamination?

 

[SanPancho]

technically you're supposed to do full rinse of the 25ppm solution. if you trust your water, no problem. if not then it'd be 25ppm, water rinse, then 12.5ppm rinse. i dont think you're gonna die if you just follow the 25 with the 12.5, but there you go.

in theory co2 lines can spread contamination but that only happens if you get backflow happening. commercial type sanke kegs have built in check valves so its pretty rare. but corny gear doesnt have the check valves so its definitely happened to me and others i know before. its awkard and unwieldy in the cooler but you can just put check valves right off each gas QD if you're worried. if you have a wild beer that goes slowly, it might be a good idea as brett (and any diastatic yeast for that matter) can keep fermenting in the keg and over pressurize- and now you got backflow into your co2 lines potentially....

 

[Climb]

@tolip_ck1 How did you connect the brass disconnect assembly to the bottom of the Sanke spear? It looks like there is a brass adapter on the disconnect and maybe a black rubber gasket? Could you post a closer picture of that or better yet a picture of the parts?
Thanks.