Does kegging really save any time?

[kombat]

I know one of the main arguments in favour of kegging over bottling is the supposed time savings. However, I'm wondering if maybe my process sucks, or if I'm overdoing it, as I feel like I'm spending a ton of time on my keg cleaning process.

When a keg kicks, here's what I do.

• Mix up a fresh batch of Oxyclean or PBW in hot water. Pour some in a small bucket (a popcorn bucket from the movie theater)
• Disconnect gas and beverage lines, then pull pressure relief valve to vent remaining CO2.
• Remove the lid and drop it in the popcorn bucket to soak in PBW.
• Take a wrench, remove the gas and liquid posts, drop them in the bucket with the lid.
• Remove the gas and liquid dip tubes and O-rings, put in popcorn bucket to soak.
• Pour the how PBW solution into the keg. Scrub inside with a toilet brush.
• Pour the PBW out of the keg, back into the bucket. Rinse the inside with hot water 3 times.
• With an old toothbrush, I scrub the keg posts, lid, and gas dip tube. I use a long pipecleaner-type brush to clean inside the dip tubes. I clean the outside of the liquid dip tube with a sponge. Rinse everything.
• Reinsert the dip tubes, O-rings, and keg posts. I brush on a little keg lube onto the O-rings with a Q-tip. I tighten down the posts.
• I pour some StarSan into the keg, seal the lid, and shake vigorously.
• Connect the beverage line and a CO2 tank, with pressure set to 5 psi. I open the picnic tap and run some StarSan through the beverage line to clean it.
• Disconnect the gas and beverage lines. I leave the StarSan in the beverage line until it's needed again.
• Pop the keg lid, pour out remaining StarSan.
• Put the lid back on, reconnect the CO2 and pressurize to 10 psi.
• Spray StarSan around the lid and posts to check for bubbles (leaks).

That takes me at least 30 minutes, usually 45. Does anyone have a faster method? Maybe there are some steps I can skip, or only do every 2-3 cleanings? This is one of the less enjoyable aspects of home brewing, so I welcome any suggestions!

 

[JonGrafto]

I only completely disassemble my kegs every 3 or 4 batches. other than that I rinse with hot water and PBW or Starsan very well. I also run hot StarSan mixture through the keg lines as well.

 

[Bamsdealer]

I usually just disassemble everything and toss the parts in some hot water. The keg gets rinsed well with hot water, scrubbed and rinsed again with hot water. The parts get rinsed with hot water and I blow hot water through the beer line. 10 minutes. Everything gets a dose of star san before assembling... 5 minutes.

The only time I use cleaner is if something dries out. Fermenters,, bottles, siphons, kegging equipment etc all gets hot water and a wipe if necessary. Air dry and star san before using. The key is getting to everything before it has a chance to dry out.

 

[tre9er]

You could make a recirculating pond-pump-in-a-bucket setup that shoots cleaning solution of your choice inside the keg and through the posts all at the same time. Anything that doesn't come out of there after that isn't coming out any time soon...of course you can disassemble every few batches. I soak mine for a few days in oxy-clean, full to the brim, never have chunks come out

 

[brewcephus]

[*]Pour the how PBW solution into the keg. Scrub inside with a toilet brush.

Kind of defeats the purpose, no? LOL jk

 

[xjmox14x]

Kind of defeats the purpose, no? LOL jk

Mmmm... Flush It Down Brown Ale.

"That's yeast particles floating around on the bottom right?"
"....yes."



I absolutely dreaded bottling. In the time it takes me to just fill the BOTTLING bucket, I have already filled a keg. Couldn't be easier.

 

[NathPowe]

I'm with the OP on this. While I definitely prefer to keg most beers instead of bottling, I don't think it's actually a big time saver. I certainly don't think it takes any longer than bottling, but I wouldn't list significant times savings as an advantage of kegging. At least not for me / my setup. I would, however, list the Pure Awesomeness Factor of pouring a beer you made from a tap in your kitchen as an advantage.

 

[novahokie09]

You can carb a beer in two days with a keg. Bottling takes around three weeks.

Not to mention you need to keep bottle conditioned beers warmer for longer which increases the likelihood of oxidation. When force carbing in a keg, you can keep the beer colder which results in a longer shelf life.

 

[brewcephus]

...the Pure Awesomeness Factor of pouring a beer you made from a tap in your kitchen as an advantage.

This is the ONLY reason I want to get a kegging setup. I enjoy bottling and will continue to bottle even when I get my kegerator/keezer setup because I also enjoy taking beer with me to a friends house, but the ability to come home from work and pull a fresh poured draft and sit in the recliner and drink some great beer is numeral uno for me.

 

[kh54s10]

clean 50+ bottles, then sanitize the bottles 20 minutes. Clean the bottling bucket and sanitize all the parts 10 minutes, weigh out the priming sugar 10 minutes, boil the priming solution 15 minutes, set up for bottling 10 minutes, fill all the bottles 30 minutes, cap all the bottles 10 minutes, clean everything an put it away, 30 minutes.

20+10+10+15+10+30+10+30 = about 2.5 hours If I really work at it I might shave off 1/2 hour.

 

[tre9er]

You can carb a beer in two days with a keg. Bottling takes around three weeks.

This^

Plus, getting beer on Co2 and cold temps reduces the risk of infection. Never had infected beer after putting it in the keg, not that it's impossible, but less likely.

 

[atom]

I enjoy bottling and will continue to bottle even when I get my kegerator/keezer setup because I also enjoy taking beer with me to a friends house.

that's what growlers are for...

 

[tre9er]

that's what growlers are for...

You can also bottle off the keg in a matter of minutes. Racking cane, #2 drilled stopper, 2PSI, boom, done.

 

[TyTanium]

clean 50+ bottles, then sanitize the bottles 20 minutes. Clean the bottling bucket and sanitize all the parts 10 minutes, weigh out the priming sugar 10 minutes, boil the priming solution 15 minutes, set up for bottling 10 minutes, fill all the bottles 30 minutes, cap all the bottles 10 minutes, clean everything an put it away, 30 minutes.

20+10+10+15+10+30+10+30 = about 2.5 hours If I really work at it I might shave off 1/2 hour.

I would invest some thought in streamlining your bottling operation.

 

[Braufessor]

I know one of the main arguments in favour of kegging over bottling is the supposed time savings. However, I'm wondering if maybe my process sucks, or if I'm overdoing it, as I feel like I'm spending a ton of time on my keg cleaning process.

When a keg kicks, here's what I do.

• Mix up a fresh batch of Oxyclean or PBW in hot water. Pour some in a small bucket (a popcorn bucket from the movie theater)
• Disconnect gas and beverage lines, then pull pressure relief valve to vent remaining CO2.
• Remove the lid and drop it in the popcorn bucket to soak in PBW.
• Take a wrench, remove the gas and liquid posts, drop them in the bucket with the lid.
• Remove the gas and liquid dip tubes and O-rings, put in popcorn bucket to soak.
• Pour the how PBW solution into the keg. Scrub inside with a toilet brush.
• Pour the PBW out of the keg, back into the bucket. Rinse the inside with hot water 3 times.
• With an old toothbrush, I scrub the keg posts, lid, and gas dip tube. I use a long pipecleaner-type brush to clean inside the dip tubes. I clean the outside of the liquid dip tube with a sponge. Rinse everything.
• Reinsert the dip tubes, O-rings, and keg posts. I brush on a little keg lube onto the O-rings with a Q-tip. I tighten down the posts.
• I pour some StarSan into the keg, seal the lid, and shake vigorously.
• Connect the beverage line and a CO2 tank, with pressure set to 5 psi. I open the picnic tap and run some StarSan through the beverage line to clean it.
• Disconnect the gas and beverage lines. I leave the StarSan in the beverage line until it's needed again.
• Pop the keg lid, pour out remaining StarSan.
• Put the lid back on, reconnect the CO2 and pressurize to 10 psi.
• Spray StarSan around the lid and posts to check for bubbles (leaks).

That takes me at least 30 minutes, usually 45. Does anyone have a faster method? Maybe there are some steps I can skip, or only do every 2-3 cleanings? This is one of the less enjoyable aspects of home brewing, so I welcome any suggestions!

This is pretty similar to what I do...... There are many people who do not take keg apart each time and have success. Personally, I do take mine apart everytime. Often times I will clean a keg while I am mashing or boiling..... not much else to do at that time anyway. Then, all it needs is star san when I want to fill it.
I think 30 minutes is pretty decent for a thorough keg cleaning. You could probably spend less time..... but consider the consequences of a couple ruined batches due to an improperly cleaned keg???? An extra 10 -15 minutes (sooner or later) might save you hours and hours of wasted brew time plus the money of ingredients.
I don't think kegging is that much of a time saver over bottling..... especially if later (like me) you end up filling some bottles with counterpressure filler any way..... But, it is convenient, it is a space saver, it is a good way to store, condition and lager beers anyway. The key to either bottling or kegging is simple - clean your stuff immediately. Don't let it get "gunky" - always rinse/clean kegs and bottles as soon as they are empty so that when it comes time to use them, all that is left is to sanitize them with star san.

I think you are doing fine.

One thing I do different is I use big tubs of PBW and Star san for cleaning and sanitizing. I keep a big tub full of 10 gallons of starsan for 6-8 weeks at a time. Dunking and soaking is convenient for me. I can fill a keg with star san, dump it back in the tub, put the keg upside down in the starsan etc. The cost is next to nothing when you are reusing it for 6-8 weeks. A 16 ounce bottle of star san will still last me a year...... I know I could make it last 3 years - but, the convenience is worth it to me.

Also, just taking time to clean 2-3-4 kegs all at once (Be organized so you don't mix up parts) helps too. Just dedicate an hour+ and you have 4 clean kegs that only need star san come kegging time.

 

[billl]

That is basically what I do. I usually just let it all soak in oxyclean overnight. That basically eliminates all the scrubbing time since any gunk seems to fly right off with just a quick once over with a brush.

Whenever possible, I try to time it so that I'm filling with beer instead of doing those final steps for storage.

 

[tenbricks]

I know one of the main arguments in favour of kegging over bottling is the supposed time savings. However, I'm wondering if maybe my process sucks, or if I'm overdoing it, as I feel like I'm spending a ton of time on my keg cleaning process.

When a keg kicks, here's what I do.

• Mix up a fresh batch of Oxyclean or PBW in hot water. Pour some in a small bucket (a popcorn bucket from the movie theater)
• Disconnect gas and beverage lines, then pull pressure relief valve to vent remaining CO2.
• Remove the lid and drop it in the popcorn bucket to soak in PBW.
• Take a wrench, remove the gas and liquid posts, drop them in the bucket with the lid.
• Remove the gas and liquid dip tubes and O-rings, put in popcorn bucket to soak.
• Pour the how PBW solution into the keg. Scrub inside with a toilet brush.
• Pour the PBW out of the keg, back into the bucket. Rinse the inside with hot water 3 times.
• With an old toothbrush, I scrub the keg posts, lid, and gas dip tube. I use a long pipecleaner-type brush to clean inside the dip tubes. I clean the outside of the liquid dip tube with a sponge. Rinse everything.
• Reinsert the dip tubes, O-rings, and keg posts. I brush on a little keg lube onto the O-rings with a Q-tip. I tighten down the posts.
• I pour some StarSan into the keg, seal the lid, and shake vigorously.
• Connect the beverage line and a CO2 tank, with pressure set to 5 psi. I open the picnic tap and run some StarSan through the beverage line to clean it.
• Disconnect the gas and beverage lines. I leave the StarSan in the beverage line until it's needed again.
• Pop the keg lid, pour out remaining StarSan.
• Put the lid back on, reconnect the CO2 and pressurize to 10 psi.
• Spray StarSan around the lid and posts to check for bubbles (leaks).

That takes me at least 30 minutes, usually 45. Does anyone have a faster method? Maybe there are some steps I can skip, or only do every 2-3 cleanings? This is one of the less enjoyable aspects of home brewing, so I welcome any suggestions!

As others have suggested, the biggest time saver will be in not dissembling the keg every time. PBW is a pretty amazing cleaner, look how well it cleans gunked up carboys just with a soak, and the inside of kegs are much cleaner. I've found pressurizing the keg then shaking it while allowing the cleaner to spray out causes lots of spitting and foam to launch out surprizingly fast. It creates enough turbulence I'm comfortable calling the dip tube clean.

I'd suggest:

• Disconnect lines, release pressure, dump contents.
• Rinse with water as hot as you can get, then rinse again with lid on, while shaking.
• Keg should be nice and hot now. Fill partially with more hot water and PBW, then shake the hell out of it periodically over the next 10 minutes. Scrub inside, put lid back on.
• Pressurize and hook back up to liquid post. Open tap to run hot PBW through. After about half has come out, start shaking the keg to get foaming and spitting. It'll make a mess if you don't hold a collection bucket right under the tap.
• Dump PBW into sink on top of lid, scrub lid.
• Rinse a time or two.
• Dump in Starsan, close up and pressurize.
• Shake the hell out of keg again, hook back to tap, and open it while shaking keg. Again, it'll spit sanitized all over if you don't take care.
• Tap and keg are now clean and sanitized. Don't release the remaining pressure on the keg, just put it aside.

I would still disassemble both the keg and tap every so often to give a thorough cleaning, but when doing so I haven't seen anything to indicate this cleaning process is at all inadequate. Under 30 min to clean and sanitize keg and tap, probably under 20 min if I wasn't making sure the other taps are still pouring well while doing this. (Which has never happened, so just guessing on time)

 

[DrunkleJon]

I rinse with hot water, then put 1/4 scoop of oxy in the keg, top off with a couple gallons of as hot as i can get it water, close the lid and shake. Stand it up for 3-5 minutes, then lay on its side and roll around. When the gas in is down, press in the poppit to get some oxy in there, do the same standing up to get some out of beer out (hot water in cold keg makes pressure) and roll around. Dump, rinse with hot water, including dip tubes as detailed above. Put some Starsan water (<1/2 gal) in the keg, shake and then put on CO2 with a picnic tap to empty.

Every couple refills I disassemble and thoroughly scrub/soak.

 

[tre9er]

As others have suggested, the biggest time saver will be in not dissembling the keg every time. PBW is a pretty amazing cleaner, look how well it cleans gunked up carboys just with a soak, and the inside of kegs are much cleaner. I've found pressurizing the keg then shaking it while allowing the cleaner to spray out causes lots of spitting and foam to launch out surprizingly fast. It creates enough turbulence I'm comfortable calling the dip tube clean.

I'd suggest:

• Disconnect lines, release pressure, dump contents.
• Rinse with water as hot as you can get, then rinse again with lid on, while shaking.
• Keg should be nice and hot now. Fill partially with more hot water and PBW, then shake the hell out of it periodically over the next 10 minutes. Scrub inside, put lid back on.
• Pressurize and hook back up to liquid post. Open tap to run hot PBW through. After about half has come out, start shaking the keg to get foaming and spitting. It'll make a mess if you don't hold a collection bucket right under the tap.
• Dump PBW into sink on top of lid, scrub lid.
• Rinse a time or two.
• Dump in Starsan, close up and pressurize.
• Shake the hell out of keg again, hook back to tap, and open it while shaking keg. Again, it'll spit sanitized all over if you don't take care.
• Tap and keg are now clean and sanitized. Don't release the remaining pressure on the keg, just put it aside.

I would still disassemble both the keg and tap every so often to give a thorough cleaning, but when doing so I haven't seen anything to indicate this cleaning process is at all inadequate. Under 30 min to clean and sanitize keg and tap, probably under 20 min if I wasn't making sure the other taps are still pouring well while doing this. (Which has never happened, so just guessing on time)

I pretty much just throw hot water and oxyclean Free in the keg to the brim, put lid on, shake a little, then let it sit for at least 24 hours. Then I empty it, soak the lid for a while and rinse the inside with the sink sprayer on hot for a few minutes. I might start running cleaner through the liquid post in the near future, too.

Never tasted anything, seen chunks come out, etc. Kegs smell great all the time when empty.

It's basically constantly a wet environment in there when it's sealed, so there's little chance for anything to get crusty or dried-on. Clean it immediately with hot liquid cleaner, again, and I don't see anything really latching-on.

 

[mstaszew]

My process is generally...

1. Rinse keg soon after it is kicked
2. Fill 2/3 with hot water and cleanser
3. Shake well
4. Connect gas line and run the cleanser through liquid line while working the tap handle a lot.
5. I usually have several days/weeks before needing that keg again so I let it sit in garage with cleanser overnight. The next day I flip it upside down and let it sit a while.
6. On kegging day... rinse cleanser and fill with water/star-san.
7. Connect gas and run star-san through liquid line working the tap often.
8. Remove keg lid and O-ring and soak in star-san while I fill.

I'd estimate my actual work time to be 15 minutes, tops in the cleaning/sanitizing. Except for one keg that I accidentally left some beer in during a 4 year hiatus that had turned to a syrup the kegs are seemingly spotless after soaking/shaking with cleanser.

The time saved for me over bottling is great and not having to find a place to store a bunch of bottles is also a bonus.

 

[DPBISME]

I know one of the main arguments in favour of kegging over bottling is the supposed time savings. However, I'm wondering if maybe my process sucks, or if I'm overdoing it, as I feel like I'm spending a ton of time on my keg cleaning process.

If ther kegs have been sitting for a while I fill them with cold water and one scoop of oxyclen and let them sit for a day or so: Duration verses Concentration.

Use the same water for the next batch adding a another scoop.

BUT:

I have also blasted the yeast out of a fresh keg, rinse it out real good, and then just run StarSan through it.

As far as I know i have never had a problem...

Then again I am going to build a keg washer soon because I have 20 kegs.

 

[kombat]

I will clean a keg while I am mashing or boiling..... Then, all it needs is star san when I want to fill it.

[...]

Also, just taking time to clean 2-3-4 kegs all at once helps too. Just dedicate an hour+ and you have 4 clean kegs that only need star san come kegging time.

To be clear, I do not StarSan again before filling. That last step I listed, where I dump out the remaining StarSan, results in there still being quite a bit of foam inside the keg, so when I seal it back up and pressurize it, it should remain completely sanitized. When I'm ready to keg another batch, I just remove the lid, dump out any remaining StarSan (now that the bubbles have settled days/weeks later), and go straight to filling. I don't use any additional StarSan - the keg should still be sanitized from when I sealed it and pressurized it.

 

[idiotsinc]

I read somewhere on this site that you should use compressed air, not CO2 to blow cleaner/sanitizer through your kegs. CO2 supposedly neutralizes the cleaner/sanitizer. I do this anyway since empty tanks in this area are sent out on Wednesdays and return filled the following Wednesday. If you run out of CO2 on a Thursday you're out for almost 2 weeks.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I read somewhere on this site that you should use compressed air, not CO2 to blow cleaner/sanitizer through your kegs. CO2 supposedly neutralizes the cleaner/sanitizer. I do this anyway since empty tanks in this area are sent out on Wednesdays and return filled the following Wednesday. If you run out of CO2 on a Thursday you're out for almost 2 weeks.

I use CO2 so it is already purged of O2 and ready for filling.

 

[tre9er]

My process is generally...

1. Rinse keg soon after it is kicked
2. Fill 2/3 with hot water and cleanser
3. Shake well
4. Connect gas line and run the cleanser through liquid line while working the tap handle a lot.
5. I usually have several days/weeks before needing that keg again so I let it sit in garage with cleanser overnight. The next day I flip it upside down and let it sit a while.
6. On kegging day... rinse cleanser and fill with water/star-san.
7. Connect gas and run star-san through liquid line working the tap often.
8. Remove keg lid and O-ring and soak in star-san while I fill.

I'd estimate my actual work time to be 15 minutes, tops in the cleaning/sanitizing. Except for one keg that I accidentally left some beer in during a 4 year hiatus that had turned to a syrup the kegs are seemingly spotless after soaking/shaking with cleanser.

The time saved for me over bottling is great and not having to find a place to store a bunch of bottles is also a bonus.

This is generally my procedure, more or less.

 

[tre9er]

As far as I know i have never had a problem...

Then again I am going to build a keg washer soon because I have 20 kegs.

Just picked up 10' of PVC and some couplings do do this myself, but it's going to be more of a rinser, not recirculating...yet. Once I'm done soaking the keg in the hot water/oxyclean solution I'll throw it on my 4-legged PVC stand rinser thing and blast it with hot water to rinse/knock loose anything left. I'll use it for buckets and whatnot, too.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've only kegged 1 batch now, but I think the time to clean the keg is roughly equal to the time to clean the bottles. And the time to fill the keg is much less than the time to fill and cap the bottles.

 

[brewmcq]

You need to look at what you want.. do you want beer on tap or in bottles? Bear in mind that you can bottle beer from a keg, not the other way around. Well, I'm sure you could, but that would be a monstrous PITA.

Personally, I want beer on tap. If I want to take my beer somewhere, I'll fill some bombers or growlers. Or, better yet, I'll make a rolling portable kegerator.

I don't care about the difference in time, if any.


This is just like every other facet of brewing.. electric vs. gas, stainless vs. aluminum, gravity vs. pumps, 3v vs. BIAB, extract vs. AG... What do YOU want out of this hobby? it's your hobby. Do it the way YOU want to do it. Don't depend on the rest of us to tell you how to do it.

 

[woknblues]

I know one of the main arguments in favour of kegging over bottling is the supposed time savings. However, I'm wondering if maybe my process sucks, or if I'm overdoing it, as I feel like I'm spending a ton of time on my keg cleaning process.

When a keg kicks, here's what I do.

• Mix up a fresh batch of Oxyclean or PBW in hot water. Pour some in a small bucket (a popcorn bucket from the movie theater)
• Disconnect gas and beverage lines, then pull pressure relief valve to vent remaining CO2.
• Remove the lid and drop it in the popcorn bucket to soak in PBW.
• Take a wrench, remove the gas and liquid posts, drop them in the bucket with the lid.
• Remove the gas and liquid dip tubes and O-rings, put in popcorn bucket to soak.
• Pour the how PBW solution into the keg. Scrub inside with a toilet brush.
• Pour the PBW out of the keg, back into the bucket. Rinse the inside with hot water 3 times.
• With an old toothbrush, I scrub the keg posts, lid, and gas dip tube. I use a long pipecleaner-type brush to clean inside the dip tubes. I clean the outside of the liquid dip tube with a sponge. Rinse everything.
• Reinsert the dip tubes, O-rings, and keg posts. I brush on a little keg lube onto the O-rings with a Q-tip. I tighten down the posts.
• I pour some StarSan into the keg, seal the lid, and shake vigorously.
• Connect the beverage line and a CO2 tank, with pressure set to 5 psi. I open the picnic tap and run some StarSan through the beverage line to clean it.
• Disconnect the gas and beverage lines. I leave the StarSan in the beverage line until it's needed again.
• Pop the keg lid, pour out remaining StarSan.
• Put the lid back on, reconnect the CO2 and pressurize to 10 psi.
• Spray StarSan around the lid and posts to check for bubbles (leaks).

That takes me at least 30 minutes, usually 45. Does anyone have a faster method? Maybe there are some steps I can skip, or only do every 2-3 cleanings? This is one of the less enjoyable aspects of home brewing, so I welcome any suggestions!

I pretty much do this entire process you are illustrating, but not more than a minute or less for each step. Probably 20 minutes tops per keg. I use iodophore and PBW. Maybe I am harder on my equipment? I have a deep well socket that I use on the posts. Takes 10 seconds to get the post off and the tube out, I drop everything into the PBW then it takes a dip in the iodophore when the new beer is ready to siphon in. I might scrub the posts/pop-its up after a dark/sweet beer was in it, and I run a small pipe cleaner down the dip tube. Even just a quick water only rinse leave the inside of my kegs spotless. I still "clean" them, but really, outside where the gas and beer lines connect are the only areas I pay a little more attention to, and I haven't had any sticking or clogging or infections.

I am not an anti-bottler, but kegging has revolutionized my enjoyment of homebrew. I find bottling to be too cluttered. Perhaps my process could have been further fine tuned, but I got kegging down quick, and I take way less time and effort to enjoy the fruits of my wares.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Does anyone have a faster method? Maybe there are some steps I can skip, or only do every 2-3 cleanings? This is one of the less enjoyable aspects of home brewing, so I welcome any suggestions!

Here's what I do. Takes me about 5-10 minutes per keg. Yes, this is a heck of a lot easier than cleaning and de-labeling 50 bottles.

1) Depressurize and then open keg. Spray it out with hot water with a hose attached to my laundry sink.
2) Pour in a small amount of powdered oxyclean and put some hot water in.
3) Put the lid back on and shake it up good.
4) Remove lid, posts, dip tube and gas tube.
5) Use a big ol' keg brush to make sure the crud is off the inside walls.
6) Dump the oxyclean wash into a small bowl that is holding the posts / poppits and gas tube to let them soak a bit.
6) Rinse out keg a few times with hot water.
7) Run a dip tube brush through the dip tube and gas tube.
8) Use a sponge to clean off the outsides of the dip tube and gas tube.
9) Run hot water through the dip tube and gas tube.
10) Rinse off the posts / poppits.
11) Leave the keg to dry on a towel for a day or two upside down with the posts / poppits / tubes on the towel as well.
12) Reassamble and leave it empty for the next kegging day.

 

[Stauffbier]

I break my kegs all the way down each time, and it still only takes me 15 minutes at the most to clean and re-assemble. Maybe another 5 minutes to sanitize, dump, and pressurize. Then on kegging day it takes about 15 minutes to rack, purge, and pressurize. So that's about 35 minutes total.

When bottling, if I'm washing bottles, sanitizing, and bottling on the same day it can range from 1 to 1.5 hours depending on how quick I work. I tend to put more effort in to washing bottles, since they are more prone to picking up bacteria or residual yeast. There's also a little more clean-up and putting away equipment involved with bottling.

So by kegging I'm saving anywhere from 25 to 55 minutes. That's not a tremendous time savings, but it's that much more time I can spend drinking and relaxing.

 

[novahokie09]

The biggest time savings is not cleaning; it's the reduction in carbonation time.

It takes 3 weeks to bottle condition compared to 1-2 days to force carb in a keg. You can carbonate slowly in a keg in a week.

You get additional benefits by cooling which reduces oxidation risk compared to bottling. Either way, bottled beers do not last as long as kegged beer.

 

[tre9er]

This is just like every other facet of brewing.. electric vs. gas, stainless vs. aluminum, gravity vs. pumps, 3v vs. BIAB, extract vs. AG... What do YOU want out of this hobby? it's your hobby. Do it the way YOU want to do it. Don't depend on the rest of us to tell you how to do it.

This is true. I enjoy the DIY aspect of things so much in this hobby. That's mostly why my setup has evolved: because I wanted to work on it. If you look at all the work I've done, it might seem daunting...but keeping in mind you do a little here, brew, then tweak something you want to change, brew, etc. until eventually you can hardly see from whence you came.

My kegging setup is kinda archaic, and I want to upgrade parts of it even more, but as brewmcq mentioned before: a dollar spent on this is a dollar you can't spend on that...so I am doing camlocks, pump, CFC, inline thermometer, etc. now and will do the kegging upgrades later.

 

[Beer-lord]

I've only been kegging a bit over a year but I brew a lot of beer. There's no way in the world (for me) that kegging is any where near to as much of a problem as bottling. The reason I now brew so much is because I've saved so much time. Storing the bottles, cleaning, sanitizing, bottling day, capping, storing again! Nope, ain't in the same universe.

I have 3 kegs in the kegerator and 2-3 waiting to get in. Those 6 kegs take up lots less space compared to 10-12 cases of 12 oz bottles.
Finally, I PBW my kegs when done and use a bottle washer to rinse then store with Star Sans. On kegging day I remove the locks and check the rings and sanitize as well as the dip tube. That takes me 5 minutes max. That's it. I'm done!

 

[Darwin18]

OP - I applaud your cleaning efforts but it's far too much work for me. When a keg kicks I usually rinse it out with hot water to get the gunk out. Then I'll mix up a couple gallons of hot PBW, pour into the keg, shake it up, and dump. I'll repeat with a couple gallons of hot starsan solution but I run that through the lines. I rarely fully dissemble my kegs unless I'm not planning to use them for a while or I feel like doing a deep cleaning.

 

[IffyG]

I break my kegs all the way down each time, and it still only takes me 15 minutes at the most to clean and re-assemble. Maybe another 5 minutes to sanitize, dump, and pressurize. Then on kegging day it takes about 15 minutes to rack, purge, and pressurize. So that's about 35 minutes total.

Same here. It is also worth noting that the actual work being done when I do this totals about 5 minutes. Most of it is waiting for the PBW to do it's thing and for the racking to finish. I end up clipping my auto siphon and do something else in the kitchen until I need to manipulate the siphon to get the most beer out my carboy.

IMO bottling is a completely active process, whereas with the proper planning and a few extras can be more or less passive.

 

[eluterio]

This is pretty similar to what I do...... There are many people who do not take keg apart each time and have success. Personally, I do take mine apart everytime. Often times I will clean a keg while I am mashing or boiling..... not much else to do at that time anyway. Then, all it needs is star san when I want to fill it.
I think 30 minutes is pretty decent for a thorough keg cleaning. You could probably spend less time..... but consider the consequences of a couple ruined batches due to an improperly cleaned keg???? An extra 10 -15 minutes (sooner or later) might save you hours and hours of wasted brew time plus the money of ingredients.
I don't think kegging is that much of a time saver over bottling..... especially if later (like me) you end up filling some bottles with counterpressure filler any way..... But, it is convenient, it is a space saver, it is a good way to store, condition and lager beers anyway. The key to either bottling or kegging is simple - clean your stuff immediately. Don't let it get "gunky" - always rinse/clean kegs and bottles as soon as they are empty so that when it comes time to use them, all that is left is to sanitize them with star san.

I think you are doing fine.

One thing I do different is I use big tubs of PBW and Star san for cleaning and sanitizing. I keep a big tub full of 10 gallons of starsan for 6-8 weeks at a time. Dunking and soaking is convenient for me. I can fill a keg with star san, dump it back in the tub, put the keg upside down in the starsan etc. The cost is next to nothing when you are reusing it for 6-8 weeks. A 16 ounce bottle of star san will still last me a year...... I know I could make it last 3 years - but, the convenience is worth it to me.

Also, just taking time to clean 2-3-4 kegs all at once (Be organized so you don't mix up parts) helps too. Just dedicate an hour+ and you have 4 clean kegs that only need star san come kegging time.

I tear them down when i first get mine and let soak for up to 24 hours in PBW. I get mine from a local pespi plan and I have to get rid of the soda smell. After my tap has blown and no more beer I rinse out with hot water and remove everthing and rinse it out as well. Im a huge believer in using cleaning solution all at once, so I put the keg aside until I clean out my eqiupment from a brew session or from a carboy. use the PBW to do a once over in the keg or kegs rinse put back to gether and let air dry.

Total process when i first get them in total time takes about 4 hours. Afterwards only about 30 mins if that until I do a deep clean every 5 batches or so.

As for bottling thats a entire differnet topic for me. I switched to kegging becasue I was 1) running out of room for bottles. 2) I am running out of bottles from giving it away. 3) I really like the fact I can poor out from Tap and not worry about cleaning the bottles afterwards.

And the reason why im quoting here is because DONT make the mistake in dumping all the parts into one basket! I did and now i have 1 keg that doesnt have stuff line up. SUCKS!!!

 

[Clonefan94]

I've only ever bottled once, so I can't say for sure, but what really takes me the time is moving cleaner, then moving sanitizer from keg to keg or from sanitizer bottle, to keg then back again. This is all a process I don't have to watch. I don't clean and sanitize my beer lines every time. It depends what styles go on next. Going from dark to light, or hoppy to mild, yeah, I'll clean them out, but for the most part, if the beer has been regularly flowing, I just swap a keg out for a new one and worry about cleaning the lines every couple of times. I've had my keg fridge for over 15 years. I have yet to have a beer go bad on me because I didn't sanitize my lines every time.

Anyways, yeah, I never clean a keg until I need it. I just make sure to never open it. I clean off the posts right away with some hot water, then I'm content to let it sit, full of CO2. When it's time to fill, usually break the keg down, clean all the parts with pbw and a brush, fill the keg with cleaner, run my home made keg cleaner on the drill a couple of times, rinse everything, then start autosiphoning sanitizer in while I put the small parts in a bucket with sanizizer. Once the keg is full of Sanitizer I re-assemble everything then let it sit upside down for a few minutes. When that is done, I usually siphon that sanitizer into another keg (I try to keg at least two at a time). That way my autosiphon has been completely sanitized and I can just put it in the beer and transfer to the keg. Seal, purge with CO2, check for leaks and it's good to go.

Becaus I only bottled once, I never really got a system going, but even if the same amount of time is involved, it really is a lot less work. Most of the time, I'm just waiting for the sanitizer or beer to siphon off. The cleaning of parts itself is relatively quick, less than 15 minutes/keg for sure. So fore me, my first bottling experience was bad enough that kegging seems like a complete breeze and I'll probably never go back unless I brew something I want to age for a long while. I kegged two beers this past Monday. Doing everything I just described above, for 2 kegs took less than an hour and a half. And as I said, most of that time was just sitting and waiting for stuff to move from one vessel to another. I just don't see how I could clean, sanitize, fill and cap 100 bottles in that same amount of time. I'm sure it can be done, but with my experience and tools, kegs just seem a lot easier to me.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Lot of overkill on the OP's keg cleaning.

I rinse the keg, add a big scoop of oxy, fill with water, let it sit overnight.

Next day, I force water through both disconnects, then drain and rinse keg.

I clean the lid with soap and water, then rinse and place back on keg.

That's it. I tear down the disconnects and do a good cleaning about once a year.

 

[Monster Mash]

I've cleaned 18 kegs in about an hour with my keg washer. It takes me about an hour to sanitize and fill 5 kegs from a 25 gallon batch so in two hours I've filled the equivalent of 12 cases of beer.