Food Color -- Jockey Box Lines

[Lost_Arkitekt]

So, I want to store my stainless coil jockey box outside in the winter (Chicago here), and even though I've gotten the water out of an immersion chiller before, it had enough residual to fill the bottom coil, freeze and blow a hole in it (copper...but still).

Anyway, I bought some propylene glycol to mix with water and fill the coils so the coils and lines won't freeze in the winter. However, I want to try and keep it after the season is over and reuse it. My question is this...if I put a few drops of food coloring in a couple gallons of that stuff so I can see when the water is displaced by the mixture and vice versa, will the food coloring end up staining the UltraBev beer lines that are attached to the coils and the ball lock connectors?

 

[microbusbrewery]

Haven't tried it myself, but my guess is yes, it'll stain.

 

[NoahBeach]

Do you or a buddy have an oilless air compressor? That's how I clear cold plate/plate chiller lines. Works great.

 

[DrunkleJon]

It will most likely stain the lines. But does it really matter? You are going to be running a crapload of water through the lines anyway (and probably PBW too) to make sure you get all of the glycol out anyways. I doubt you will get much in the beer. And besides, they use blue food coloring in fizzy yellow beer to make it green for St. Dunkies day as it is. The food coloring wont hurt you.

Also, I used to hang my immersion chiller upside down (one coil not double) and it never froze. May help if the other methods dont work.

 

[Lost_Arkitekt]

Thanks for all the help. I wasn't worried about the food color hurting taste, etc. The only thing I was worried about was that if this stains, it will be a one year thing...and next year I'll start losing my mixture trying to figure out when it has filled the line. No biggie.