How often do you clean your beer lines?

[ScubaSteve]

Just filled a keg with about a gallon of hot water and a tbsp of oxiclean free. I ran that through and rinsed with star-san. I've used BLC before, but this did tremendously well and cost WAAAAAY less. Plus, I have to go to the LHBS to get BLC. Totally not worth it.

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

I clean my beer lines after every keg. 1st I run oxyclean, then starsan through my lines. I clean the recently emptied keg at the same time.

I do exactly the same thing.

 

[Ricand]

Wow, I'm way undercleaning by everyone else's standards. I have 12 faucets around the house and gender neutral cave. My kegs last a bit longer due to the variety, but I clean the lines every 6 to 8 months. I don't notice any off flavors. I definitely need to get that pressurized sprayer rig going, since my line cleaner is a cheesy pump thing that is a real pain to use.

 

[Pivzavod]

I just cleaned one of my lines the other day when I switched kegs up. I have a pump bottle thingie and I ran a bottle of hot water thru the line followed by a bottle of Starsan. Once in a while I run multiple bottles of Starsan, BLC, hot water thru it but I was in a hurry and just did 2 bottles.

How often do you change your liquid lines?

 

[ScubaSteve]

I hadn't cleaned my lines in over a year. They were brand new when I put them on, and I hadn't noticed a problem. But then, I started to see some nasty gunk building up, and really didn't want that travelling down the diptube and into the keg.

When I ran a mild solution of oxiclean (from an extra corny) through the lines, I could literally see where the cleaner was coming in contact with the gunk. It pushed through the line like some kind of effervescent wave, and everything left in its wake was clean as a whistle. For good measure, I let it soak for 30 mins before rinsing with starsan. My lines look brand new again! I'll probably be doing this once a month from here on out.

 

[dallasdb]

I know for a fact that commercial lines get cleaned every two weeks in most places, and they serve the EXACT same beer through their lines, keg after keg.

Every two weeks? My restaurant must've not been on the rotation. I was there 4-5 days a week for two years and the beer lines were cleaned 3-4 times. I asked the general manager and he said it wasn't really necessary to clean the lines, just protocol!!!

He said they always have beer in them, dirt can't get in there.

 

[JRems]

Damn, I don't want to drink there. I think the law here is 1 week at bars for every cleaning

 

[Homercidal]

I should ask the guy at work who owns a local bar. They are getting Oberon TODAY! and I want to make sure it tastes right!

 

[Chad]

Watch this news story. Contaminated Beer Lines Found at Popular Pubs. It's eye opening. I've started cleaning my lines a lot more often.

Apparently, the law in most states is every two weeks. Equally apparently, very few places follow it.

 

[azscoob]

I push starsan through the lines after every keg, but once a year I re-line the taps. I scored a free spool of line so replacing it costs me nothing. I do notice some beer stone in the lines when I replace them

 

[elproducto]

Any danger in leaving Starsan in a keg? Will it damage the stainless at all?

 

[LordUlrich]

The BA suggests cleaning with a caustic every 2 weeks. And a acid cleaning every quater.
I clean with pbw evey other keg and starsan every keg at home. And never noticed a problem.
The pub I work at has cleaned with acid ( starrsan kinda) whenever we empty a tank ( about 6 weeks) never with caustic in 12 years. I can notice the flavor drift in 2 weeks. I plan to start cleaning the lines with acid every 2 weeks and caustic every month or 2 atleast until I get the problem under control.

 

[MSP]

I'll say something controversial - I've gone as long as six months, 15 corny kegs or so.

That said, my entire line is refrigerated and with good hygiene on both ends of the line I never saw evidence of beer stones or mildew, no off flavors, etc. I doubt I would ever go that long again, the irony is that I'm an obsessive compulsive germophobe. But to me once every 4-6 corny kegs is probably fine for someone using good sanitary procedures in an all refrigerated setup.

How often do you think your local bar cleans their lines?

 

[Homercidal]

I'll say something controversial - I've gone as long as six months, 15 corny kegs or so.

That said, my entire line is refrigerated and with good hygiene on both ends of the line I never saw evidence of beer stones or mildew, no off flavors, etc. I doubt I would ever go that long again, the irony is that I'm an obsessive compulsive germophobe. But to me once every 4-6 corny kegs is probably fine for someone using good sanitary procedures in an all refrigerated setup.

How often do you think your local bar cleans their lines?

In our state it's supposed to be every 2 weeks by law...

 

[Brewnoob1]

I clean mine every keg. I basically just run clean hot water through them and then the sanitizer. I never do oxyclean or anything else. Hot water and sanitizer works well for me. It can go months in the keg and I've had no issues with my lines. I pull a pint or two every few days to keep fresh beer in the lines. This works for me.

 

[CidahMastah]

I do it 2-3 times a year.

160 or so degree concentrated PBW for 20 minutes or so, then flush for each line with sanitizer then half a pint of whatever is on tap. When I broke my system down to add a line two more lines everything was clean with no build up or funky residue

 

[rjwhite41]

I pull a pint or two every few days to keep fresh beer in the lines.

You're leaving the beer in the line too long. I pull a few pints every day just to keep fresh beer in the lines.

 

[MSP]

You're leaving the beer in the line too long. I pull a few pints every day just to keep fresh beer in the lines.

Yeah! Me too...

 

[Slipgate]

lol - I have NEVER cleaned the lines. Been running for 2 years. Longest is 30 days without a pull. Never had a taste issue or otherwise.

 

[LordUlrich]

lol - I have NEVER cleaned the lines. Been running for 2 years. Longest is 30 days without a pull. Never had a taste issue or otherwise.

The issue is that beer stone and organics will accumulate making the cleaning less effective (organics protect the beer stone and beer stone protects the organics) it is really hard to clean then....took me 3 months to clean up ours and they arnt as good as i would like.

 

[clickingwires]

I usually have an extra keg or two kicking around that is full of either Star San or PBW. I *try* to flush the line with PBW between kegs or if it's not going to be used for a while i fill it with PWB. Then flush before putting beer though it.

Are there any disadvantages to this method?

 

[LordUlrich]

I usually have an extra keg or two kicking around that is full of either Star San or PBW. I *try* to flush the line with PBW between kegs or if it's not going to be used for a while i fill it with PWB. Then flush before putting beer though it.

Are there any disadvantages to this method?

Sounds like a good method, as long as you give the occasional acid(starsan) wash.

 

[MSP]

A spare keg with cleaner in it, that's genius! If KegConnection runs another Black Friday deal this year I'm going to pick one up specifically for that purpose.