How often do you clean your beer lines?

[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.