How should I clean my very very dirty keg lines?

[earwig]

Hey everyone. I kegged a batch of beer about 3 years ago. After the keg was empty I never cleaned the lines or anything and they are pretty nasty.
Should I buy new lines or can I clean mine?
Do I clean the air line too?
I only have Oxyclean and Starsan; if I can clean the lines, can I use these, or do I need special beer line cleaner?

Thank you!

 

[Dgallo]

If they are that dirty, replace them and keep up with your cleaning moving forward

 

[Transamguy77]

I agree with Dgallo, When you order new lines get a bottle of BLC (beer line cleaner) so you already have it when it’s time to clean them.

 

[Bobby_M]

Use this as an opportunity to switch to the superior EVA Barrier tubing. EVAbarrier keg beverage and gas tubing with liner, 4mm ID X 5/16'' OD (5.5ft length)

 

[SanPancho]

definitely trash it. get new stuff. not worth the time or risk of infection. you can use good old oxyclean or pbw on the lines in the future, BLC is nice but not essential.

as for the air line, swap that too. a keg sitting that long may have had some refermentation/infection and pushed nasties back into the line. just swap it all.

lotta folks switching to the evabarrier tubing. 4mm for beer lines, 6mm for gas. you can buy the push connect fittings if you want, otherwise hot water (but not boiling) and something to ream the tubing wider like an empty ball point pen will get them over regular barb type fittings.

 

[earwig]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[SanPancho]

if you do make the jump to the evabarrier tubing i'll point one thing out- the push connect fittings are pricey compared to typical barb fitting stuff. but if you're the kind of person who sometimes forgets to clean (me too) having the push connects are great cuz you can just take the tubing out and rinse it in the sink or soak it in a bucket.

im too cheap but i do acknowledge the benefits.

 

[TheMadKing]

Use this as an opportunity to switch to the superior EVA Barrier tubing. EVAbarrier keg beverage and gas tubing with liner, 4mm ID X 5/16'' OD (5.5ft length)

Just ordered a full replacement set for mine.. Can't wait to not need to dump 3 oz of beer every timeI want a pint

 

[FswBG]

I agree with replacing the draft lines and adopting a cleaning regimine going forward. Pbw and starsan will work, but ideally you would want to use BLC as it removes beer stone which pbw/ss won't do.

If you have a pump it's pretty easy to set up a recirculation through your draft lines. You would just need a few ball lock and faucet jumpers to connect everything. I do my best to clean mine monthly.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/ball_lock_jumperpost.htm
https://www.kegworks.com/beer-line-...O__lBMqPX2iFTXOZkYpXiT075lR5EeTRoCxbIQAvD_BwE

 

[IslandLizard]

I agreed with the others, replace all the lines with EVA barrier, you won't regret it. You can probably use shorter lines and get even less foaming. You need to get the push-fit adapters too, on either side, so double check all the pieces you need to get for your system.

I only have Oxyclean and Starsan; if I can clean the lines, can I use these, or do I need special beer line cleaner?

BLC is overpriced and overhyped. Look at the ingredients. It's very close to PBW, even homemade versions.
To routinely clean beer lines, hot/warm Oxiclean by itself cleans lines fine.

PBW (also homemade) also includes TSP/90 or TSP which gives it a lot of extra cleaning oomph. If they're very dirty, you need to recirculate, let it sit, recirculate again, etc. Hot works faster than cold.
I add a little, 1-2% of lye (NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide solution) to it for doing extra dirty work.

That said, I've cleaned old nasty looking beer line but it took time and effort. And you definitely need long line brushes. Friction!

 

[Stand]

+1 to replacing. Lines aren't that expensive.

Anybody tried LLC? Looks like you use 1/2 oz per gallon vs 2oz/gallon with BLC.