Leaving my keg's beer line attached?

[json2001]

Hey guys,

I have a very simple kegging setup right now - first time doing it in fact! I have my keg at temperature and have had it on co2 at the pressure indicated by BeerSmith - so I don't expect to change the pressure for serving.

I'm curious about how the beer is doing - it's been on co2 about 6 days now and every now and then I'll go give it a shake and hear the bubbles go in.

Is it ok to just hookup my beer line with the picnic faucet and leave that attached for the duration of the keg? Do I need to remove it and clean it after each use? I only ask because I had a kegarator in college, and I know damn well we didn't clean that line half way through a keg. But...that was college...what's the right way to do it?

 

[ArcaneXor]

I always have my beer lines connected as long as the kegs are in the fridge.

 

[json2001]

And no big deal to sneak a taste during the force carbonation phase?

 

[ArcaneXor]

Not at all. If you have thick-wall beer line, you can leave it connected during carbing.

 

[json2001]

Awesome! Thanks - just tested it - not carbed up just yet! Cool to be able to pull a sample here and again now - damn this is so much better than bottling!

 

[ArcaneXor]

Just vent the pressure before drawing a sample

 

[json2001]

Just vent the pressure before drawing a sample

oh really? even if i'm just leaving it at serving pressure - i'm not doing the 25psi shake around deal.

 

[fifelee]

No need to vent if you are carbonating slowly at serving pressure, which sounds like what you are doing. You only need to vent if force carbonating at a higher pressure, shaking for awhile, then dropping to serving pressure.

 

[json2001]

No need to vent if you are carbonating slowly at serving pressure, which sounds like what you are doing. You only need to vent if force carbonating at a higher pressure, shaking for awhile, then dropping to serving pressure.

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[ArcaneXor]

oh really? even if i'm just leaving it at serving pressure - i'm not doing the 25psi shake around deal.

Depends on how you carb. If you use low pressure, you're fine. If you use high pressure, you need to vent first - whether you shake or not.