Quick way to clean beer lines without CO2/Hand Pump/Recirc Pump?

[htims05]

I'm just getting setup and am going to build one of those hand pumps to clean my lines....but unfortunately I didn't think of this before my keg's kicked and now I need to clean them.

Any decent way to get by for a few days until I can build the hand pump?

 

[day_trippr]

Clean the kicked keg, put some line cleaner inside, lid it, pressurize it, and use it to clean the line(s).
When the keg empties, rinse it out, fill it with fresh water, and use that to rinse the line(s)...

Cheers!

 

[Robert65]

Just mix up hot some cleaning solution in a keg (hope you have a spare empty) and hook it up. Run some through the line, let it sit for a few minutes, run a little more, keep repeating, for a total of at least 30 minutes total time. Then rinse out the keg, fill it with clean, cold water, and flush the line well with the water. Honestly, if you're not using a mechanical recirculating pump to take you out of the job, this is just about as good as a hand pump. You do burn through some CO2 though.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I keep a 2.5 gallon keg handy for cleaning my beer lines.
I put 1-2 gallons of hot PBW in it and run about 2 quarts per line.
Dump it, rinse, refill with water, run about 2 quarts through each line to rinse the PBW out.
Refill it, add Star San, and run about a pint through each line, empty the keg, and push CO2 through the empty keg to clear the lines of the Star San.

I do that every time a line kicks a keg before a new one goes on.

 

[htims05]

So no option to clean without wasting CO2? Seems all the ideas here require a pressurized system.

I was hoping for a way to do it without pressurizing since I don’t have co2 to waste (hence my title)

 

[tellyho]

I know it doesn't answer your immediate problem, but I like the irrigation pump version. Simple, hands off.

 

[day_trippr]

Got a compressor?
Otherwise, figure out how to use gravity...

Cheers!

 

[bkboiler]

https://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/cleaning-equipment/kegerator_cleaning_kit.html

I use this. But honestly, it spills and only works ok...been meaning to upgrade, probably would take the suggestions of the other posters.

 

[mattdee1]

Got a compressor?
Otherwise, figure out how to use gravity...

Cheers!

I was going to say the same thing.

It kind of depends on what the setup looks like and how accessible things are, etc. but one simple idea that springs immediately to mind:

Take a bucket with a spigot on it (e.g., a bottling bucket) and fill it with cleaner. Lift it a few feet off the ground somehow until it's a bit higher than the taps. Connect the liquid QD from line #1 to the bucket using a coupler. Open the spigot on the bucket, open tap #1, and let the cleaner flow out of tap #1 into another bucket. Repeat the process with rinsing water (if using) and repeat for the rest of the lines.

So you'd have:

bucket filled with cleaner -> spigot -> tubing attached to spigot -> liquid QD -> coupler -> liquid QD from beer line -> tubing -> tap

If you don't have any buckets with spigots, a standard bucket and an auto-siphon or racking cane would also work.

 

[eric19312]

What was in the keg that kicked? Is it drastically different from the new keg? Clean lines are nice but I don't do it every time. You could always hook it up as is and clean it in a few days when you get your parts.

Unless the beer in the previous keg was infected or something really crazy rootbeer.

 

[Dustin_J]

If you have a carbonator cab (or can get one), fill a 2L bottle with your cleaning solution of choice, put the carb cap on, hook it up to your line, and squeeze/use gravity to flow through. Do the same with hot rinse water, sanitizer, etc. Not ideal, but it'll work.

 

[htims05]

If you have a carbonator cab (or can get one), fill a 2L bottle with your cleaning solution of choice, put the carb cap on, hook it up to your line, and squeeze/use gravity to flow through. Do the same with hot rinse water, sanitizer, etc. Not ideal, but it'll work.

That’s an idea there. Thanks!

 

[BeardedBrews]

I use a small submersible pond pump to clean my lines. I have silicone tubing hooked to the outlet that just slides on to the tap nozzle, then I pull the beer line out of the kegerator and into the bucket with the BLC. Typically I’ll just unscrew the ball lock spring/pin so that more of the parts get clean.

I just let the pump run for a while, then switch to clean water for a while. When I’m done I’ll hook on to a little keg of star San and dispense enough to fill the lines, very little co2 wasted.

 

[BeardedBrews]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wtkg69Bs2kf8i7xm7

 

[mirthfuldragon]

If you have a sink with a hose thread, you can go hose thread - ball lock connection, then fill a keg with PBW and hot water through the sink-ball lock connection. Household water pressure is anywhere from 25 to 60 psi, so you'll end up with a pressurized keg to push the hot cleaning solution through your lines.

 

[mattdee1]

View attachment 666336


https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wtkg69Bs2kf8i7xm7

I use the same type of tubing to slide onto my taps. It works, but I find if you're using anything warmer than lukewarm water/cleaner, then the tubing gets really soft and pliable and wants to just slip right off the tap. Clamps don't really help because the taps are tapered.

This isn't really a big deal if you're standing right there when you turn the pump on, but for long-draw systems like mine, I'm in the basement when I flick on the pump so I really need to make sure the tubing stays on the taps or I'm going to have a pretty big mess to clean up in my upstairs bar area.

 

[BeardedBrews]

I use the same type of tubing to slide onto my taps. It works, but I find if you're using anything warmer than lukewarm water/cleaner, then the tubing gets really soft and pliable and wants to just slip right off the tap. Clamps don't really help because the taps are tapered.

This isn't really a big deal if you're standing right there when you turn the pump on, but for long-draw systems like mine, I'm in the basement when I flick on the pump so I really need to make sure the tubing stays on the taps or I'm going to have a pretty big mess to clean up in my upstairs bar area.

Yup, important to watch for a pop off. I guess I should have mentioned that the tubing was leftovers from my brew kettle, and the pump was only like $20 on Amazon if I remember correctly. The OP mentioned alternatives to a pump, but this approach isn’t much more expensive than anything else.