Steps when rekegging a home brew corny keg???

[mikewildt]

I finished my first batch of home brew and am going to refill my 5 gal ball lock corny keg with a new batch. Obviously I am going to remove the leftovers from the bottom of the keg, and sanitize the entire keg and seal/top.

Do I need to remove the posts and clean the dip tube every time I change brews or once every few batches? Any info will help, this is my second batch of home brew. Thanks!

 

[MBasile]

I remove everything.

 

[mikewildt]

I remove everything.

So do you use PBW (Brew Wash) and something like Iodophor each time? Or do you just sanitize each time unless it needs to be clean. It's not like the keg has been sitting around I just finished off the first batch and it has been sitting in the kegerator.

 

[snowman]

I use oxy clean on everything.
You can clean/rinse/sanitize the dip tube and outlet post by pressurizing the keg and running the cleaner/other thru it. I don't see a real need to remove the posts every time if cleaned immediately after emptying, we are running an alcoholic beverage in there now not pepsi. After cleaning, sanitize and seal them up with 25psi co2 if not re-filling immediately.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Too much work!

Rinse well with hot water
Pressurize and force hot water out the in, out and pressure release
Add a quart of StarSan
Pressurize and shake and let it sit for a few minutes
Force sanitizer out the in, out and pressure release
Let it drain
Add new beer

A Quart of StarSan? Holy bajeezus man I need your brew budget!

 

[MBasile]

Removing everything is hardly too much work.

•Fill keg 3/4 with preferred cleaner (I use Safeway's OxyClean). Let sit and go do something else
•Remember suddenly that you're cleaning a keg and go to it, remove the fittings and dump them in a bucket. Then flip the keg over into the bucket. Forget about it again.
•Come back and rinse it out, repeat those steps with StarSan.

For me bringing the keg back and forth from the kitchen for hot water to the kegerator and CO2 tank seems like the bigger hassle. To each his/her own though.

 

[stevedasleeve]

I rinse the keg (2 mins,) dismantle (2 mins,) rinse the parts (30 secs,) put them all in the keg and fill it with cold water and PBW (3 mins,) then soak it overnight (overnight!) in he morning I rinse (3 mins) and assemble (2 mins) then put it away. When it is time to fill I put in sanitizer and lube the rubber bits (5 mins.)

FWIW and YMMV!

 

[Bluesssman]

I rinse the keg (2 mins,) dismantle (2 mins,) rinse the parts (30 secs,) put them all in the keg and fill it with cold water and PBW (3 mins,) then soak it overnight (overnight!) in he morning I rinse (3 mins) and assemble (2 mins) then put it away. When it is time to fill I put in sanitizer and lube the rubber bits (5 mins.)

FWIW and YMMV!

+1 I agree with your process. It really is easy to completely disassemble the keg, clean it, sanitize it and reassemble. Also takes the worry away!!

 

[92greenyj]

I don't tear it apart.

I purge it, dump it. Rinse it with water. scrub the inside (my arm just fits that i can get to the bottom with a scrubbie backed sponge) rinse it again. put about a gallon of water in it, close it, shake it, dump it, rinse it again. Then fill it with water and my sanitizing solution (i dont use star san, I work in a restaurant and have access to our restaurant grade sanitizer we use on dishes in our 3 bay sink. Great stuff)
I put the lid on and flip it over. Let it sit on its lid for about 5 minutes (sanitizer only needs 60 seconds but I give it extra time)
then I put CO2 to it and use a cobra faucet to pump the sanitizer solution out (into another keg if i need to sanitize anohter one)
then i purge, flip upside down in a clean and sanitized bucket and let it drip dry.

I have never actually taken the pins apart

 

[billtzk]

BYO has a Clean-In-Place project article for keg cleaning.

Here's another CIP keg-cleaning setup from an article on The Brewing Network.

Edit: I think a small amount of automatic dishwasher detergent powder should be cheap and effective for cleaning a keg. You'll need to rinse thoroughly, then sanitize with Iodophor or Star San - not bleach. Chlorine bleach can stain and pit stainless steel. You also have to rinse it off, possibly reintroducing contaminants.

 

[akthor]

I take the posts off mostly because of the dip tube an my sink is upstairs and my co2 and reg are downstairs too much hassle to haul it all up. Take off the lid and put the posts and the lid and dip tubes in a clean bucket. I put a scoop of oxyclean in the keg and I fill the keg with about a gallon of warm water. (if it is a keg I just bought I fill it all the way and let it sit overnight but this is for newly empty kegs) I balance the keg on my sink and rock it back and forth while turning it then I dump the water into the bucket. I shake the parts in the bucket to make sure they are clean and pour the water down the diptube with a cup I then take the parts out of the bucket and stick the keg upside down in the bucket of oxyclean while I rinse the small parts. Then I take the keg out of the bucket dump the water and rinse the bucket and the keg. I then repeat the same process using star san solution. Then as I assemble the keg I use keg lube on all the o-rings and poppits and the pressure relief valve, basically all the rubber parts.

The first couple times it took me awhile but the more I do it the quicker I get at it.

I've tried to think of ways to make it easier or steps to skip but I figure better safe than sorry. Most of my stuff stays in primary for 4 weeks so to risk having an infected batch and waste all the time and materials I put into it or lose a tank of CO2 to a leak seems like its worth the extra time it takes to do it.