Storing unused beer lines?

[subliminalurge]

Just recently made the jump to kegging, and haven't gotten around to buying a dedicated fridge yet (frickin' landlord, power company, etc... all seem to think they should come before brewing gear. What's wrong with these people? ). We do have a spare fridge in the basement that I can squeeze 4 kegs into, but I'm forbidden from drilling holes in it so I'm using picnic taps for the time being.

Just wondering what to do when I'm low on homebrew and have an empty keg or two waiting on the goddamned beer to hurry the **** up and finish fermenting already! I've tried setting the empty kegs next to the fermenters but the yeast don't seem to get the hint, they just keep on taking their sweet time. LOL.

I'm good on how to clean and store the kegs themselves, but those unused beer lines are driving me nuts.

As I see it the options are:

1. Leave the old beer in them. (this one is obviously out)
2. Leave them filled with the oxi clean solution I ran through when cleaning the kegs.
3. Run some star san solution through and leave them filled with that.
4. Rinse the star san out with tap water and leave that in there.
5. Attempt to find some way to drain them and dry them out.

I can think of reasons why each of those choices isn't really great. I've read that oxi can leave a crusty build up if left for too long, and I know from experience that I don't like what star san does to vinyl tubing with prolonged contact. Draining and drying seems darn near impossible to actually achieve.

What does everyone else do?

I'm leaning toward leaving them filled with tap water and storing in the fridge to minimize bacterial growth, then hitting them with oxi and star san again before they go back into service. I "think" that would be an ok solution, but am definitely all ears if anyone cares to chime in with the voice of experience on this one.

 

[cinderbike]

Beer line is cheap. Why keep it?

 

[subliminalurge]

For the same reason I don't replace all my siphon tubing for every batch. If there's a proper method of care that allows me to get more life out of it, why spend money unnecessarily?

If I was talking about a year of storage, then, yeah, I'd just replace it. I'm talking about a week or two while a batch finishes and just hoping to avoid any mold growth or other avoidable nastiness in that time frame.

 

[JuanMoore]

I say either clean, rinse, drain as best you can, and store mostly dry, or clean, rinse, and store full of water. As you pointed out, star san will deteriorate vinyl if left in contact for long periods, and oxi-clean will leave deposits. As long as you clean them well first, you shouldn't have any issues with bacteria growth even at room temp.

 

[subliminalurge]

I say either clean, rinse, drain as best you can, and store mostly dry, or clean, rinse, and store full of water. As you pointed out, star san will deteriorate vinyl if left in contact for long periods, and oxi-clean will leave deposits. As long as you clean them well first, you shouldn't have any issues with bacteria growth even at room temp.

Thanks.

I would prefer to store dry, but these came pre-made from kegconnection with the rest of my kegging setup and they're pretty darn well put together. With a tap on one end and a ball-lock fitting on the other getting the inside dry just isn't going to happen.

I think I'll opt for keeping them filled with tap water. Probably throw them in the fridge for good measure just 'cuz I have some space in there.

Was just wondering if there was some obvious solution that I was overlooking.

 

[heckels]

I leave BLC in mine in the interim.

 

[JoeyChopps]

I sanatize mine with star san from a keg. When I'm done I flip the keg upside down and leave the picnic tap open and blow co2 though the line and it gets pretty dam dry. I don't use my picnic tab set up very often and I never see mold in my lines

 

[day_trippr]

I haven't quite gotten my pipeline bandwidth to the point that I always have a fresh keg ready to go when I have a keg kick in my keezer.

So when a keg empties with no immediate replacement, I clean the keg, load it with a standard Iodophor solution, hook it back up to the gas and beer lines, run about a quart through the beer line, than disconnect the keg and set it with the other "empties", leaving the Iodophor solution in the line. When a new keg is ready I hook it up, run a pint through the line and dump it.

Every few months I'll load an empty keg with a gallon or so of BLC solution and it use to clean all six lines in the keezer in one shot. I'll leave the BLC in the lines overnight, then refill the same keg with fresh water and rinse all the lines out, before hooking the beer kegs back up again...

Cheers!

 

[beaksnbeer]

Sounds like you need another fermenter or two is all

 

[subliminalurge]

Oh, believe me, they're on the shopping list. Just have to start spacing my purchases out a bit for now. I've been working at a contract position and the project finishes up next week, so the spending needs to slow down for a bit until I get my next gig lined up. I'd like to strangle my high school guidance counselor who convinced me back in '89 that IT would be a great career to get into.

Of course once I get a couple more fermenters, then I'll need a couple more kegs, and the vicious circle begins...

 

[brettwasbtd]

So whats the consensus? I just racked to my first keg tonight!

Anyways, I cleaned with PBW ran it through the line, rinse with water and ran it through, sanitized with starsan and put it through the line. Do I try and empty the star san out of the line or just leave it in. Connected to the keg or not? In the fridge or out? sorry for all the questions. Probably gonna be a week before I pull a beer from it.

 

[day_trippr]

"Consensus"? Here? Good luck with that

I'd leave the Star San in the line. Probably disconnect the keg and set it aside - it's not doing anything useful at this point, after all. When the new keg is ready, hook it up, get it gassed up to desired carbonation level, then run a pint through the faucet and sacrifice it to the brewing gods, then enjoy...

Cheers!

 

[Flomaster]

I normally just leave the line filled with starsan, is this bad pratice? I have 3/16" barrier tubing, its not that thick walled flexible stuff that most places sell as "beer line"

-=Jason=-

 

[brettwasbtd]

"Consensus"? Here? Good luck with that

True haha

I'd leave the Star San in the line. Probably disconnect the keg and set it aside - it's not doing anything useful at this point, after all. When the new keg is ready, hook it up, get it gassed up to desired carbonation level, then run a pint through the faucet and sacrifice it to the brewing gods, then enjoy...

Ya im just gonna leave the starsan in it, since i will be pulling pints by next weekend or so.

 

[strumke]

Why not use CO2 to dry it out, it shouldn't take a whole lot. A few days later when all the damp air is out, shove a bit of paper towel in the ends so nothing creepy crawly gets inside and makes a home. Store wherever.

 

[day_trippr]

Why not use CO2 to dry it out, it shouldn't take a whole lot. A few days later when all the damp air is out, shove a bit of paper towel in the ends so nothing creepy crawly gets inside and makes a home. Store wherever.

What benefit do you imagine this would provide over leaving sanitizer in the line?

Cheers!

 

[strumke]

What benefit do you imagine this would provide over leaving sanitizer in the line?

Cheers!

For me, not having buckets of liquid laying around (the last thing I need is a pet knocking it over, or godforbid, drinking from it!)

Plus, who knows what really happens from storing stuff in acidic starsan.

Just saw that the OP is only storing it for a week, I was thinking longer term...

 

[day_trippr]

What "buckets"? The topic is simply about leaving sanitizer in beer lines between kegs...

Cheers!

 

[iaefebs]

the last thing I need is a pet knocking it over, or godforbid, drinking from it!)

LOL first time I read this I was thinking you were worried about drinking from it

 

[tesilential]

I've had three thick walled lines filled with star San in my food fridge for 2 months while I catch up on brewing, hope they are still good.

 

[samc]

I run Oxiclean, then flush that out with H20 from the keg, when the H20 is done some CO2 purges the lines and they are left with CO2 in them. Pretty easy method.

 

[solbes]

Good question. I didn't know what to do either, as our 1st keg just kicked on Thursday. I let them sit with oxyclean for 8 hours or so (identical to how long I soaked the keg). Then rinsed with a gallon of water. Then about a gallon of star san that was in the keg. Then ran enough CO2 to get it mostly dry. Figured there would be some residual star san in there, but not enough to damage the line (I hope). I certainly don't want any bacteria or mold in there.

 

[Brewerforlife]

Keep them dry after their claened and dry. Just hang them till they drip dry, and roll em-up and put them away. Remember mold and bacteria need water too grow and thrive, never leave free-standing water around for long periods of time, even if it has sanitizer in it. Sanitzers will eventually will breakdown once its been diluted. Some sanitzers will breakdown into by-products that actually become a food source for bacteria. This also applies to corny's and carboy's as well. After cleaning and sanitizing a corny, let it air dry and do not seal the lid totally till next use if your going too store it for a long time. DO NOT leave it stored and sealed for long period's of time with moisture in it, it will eventually smell like a garbage can!! Just my .02$. Hope this helps!!! Cheers!!!

 

[day_trippr]

Makes one wonder where the "garbage smell" producing entities came from if a vessel is sealed after being filled with sanitizer solution...

Cheers!

 

[MikeG]

When my keg goes dry I leave the beer line, w/ beer, in the fridge. I clean the keg and put it away with CO2.

When it's time to put beer it the keg I run a gal of PBW in it and through the "dirty" line. Sanitize the keg, hook up to CO2 and run through the line. Put beer in keg, flush the sanitizer out of line as I purge the keg of O2.

 

[TomSD]

I keep one keg full of my starsan solution for cleaning and what not. When a keg taps out I rinse the keg out then transfer the solution to that keg for storage. At the same time I run some solution through the lines and leave it there until the next keg is hooked up. I do the same for transfer lines and whatnot. Have never had a problem leaving starsan in them and it is much easier than blowing them out.

 

[strumke]

LOL first time I read this I was thinking you were worried about drinking from it

Definitely a possibility, ha! I totally misread the original post not realizing the lines were all staying attached, so I was off base with any advice anyway. That's what you get with 11 hours of football and a kegerator at hand!