Taps won't be used for a while - how to store?

[tomakana]

For a variety of reasons, at least a couple of taps in my keezer are going to be empty for a while - had a whole slate of brewing planned at the beginning of the year that would keep the pipeline full, but I've been dealing with a medical issue that kept me from doing all the brewing I wanted. I'll be having a pretty significant surgery next month that will put me out of action for a while, as well. I checked this morning, and all three kegs in the keezer are close to done, so I'll be in a situation where I've got at least 2 if not all three dormant for at least 2-3 months, likely until the fall sometime. Even if I had something on tap, I'm the only regular beer drinker, so anything I put on the taps would sit for a while.

One option I'm considering is to kick the kegs, give everything a good cleaning inside and out, and shut the keezer down for a couple of months. If I do this, anything in particular I should do for the beer lines? They're 4mm EVA barrier lines on push-in fittings. Any concerns if they sit dry for few months, as long as they've been cleaned?

I do have a couple of kegs that I could store in the keezer for a while (unfortunately, they're not lagers or I'd have an ideal long-term lagering opportunity!), and I could put seltzer on the third tap to drink while I recover - same question, if I don't tap the kegs that are being stored in there, anything I should do with the lines other than cleaning them really well?

I'm assuming that if the beers in the kegs aren't going to be drunk actively, it's not worth actually tapping them and keeping beer in the lines.

Thanks in advance -

Tom

 

[shoengine]

I use Sani Clean for unused lines. Just mix some up in a keg and run it through the lines and the faucet and you can leave it in there indefinitely.

Only thing I've used that could clean the root beer taste out of a line.

 

[Broken Crow]

Because of permanent medical issues and the associated financial issues, it'll be a while before I can finish building myself and "Accessible Brew Rig" so I routinely have a tap or 2 that don't see beer for many months. As I've yet to see a simple way to actually dry out beer lines, that's rare occasion I'll rinse the Star San out of the lines and then to avoid or at least limit inline growth, I leave the cleaned tap on and just use a CO2>liquid coupler and purge the air out of the line, close the tap, pull the coupler and leave it till it's needed. Months (or even a year) later I just flush it out before use and everything's hunky-dory.

 

[Willy]

The lines are not too expensive. I would probably just get new beer lines when the taps come back online.

@Bobby_M sells 4mm id line for $2.99 for about 5'. I would suggest that route since the time and cost of cleaning might interfere with healing up as fast as possible. Get well soon brother.

 

[shoengine]

That seems unnecessary. Just flush them. As long as nothing was left to dry in the lines, because then they should be replaced.

 

[Whisky River]

I use Sani Clean for unused lines. Just mix some up in a keg and run it through the lines and the faucet and you can leave it in there indefinitely.

Only thing I've used that could clean the root beer taste out of a line.

Do you use Sani Clean instead of Starsan for a particular reason? Does it hold up better in the lines over long periods of time?

 

[Broken Crow]

Here's the thing: Duotights don't like long term exposure to Star San (I know nothing about sani clean). The main impetus for using EVABarrier is its lack of O2 permeability and the lesser noticed side of that coin is that it will take exponentially longer for the material to degrade than traditional vinyl lines, thus allowing no inroads to microbial growth. All life requires food and oxygen. Cleaned, sanitized, rinsed and O2-purged EVABarrier affords no food and even if air or water born contaminants found their way in, with the uncompromised inner surface, they'd simply flush out on a subsequent rinse (if not full wash and sanitizing).
If you don't have a spare mini-keg to flush it and you want to spend cash to have a utility-micro-keg that can serve a variety of uses (Including having a way to not waste that last bit of beer in your fermenter that won't fit in your larger kegs) then here's a short simple shopping list:
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/evabarriertubing6mm55.htm
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/carbonatorsstee.htm
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/carbonatorsstee.htm
(and a 2-litre soda pop bottle, reclaimed from your recycle bin if you drink the stuff)

NOTE: The oetiker clamps on the coupler for purging are optional as below about 25 psi, the line seems to stay in place without blowing off and hey: Universal ball lock coupler despite the colours! this thing is major useful and wouldn't keg without it anymore!

 

[BasementArtie]

Do you use Sani Clean instead of Starsan for a particular reason? Does it hold up better in the lines over long periods of time?

I am interested in this as well

 

[mac_1103]

All life requires food and oxygen.

Both obligate anaerobes and aerotolerant anaerobes exist, although I doubt that they would cause much of an issue in clean unused beer lines (especially if flushed with sanitizer again before putting back into service).

 

[shoengine]

Do you use Sani Clean instead of Starsan for a particular reason? Does it hold up better in the lines over long periods of time?

Just for it's intended purposes. For instance, if I am holding kegs empty for more than a day or two, I clean with PBW and then rinse with SaniClean and pressurize to 30 PSI. These can be left like this for months. I also always use it in my lines when flushing because it does remove any latent taste from the line.

My example was root beer. It wasn't left in the lines for more than a week, but I then put carbonated water on the line and there was no off flavors.

From a chemical breakdown perspective my assumption is that it'll last until the shelf life expires but you'd have to ask them for details if you need it.

I originally got into using this because I wanted a low foaming sanitizer that wasn't iodine based. SaniClean is not an EPA registered sanitizer, although they alluded in an email it had the same capabilities as a sanitizer.

 

[tomakana]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! As always, I appreciate the quick and thoughtful responses.

With any luck, everything goes smoothly next month and I'm back up and running by the end of the year. I'll have to entertain myself for a while by browsing the forum to add to my ever-growing list of projects relating to this hobby!