Your Keg Washing System? Looking for ideas.

[Crabnut]

Looking for ideas for a DIY corney keg washing/sanitizing system. I have been thinking through my options, using what I have available. Plenty of copper tubing and fittings, buckets, hoses, couple of different pumps, etc., but no really fine ideas yet on how to put it all together. If you don't mind, how about showing us your system?

 

[TomSD]

Bathtub full of oxyclean... soak it, scrub it (if needed), rinse it, fill it with star san, pressurize and pump the star san out. Works for me.

 

[azscoob]

I completely dismantle the keg, remove the o-rings, and stuff it all into the keg after it all gets a good rinse, I then fill the keg with hot water and oxyclean and let it soak for 24 hours, then rinse the heck out of everything, replace any iffy o-rings, lube the o-rings and reassemble, fill with starsan and push with co2 to the next cleaned keg, the keg is now ready to go, and sealed with co2. My equipment consists of a showerhead on an extended hose, and a jumper for coupling the kegs together.

 

[Catt22]

I completely dismantle the keg, remove the o-rings, and stuff it all into the keg after it all gets a good rinse, I then fill the keg with hot water and oxyclean and let it soak for 24 hours, then rinse the heck out of everything, replace any iffy o-rings, lube the o-rings and reassemble, fill with starsan and push with co2 to the next cleaned keg, the keg is now ready to go, and sealed with co2. My equipment consists of a showerhead on an extended hose, and a jumper for coupling the kegs together.

+1 I clean my kegs essentially the same way. My Oxyclean soak time varies from as little as 20 minutes to overnight. I sanitize the kegs a little differently though. I just pour about a quart of StarSan into the keg and shake it up well to wet all of the internal surfaces. I then dump the StarSan into the next keg and so on if I am doing several at once. My equipment consists of some RV type potable water hose with a plastic pistol grip nozzle hooked up to my laundry sink in the basement. I'm fortunate to have a floor drain near the laundry tub, so wash downs and rinsing are a breeze. I've never had an infection or contamination problem, so I guess my method is effective.

 

[michiganbob]

- Rinse well in sink
- Fill with c-brite and hot water, let sit for 30 minutes
- Flip upside down, let sit for 30 more minutes
- Hook up picnic tap and CO2, blow out liquid for a couple minutes, then dump out and rinse again in sink
- Fill with iodophor and cold water, let sit for 30 minutes
- Flip upside down, let sit for 30 more minutes
- Hook up tap and CO2 again, blow out liquid for a few minutes, then dump out the rest
- Let dry upside down on a paper towel

That's my system, and so far no complaints. =)

 

[Bjornbrewer]

lube the o-rings and reassemble,

lube? maybe I've been doing it wrong, but what are you lubing them with? I've never lubed before.


...and get your mind out of the gutter.

 

[Catt22]

lube? maybe I've been doing it wrong, but what are you lubing them with? I've never lubed before.

Lubrifilm FTW:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/lubrifilm-spray.html

I suggest avoiding the keg lube stuff (silicone grease) as it is very messy and nearly impossible to wash off of whatever you put it on. The Lubrifilm is much more user friendly. A single can will last you for a very, very long time. A little goes a long way.

 

[azscoob]

lube? maybe I've been doing it wrong, but what are you lubing them with? I've never lubed before.


...and get your mind out of the gutter.

gutter??? who me?? You don't want to tear an o-ring!

I use a virtually bottomless tube of CIP film for lubing stuff up.
(CIP has a lower melting point than Lubrifilm so it cleans up with hot water a bit easier.)

 

[juvinious]

Build one of these: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Heated-Keg-and-Carboy-Cleaner

 

[Bjornbrewer]

thanks guys...I'll look into both of those! Tearing an O-ring would more than ruin my day!

 

[android]

i have a similar method to above posters. this is one area where you needn't get too fancy, IMHO. just disassemble, soak with some oxyclean or PBW (i like to fill it up a little over half, soak that side, put a 5 gallon bucket over the top and flip it over to soak the other half), rinse it and remember to sanitize before you use it. i've done many kegs this way with no issues.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Spray it out at the sink with the trigger thingy, short soak of oxi, then rinse 4-5 times clean. All at the kitchen sink.

 

[shortyjacobs]

My Pump:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1479

My washer:

I have PVC unions on the inlet/outlet of the pump for easy dissasembly. I have a T on the outlet where I have two barbs going into 3/16"s line that then goes into liquid and gas QDs. Works like a charm. I use two old submersible aquarium heaters when I want the water to stay warm.

My method for carboys is just let it run with oxyclean. My method for kegs is to recirc oxyclean through them first. I then get a second bucket and run my pump inlet pipe into that. I run my garden hose into the pump inlet side, and spray fresh water into the inverted keg. Finally, I flip the keg over, seal it up, and attach the liquid and gas QDs. I put a cap on the main outlet, so the flow can only come out through the QDs. I fill a bucket with starsan and force it in through the QDs into the keg. A quick shake, and it's ready for storage. (I wait until I have 4 or 5 dirty kegs and do this all at once...clean all 5, rinse all 5, sanitize all 5).

 

[ibrewit]

Build one of these: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Heated-Keg-and-Carboy-Cleaner

I built one of these. It works great.

 

[Catt22]

i have a similar method to above posters. this is one area where you needn't get too fancy, IMHO. just disassemble, soak with some oxyclean or PBW

+1 I suppose you could fire up your pressure washer and get the job done, but seems to me that a simple soak, rinse and sanitizing regimen is a much easier way to go and works just as well. Perhaps if I were cleaning a huge number of kegs and carboys I would automate the process, but with only a dozen or so in my possession and only a few of those requiring cleaning at a time, I just can't justify doing it any other way.

 

[samc]

I set up one of the submersible pump set ups for the kitchen sink and it's a pain and time waster for a keg or two. I just do the half full with Oxy soak and flip with lid on. Rinse, spray a bit of StarSan in.

Although I always say I am not going to bother to take the posts off, I always take them off anyway.

 

[Malticulous]

I just have been hosing them out really well and sanitizing them, dip tube and all without taking them apart. That's all I have ever done with my bottles and it's worked just fine for years.

When I got them I did a good oxiclean and I will probably do it again--in a year or so.

 

[stevehaun]

Here is mine. Great flow thru the diptubes! 10 min with PBW, 5 min with an acid rinse, then water rinse. We typically clean 8-10 kegs on brew day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sehaun3333/Kegwasher#

 

[jldc]

I don't think you need all this Oxyclean. Just lots of clean water. Assuming you just killed the keg (ie, it's only had your own clean beer in it and isn't fresh from the LHBS with dried Pepsi in the bottom), it's basically clean to begin with. You need to get any yeast sediment or hops particles out, rinse it out, and re-sanitize.

My approach:

1 - Remove lid and drop in a large bowl of hot water.
2 - Remove OUT post, and drop the post and the poppet into the bowl of hot water to soak.
3 - Remove out tube, run a brush through it and rinse thoroughly with hot water.
4 - Remove IN post and drop in a small bowl of hot water (post and poppet separate).
5 - Pour a half gallon or so of hot water in the keg, swish and drain.
6 - Scrub anything that's not visibly clean with a brush. I always brush the bottom of the keg.
7 - Power rinse the inside of the keg 5-6 times with a garden hose/sprayer.
8 - Add about a quart of Star-San to the empty keg.
9 - Re-lube O-rings, re-assemble keg, and pressurize.
10 - Shake keg to ensure that all surfaces have contacted the Star-san, and drain a small amout of Star-san with a picnic tap (to sanitize the inside of the tube).
11 - Store for hours to months, it's ready to go whenever you need it. If it's still under pressure, you know the seals are good, too.

I wouldn't hesitate to break out the OxyClean or PBW if it needs it, but if the keg was clean, and all it had in it was clean beer, how dirty can it get?

L

 

[schweaty]

 

[Duckfoot]

I generally soak kicked keg with oxy for a day (or a few, depending on laziness), drain and then rinse with my homemade POS keg / carboy rinser that is very loosely based off of the forementioned keg cleaner... Basically it is some cpvc attached to my March with a sprinkler head on the top... I use a cob web brush if there is any sticky crud...

Disassemble every couple of batches and replace gaskets / o-rings as necessary...

Use Star-San and co2 to push through everything...

 

[lamarguy]

My brew/CIP rig. I recirculate 160F PBW for ~15 minutes to clean the mash tun, boil tun, and various size kegs.

 

[user 40839]

I'm probably the last person (well, one of the last people) to say that it's not worth building a contraption for this, but all I use is...

plus

plus

equals clean keg. I don't even do the soak thing that folks have had good luck with, I really don't want to arse around with waiting for it, when I've got a half dozen kegs to do. So pull off the posts, take off the o-rings, and drop them, the gas in, the lid, and the poppets in a bowl of hot PBW (keeping them separate - I learned THAT lesson) then get to scrubbing the inside of the keg. Literally, takes me a minute or so. Flip upside down in the bucket while I give the poppets/posts/tubes a bit of attention, rinse everything, reassemble (replacing o-rings that need it), rinse again, seal it back up. When all the kegs I'm doing are clean, then I'll grab my keg of starsan and use a jumper to push it from keg to keg and back to my designated starsan tank.

Did four kegs the other day, all four were done and stashed in less than an hour.

 

[stevehaun]

IMHO, my approach is way less work. I do not remove the keg posts or o-rings. I hook it up to the cleaner and it pumps about 500 gallons an hour. About a tenth of that flow goes thru the dip tubes and posts. I have disassembled several to check for crud and they have always been clean so I quit checking.
I guess it depends on volume. We make 35 gallon batches so we use 7 kegs with every batch. When I did 10 gallon batches I was fine with soaking and cleaning by hand.

 

[Catt22]

I don't think you need all this Oxyclean. Just lots of clean water. Assuming you just killed the keg (ie, it's only had your own clean beer in it and isn't fresh from the LHBS with dried Pepsi in the bottom), it's basically clean to begin with. You need to get any yeast sediment or hops particles out, rinse it out, and re-sanitize.

I wouldn't hesitate to break out the OxyClean or PBW if it needs it, but if the keg was clean, and all it had in it was clean beer, how dirty can it get?L

+1 This is the most rational approach for sure and I generally agree, but I still do the Oxyclean soak and remove the posts etc every time as insurance. I may have to rethink my procedure.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Here is mine. Great flow thru the diptubes! 10 min with PBW, 5 min with an acid rinse, then water rinse. We typically clean 8-10 kegs on brew day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sehaun3333/Kegwasher#

I built one very similar to this, I have it sitting in a large rubbermaid tub. It is a beast! I think it's really important to open the keg and at least spray out the chunks before cleaning...if you're doing several kegs that stuff can foul the water pretty quickly.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I'm just doing 1-3 kegs at a time and I almost always have some 'old', room temp PBW in a bucket so I just preclean them with that. Then just before it's time to use, I make a small, fresh batch of hot PBW in the keg and final clean it.

I almost always disassemble. Probably a non-issue but it seems that if you don't disassemble and you soak with an alkaline cleaner, the PBW/Oxiclean may not be completely rinsed from small nooks/crannies around the posts. And if that alkaline PBW/Oxiclean isn't rinsed well it will just neutralize the acid in the Starsan rendering it ineffective. As mentioned above, the keg should be fairly sanitary if you just kicked it but still, I'm going through the trouble of trying to sanitize it so I'm not going to rely on the fact that it 'should' already be sanitary (if it was I wouldn't need to sanitize it in the first place).

If it's a keg that I just acquired, I always replace the o-rings and boil the poppets for a few minutes before using.

 

[masonsjax]

A (new) toilet brush is perfect for scrubbing yeast sediment from the bottom of a keg.

 

[jldc]

I almost always disassemble. Probably a non-issue but it seems that if you don't disassemble and you soak with an alkaline cleaner, the PBW/Oxiclean may not be completely rinsed from small nooks/crannies around the posts.

I always disassemble as well. IMO it's more important than using Oxy or PBW. Mechanically removing all trub/hops particles/misc scum is much better than trusting Oxy to dissolve them.

L

 

[Atl300zx]

you guys are more viligant than me. wash with unscented soap, rinse with hot water, then store.