Your Keg Washing System? Looking for ideas.

[SpanishCastleAle]

Do you guys give a cleaned and stored keg a sniff test? Whenever I soak a keg, even overnight, in PBW and don't replace the o-rings and then store it I can always smell beer/hops when I open it again. That's why I started 'precleaning' them for storage and then giving them another full, hot PBW soak just before sanitizing and using.

 

[lamarguy]

Do you guys give a cleaned and stored keg a sniff test? Whenever I soak a keg, even overnight, in PBW and don't replace the o-rings and then store it I can always smell beer/hops when I open it again.

When I used to clean kegs by hand, yes, I would occasionally smell a slight beer aroma. Since I've been using the keg washer, no.

Apparently, I wasn't cleaning some of the kegs as well as I had thought.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think 15 minutes in that keg washer is plenty....I've closely inspected my kegs and they're pretty dang clean. Enough that the star-san shouldn't have to compete with any crud, at least.

I've been hearing about guys using unscented dishwashing detergent because it doesn't foam.....I may give that a try. Winter's coming and it'll be hard to keep a bucket of oxiclean >150F (no-foam temp) for long.

 

[lamarguy]

I've been hearing about guys using unscented dishwashing detergent because it doesn't foam.....I may give that a try. Winter's coming and it'll be hard to keep a bucket of oxiclean >150F (no-foam temp) for long.

FWIW, PBW doesn't foam above ~100F.

 

[user 40839]

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.

That's probably fine - but I'm just gunshy. I've put enough effort into making the beer, that the last thing I need is a sink dumper after I've brewed it, fermented it, and carbed it!

 

[harpo]

I have been wanting to do this for a while. I have been brewing 10G batches for over a year, and using Sanke kegs for fermentation. While I have modified 2 of my Sanke kegs to

go from this:------------------------------------------------------To this:

For easier cleaning, I still wanted to be able to wash in a way that utilized a barrel cleaning nozzle from St.Pats to really get the hard to reach areas free of krausen.


So I got a 55 gallon drum, a clear water pump from Harbor Freight, some bulkhead fittings and reused the top of an old turkey fryer stand with the burner removed. I attached the barrel cleaning nozzle to the end of the wand that St.Pats sells for the nozzle, attached it to a quicky stainless bracket and have been washing kegs upside down with 130° water mixed with PBW for the past week. I washed my brew kegs (MLT, HLT, & BK) last weekend during brew day, and washed out two fermenters and 4 corny kegs this past Sunday.


It is a monster. It does a pretty good job, but it still requires that you lift up the keg a bit to get the lower (Upper when keg is right side up) bits and areas, but it does a pretty good job. You can set it and forget it. If the stuff isn't baked on from getting lazy and not addressing the krausen right away, it will clean the keg in about 10 minutes.

Future plans are to build in a heating element through the wall of the 55G drum to keep the water at a constant 130°-140° temp. To empty, I pull off the goes-inta hose to the drum and let it run into a bucket to dump down the appropriate drain. It runs beautifully on 12-15 gallons of wash water. Thanks HBT for some of the inspiration!

 

[Simphoto02]

I just posted in the equip/sanitation forum about the Carboy Cleaner.

http://www.carboycleaner.com/index.html

I ordered the version for the glass carboy and at the same time asked about the E.T.A. or plans for a Keg sized version. The response I received was great. along with my order i was sent a "Test" version of the keg cleaner. Since I cannot see inside the sanke to verify the effectiveness of this product, the old fashioned dental mirror gave a VERY pleasing report as to the effectiveness of the larger cleaner on the sanke kegs.

I am VERY pleased with the job it did. A word of warning though, it will want to vibrate pretty good as you pull the spinning brushed up towards the bund if the rod attached to the drill is NOT kept pretty close to vertical.


VERY good product for cleaning the sanke kegs

 

[Bensiff]

When the keg is empty I keep the lid on to keep the sediment from drying out. When I have around 4 or 5 empties I rinse them all out, fill one with PBW solution soak for a few minuts and then dump that into the next until all are clean. I then rinse and let them sit there until I have more beer ready for them. I store with the lid covering the top but not sealed so they can air dry I Starsan just prior to filling. I do a complete break down of the stems as needed.

 

[Crabnut]

Four pages. Wow. Lots of ways to skin this cat, and I really appreciate all the responses. This could have turned into a debate about one way. Instead, I see all kinds of answers. My original intent was to head towards a pumped spray system, but I am in no hurry. I am curious to see what other kinds of ideas and methods surface. Great discussion.

 

[Simphoto02]

Four pages. Wow. Lots of ways to skin this cat, and I really appreciate all the responses. This could have turned into a debate about one way. Instead, I see all kinds of answers. My original intent was to head towards a pumped spray system, but I am in no hurry. I am curious to see what other kinds of ideas and methods surface. Great discussion.

That was my intention also.

But i was concerned that IF there was some really stubborn gunk on the inside, would the spray be able to blast it off? I ALWAYS like the good old scrubbing approach, but since the hole is a bit tight.... I aimed for the Carboy Cleaner, keg sized thing. Like I said it seamed to work very well, and anything i get to use with power tools is a big plus......

 

[Randar]

I agree with others on the K.I.S.S. I do soap and water, and then rinse out with some StarSan and flush the dip tube with StarSan under light pressure. I plan to make a keg washer out of a sump pump I am replacing for other reasons for my Sanke fermenter, so I will probably end up using it for cornies too, but I try not to get overly anal about it. You have alcoholic and likely hopped beer in there to start and you are cleaning it to replace it with similar. Keep it under CO2 pressure and clean and you'll be fine.

People do tend to be overly anal retentive about cleanliness at times. Not everything has to be autoclaved!

 

[lamarguy]

People do tend to be overly anal retentive about cleanliness at times. Not everything has to be autoclaved!

In general, homebrewers are UNDER-ATTENTIVE when it comes to cleanliness and sanitation.

The alcohol and hops in beer will not prevent bacterial or wild yeast growth. Refrigerating infected beer will slow the growth, but not prevent it.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard "it tasted fine when I kegged it a couple of weeks ago, now it's got a weird off flavor".

 

[Randar]

In general, homebrewers are UNDER-ATTENTIVE when it comes to cleanliness and sanitation.

The alcohol and hops in beer will not prevent bacterial or wild yeast growth. Refrigerating infected beer will slow the growth, but not prevent it.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard "it tasted fine when I kegged it a couple of weeks ago, now it's got a weird off flavor".

In the real world that is probably true, but on the "what is your cleaning procedure" threads here on HBT, there is usually stuff as found in this thread. People with 10 step cleaning regiments. If you have a 10 step cleaning regiment, you have way more time on your hands than I!

 

[user 40839]

In the real world that is probably true, but on the "what is your cleaning procedure" threads here on HBT, there is usually stuff as found in this thread. People with 10 step cleaning regiments. If you have a 10 step cleaning regiment, you have way more time on your hands than I!

While I'll agree that some folks go above and beyond what's necessary, I think it's beverage suicide to skimp. For me personally, I have no problem in taking an extra 10-15 minutes to clean something if it means there's a substantially less chance that the 4-5 hours of work, plus $40-50 worth of ingredients that goes into brewing up a 10 gallon batch goes down the drain. I mean, the point of it all is to brew the best beer possible, and taking the time to avoid infection is a key part of that.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard "it tasted fine when I kegged it a couple of weeks ago, now it's got a weird off flavor".

It just happened to me recently. Did a 10 gallon batch of IPA, everything went fine, then kegged it. Gave one keg to a friend, kept the other for myself, and while his tastes exactly where it should be, mine just tastes... wrong. Not infected, not sour, not ruined, just... wrong. And the absolute ONLY thing I can think of that happened was that my keg wasn't adequately cleaned.

Unfortunately, my rather basic cleaning setup will have to remain, however. While I look at the keg cleaning tools on here, like the one written up in BYO, or lamar's behemoth, and think that the (relative) cost is easily offset the first time or two it saves a batch from becoming a sink dumper, I just don't have the room for it, and I'm thinking a lot of brewers out there, specifically apartment brewers, have that same issue. I built a brutus, a fermentation chamber, and a milling station that are all sitting in my garage, and I literally don't have room for anything else (including building Keezer II out of the free 7cf chest freezer I scored on CL!)

Man, I never thought that homebrewing would be something where I accumulated so much stuff!

 

[jim_reaper1066]

Im brand new to kegging, having just picked up 5 pepsi kegs yesterday. I will likely go the rout of oxyclean soak and elbow grease but was wondering how absolutely necessary it is to remove and clean the posts every time?

 

[Catt22]

Im brand new to kegging, having just picked up 5 pepsi kegs yesterday. I will likely go the rout of oxyclean soak and elbow grease but was wondering how absolutely necessary it is to remove and clean the posts every time?

You will certainly want to remove the posts, poppets and dip tubes for the initial cleaning. It would also be a good idea to replace all of the O-rings at the same time. I remove everything every time I clean my kegs, but It's probably not necessary to do so. It doesn't take long to disassemble everything and considering how much time and effort goes into making a batch of beer, I think it's just good insurance. Cleaning and sanitizing are not corners I want to cut.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Im brand new to kegging, having just picked up 5 pepsi kegs yesterday. I will likely go the rout of oxyclean soak and elbow grease but was wondering how absolutely necessary it is to remove and clean the posts every time?

Well I have had plenty of times where there was some hop debris in and around the poppit after I removed the posts. No matter how hard you try to keep it out of your fermentor, some hop bits can and do get in. Unless you have something to flush out the tubes, I'd remove em and clean em. Honestly, its not hard.

 

[lamarguy]

While I look at the keg cleaning tools on here, like the one written up in BYO, or lamar's behemoth, and think that the (relative) cost is easily offset the first time or two it saves a batch from becoming a sink dumper, I just don't have the room for it, and I'm thinking a lot of brewers out there, specifically apartment brewers, have that same issue. I built a brutus...

Ha...My "behemoth" consists of a 3 gallon bucket, some fittings, pipe flange, spray nozzle, and a couple feet of loc-line.

It doesn't have to integrate with my brew rig but I get to reuse the existing RIMS heater and pump. Modularity is the goal.

 

[Simphoto02]

Ha...My "behemoth" consists of a 3 gallon bucket, some fittings, pipe flange, spray nozzle, and a couple feet of loc-line.

It doesn't have to integrate with my brew rig but I get to reuse the existing RIMS heater and pump. Modularity is the goal.

It looks like a Marital Aid. Sorry I have a dirty mind, but it does. Which makes me question just how clean DOES it get your kegs?

 

[lamarguy]

It looks like a Marital Aid. Sorry I have a dirty mind, but it does. Which makes me question just how clean DOES it get your kegs?

Not sure what you mean. Looks more like an medieval bidet than anything.

 

[user 40839]

Ooop, sorry lamar, got yours and harpo's 55 gallon drum/St. Pat's contraption confused!

Not sure what you mean. Looks more like an medieval bidet than anything.

Image I don't need...

 

[Simphoto02]

Not sure what you mean. Looks more like an medieval bidet than anything.

I mean it looks like a WEIRD toy for your wife, or some kind of torture device. That blue and orange plastic thing looks like it will wiggle and spin or what not when the water is turned on. Like some kind of Bovine ****** or something. Like said I have a dirty mind