Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

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Date: 14 Sep 2006 00:24:43
From: Brian Foster
Subject: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

Well I just finished my first keg through the new (used) kegerator. Now my
question is, what do you guys do to clean the lines, and the tap?

I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I should
run it through the lines?

Also, do you just put some cleaning solution in the now empty keg, put a
little charge of CO2 in there and run some through, or do you take the tap
apart and give it a thorough cleaning?

How do you guys do this?

Thanks

Date: 13 Sep 2006 23:52:21
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

Date: 13 Sep 2006 20:11:02
From: alebrewer
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

Brian Foster wrote:
> Well I just finished my first keg through the new (used) kegerator. Now my
> question is, what do you guys do to clean the lines, and the tap?
>
> I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I should
> run it through the lines?
>
> Also, do you just put some cleaning solution in the now empty keg, put a
> little charge of CO2 in there and run some through, or do you take the tap
> apart and give it a thorough cleaning?
>
> How do you guys do this?
>
> Thanks

I'm kind of lazy when it comes to this. I take the keg, as soon as it
empties, and rinse it several times with tap water. I'll use hot
water, put the top on, shake it and press the beer out poppet. The hot
water makes the air inside expand, giving it a slight internal
pressure, and it rinses out the dip tube and poppet. After a few
rinses, I'll invert the keg to drain it for a few minutes and put the
top back on and hit it with CO2. It will get rinsed again with
iodophor solution before filling.

If I have another keg ready (I try to do that, but I'm not always
successful, particularly after a surprisingly good batch), I'll just
hook it up. If I don't, I'll disassemble the tap and clean all the
parts and rinse out the line with water. I try to disassemble the tap
at least once a month because I've found it will grow stuff.

The keg cleaning takes maybe 10 minutes and it gets done within minutes
of emptying the keg. The line cleaning will usually wait for a more
convenient time.

With my laid-back approach, I've never had a batch go bad in the keg.
I'm fairly sure that once it's fermented, the beer is fairly resistant
to anything bad growing in it (or maybe I'm just good enough or maybe
just lucky--of course, I'd rather be lucky)

ab

Date: 14 Sep 2006 13:15:49
From: Joel
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

alebrewer <alebrewer@wt.net > wrote:
>I'm fairly sure that once it's fermented, the beer is fairly resistant
>to anything bad growing in it...

I've had enough experience to know that fermented beer
can absolutely have "bad" things growing in it, assuming
by "bad" you mean anything that negatively impacts the
flavor of the beer. I've had way too much sour, phenolic,
or diacetyl-laden beers to believe anything else-- and
that's just for commercial beer!
However, most beer spoilage bacteria acts fairly slowly,
so if you drink fast enough, you may never notice a small
infection taking hold in your beer.
--
Joel Plutchak "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and
plutchak@[...] sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea
is quite staggering." - Arthur C. Clarke

Date: 14 Sep 2006 01:32:06
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:24:43 GMT, <brianfoster@houston.rr.com > wrote:
> Well I just finished my first keg through the new (used) kegerator. Now my
> question is, what do you guys do to clean the lines, and the tap?
>
> I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I should
> run it through the lines?
>
> Also, do you just put some cleaning solution in the now empty keg, put a
> little charge of CO2 in there and run some through, or do you take the tap
> apart and give it a thorough cleaning?
>
> How do you guys do this?

I both run cleaner through the lines as well as take the tap apart and
clean it each time I finish off a keg.

John.

Date: 13 Sep 2006 18:43:55
From: Scott Lindner
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

> I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I
> should run it through the lines?

I use BLC.. name says it all. Can you use PBW? I'm sure you can, but I
don't know if it'll be better, the same, or worse.

> Also, do you just put some cleaning solution in the now empty keg, put a
> little charge of CO2 in there and run some through, or do you take the tap
> apart and give it a thorough cleaning?

I believe that's what most people do.

> How do you guys do this?

I built a cheap recirculator to clean my lines. I purchased a cheap 12V
bilge pump from Walmart, put it in a cheap bucket (from Walmart) and
attached a short hose to it, and then made fittings that I can attach
depending on what I need to attach it to. It's all based on garden hose
thread. So I have a few adapters pre built for whatever I need to
recirculate a cleaning solution through. For 12V power I used an old
computer power supply. I bought a cheap Molex adapter at a local computer
store, and connected it to the bilge pump so I can plug it right into the
old computer PSU. When I use it I put the bucket with bilge pump under a
faucet, disconnect the beer line from the connector (I use the 1/4" flared
thingies), close the cooler door with the line coming out, and click it on.
It works great. I let it recirculate for a long time just because I can. I
go and do other things so it really doesn't matter and I know when it's
done, it's all clean.

Scott

Date: 13 Sep 2006 19:53:09
From: Bill Riel
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

In article <4dOdnUJdN8ZROJXYnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@adelphia.com >,
nospam@noemail.com says...
> > I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I
> > should run it through the lines?
>
> I use BLC.. name says it all. Can you use PBW? I'm sure you can, but I
> don't know if it'll be better, the same, or worse.

Sure you can use PBW - whether it's better or not I don't know. I'd
probably say that which ever is cheaper is better.

--
Bill

Date: 14 Sep 2006 17:53:43
From: Scott Lindner
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

> I'd probably say that which ever is cheaper is better.

I can certainly agree with that!

Date: 14 Sep 2006 01:33:57
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:43:55 -0600, <nospam@noemail.com > wrote:
>> I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I
>> should run it through the lines?
>
> I use BLC.. name says it all. Can you use PBW? I'm sure you can, but I
> don't know if it'll be better, the same, or worse.

It probably doesn't matter what cleaner you use as long as you rinse
well afterwards. I've used BLC, TSP, oxyclean, and even bleach when I
ran out of anything else.

John.

Date: 17 Sep 2006 03:27:10
From: Scott Alfter
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

In article <fj1Og.872$vD2.452@tornado.texas.rr.com >,
Brian Foster <brianfoster@houston.rr.com > wrote:
>Well I just finished my first keg through the new (used) kegerator. Now my
>question is, what do you guys do to clean the lines, and the tap?
>
>I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I should
>run it through the lines?

Sure. When I clean lines between kegs, I run a gallon each of PBW solution
(to clean), hot water (to rinse), and iodophor solution (to sanitize). Open
and close the tap handle a few times to get each of them worked throughout
the tap.

>Also, do you just put some cleaning solution in the now empty keg, put a
>little charge of CO2 in there and run some through, or do you take the tap
>apart and give it a thorough cleaning?

I have a 3-gallon keg that gets used mostly for cleaning beer line, taps,
and the counterpressure filler. The PBW is collected in the now-empty
5-gallon serving keg so that it can be cleaned as well. You could use the
serving keg for cleaning the line (once it's been cleaned), but you're going
to use more gas to do that.

_/_
/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
\_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden >What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Date: 17 Sep 2006 11:20:24
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

Scott Alfter wrote:

> In article <fj1Og.872$vD2.452@tornado.texas.rr.com>,
> Brian Foster <brianfoster@houston.rr.com> wrote:
>
>>Well I just finished my first keg through the new (used) kegerator. Now my
>>question is, what do you guys do to clean the lines, and the tap?
>>
>>I have PBW that they told me to use on the keg but I wasn't sure if I should
>>run it through the lines?
>
>
> Sure. When I clean lines between kegs, I run a gallon each of PBW solution
> (to clean), hot water (to rinse), and iodophor solution (to sanitize). Open
> and close the tap handle a few times to get each of them worked throughout
> the tap.

I take the taps off and clean seperately.. I then attach the 3 gallon keg with
BLC and hot water to the tap and only use a slight charge of CO2 to get a
siphon going.. it drains to a bucket in the fridge and I rerun the solution
again.

I suppose I could use compressed air from my compressor to push cleaning solution
and rinse the lines.

--
Dan

Date: 17 Sep 2006 11:14:17
From: Bill Riel
Subject: Re: First Wort Hopping - more mystery

In article <tOMOg.2242$vD2.1466@tornado.texas.rr.com >,
rockobonaparte@hotmail.com says...
> John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> > Only the bitterness is the same as a 20 minute addition. The flavor is much
> > more intense than a 20 minute addition, which is the reason for FWHing.
>
> So if I was Saaz-crazy, and my favorite variety was 3.3%-3.6% AA, I
> could stretch out less hops with more at 60 minutes, and just FWH a
> small amount to get a flavor addition? To be more clear, is there a
> method for using FWH to use less hops for flavor overall?

I don't think of it as a means to use less hops - the overall effects
are a bit different than late additions (plus the benefit of reducing
risk of boil-over). In fact, when I do fwh, I probably wind up using
more hops than if I don't.

--
Bill

Date: 17 Sep 2006 18:52:38
From: alebrewer
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

Joel wrote:
> alebrewer <alebrewer@wt.net> wrote:
> >I'm fairly sure that once it's fermented, the beer is fairly resistant
> >to anything bad growing in it...
>
> I've had enough experience to know that fermented beer
> can absolutely have "bad" things growing in it, assuming
> by "bad" you mean anything that negatively impacts the
> flavor of the beer. I've had way too much sour, phenolic,
> or diacetyl-laden beers to believe anything else-- and
> that's just for commercial beer!
> However, most beer spoilage bacteria acts fairly slowly,
> so if you drink fast enough, you may never notice a small
> infection taking hold in your beer.
> --
> Joel Plutchak "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and
> plutchak@[...] sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea
> is quite staggering." - Arthur C. Clarke

I don't think I ever stated, or even suggested, that fermented beer
absolutely cannot have "bad" things growing in it. I've read what I
posted twice more, and I just don't see it.

What I did say, you seem to agree with. Just let me repeat
I said:
> >I'm fairly sure that once it's fermented, the beer is fairly resistant
> >to anything bad growing in it...

<and you responded >

> However, most beer spoilage bacteria acts fairly slowly,
> so if you drink fast enough, you may never notice a small
> infection taking hold in your beer.

I guess I'm not sure what part of "fairly resistant" you have an
argument with. Or, are you just the arguing sort?

As a general rule, the beer that goes through my beer lines is consumed
within an hour. In some extreme circumstances, I might bottle it so it
might be around for a few days. Hardly long for for "beer spoilage
bacteria" to cause an infection. Any infection that I have encountered
with fermented beer were definately not one that "you may never
notice".

Unfermented wort, yes, you need to be careful with your sanitation
practices as unwanted bacteria can grow rapidly. With beer lines,
however, I've had very good luck with just keeping them clean.

ymmv

ab

Date: 18 Sep 2006 15:02:26
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Cleaning beer lines and taps ?

On 17 Sep 2006 18:52:38 -0700, <alebrewer@wt.net > wrote:
> As a general rule, the beer that goes through my beer lines is consumed
> within an hour. In some extreme circumstances, I might bottle it so it
> might be around for a few days. Hardly long for for "beer spoilage
> bacteria" to cause an infection.

I'd be more worried about any spoilage that occurs in the line between pours
migrating down into the keg. I agree that you're not likely going to see
anything picked up as the beer travels through the line to your glass
showing off flavors by the time you drink it. However, when the beer is just
sitting around when you're not drinking, it's basically an open system
from the inside of the tap all the way down into the keg. In that sense, the
beer line itself is just an extension of the keg. I don't know how well any
bacteria would move through the line when the beer isn't flowing, but I've
always thought that was more of an issue than the "shelf life" of a glass of
beer after you pour it.

With that said, I never really do any sanitizing of my lines either. I
usually just clean them with BLC, etc, and give them a good rinse afterwards.
The only time I really think about it is when I've got a commercial Sankey
keg sitting on tap for several months at a time before I finish it all.

John.