Cleaning Beer Lines

I was wondering about everyone’s Beer Line Cleaning regimen. I searched on this, and I think I’m doing all right, but I was just curious about what everyone else is doing and if I’m doing it well enough.

  1. After each keg empties, I rinse it well with hot water, removing both the gas and liquid posts, and rinsing them, as well as the dip tube. I then put the keg back together and fill it with 2 capfuls of BLC and water.

  2. I put this keg into the kegerator and hook it up to the faucet it was attached to. I run about 3 pints through the line/faucet and then will leave it for at least 24 hours. I will then remove 3 pints of the cleaner-water again, empty the keg and sanitize before adding fresh beer to it.

My lines are clear, but stained. Beer colored. Am I using enough BLC?

Any comments and especially what your lines look like would be great.

I think you are doing more than enough - though staying on top of it is better than letting it slide.

I used to let it slide a little too much. Now I do clean a little more regularily.

One of my issues is from not having perlick faucets and getting the standard black crud. Plus I ran out of propper line cleaner a while ago and have not got around to getting more.

So my solution now is to clean pretty much every day with asceptox cleaner - what I use to clean most of my gear. It is not a propper caustic line cleaner - it is actually a no rinse - so there is good and bad aspects to that.

I just leave a keg full of asceptox beside my cooler and unhook my lines most evenings / hook up to keg and run asceptox through and let soak until the next day.

I am finding my faucets rarely stick, and rarely build up crud. I will still get more propper line cleaner, but for me the main issue is dealing with the sticky faucets which I find need more regular attention.

Everyone has their own way, but I have to chime in here. You clean your lines every day? That’s extremely excessive and unnecessary… but hey if it works for you, continue. If I thought I had to clean my lines daily, I’d stop kegging. Pour a pint every day or just making sure your lines/taps are used daily. This will help with buildup and sticking problems.

I push oxyclean/hotwater/sanitizer through my lines with every other keg. I do clean out the kegs after each use and I break down the entire system, soak everything, and replace the lines once a year. I may actually move this up to 2x a year though. The lines are pretty nasty after a year.

[quote=“jezmez68”]I was wondering about everyone’s Beer Line Cleaning regimen. I searched on this, and I think I’m doing all right, but I was just curious about what everyone else is doing and if I’m doing it well enough.

  1. After each keg empties, I rinse it well with hot water, removing both the gas and liquid posts, and rinsing them, as well as the dip tube. I then put the keg back together and fill it with 2 capfuls of BLC and water.

  2. I put this keg into the kegerator and hook it up to the faucet it was attached to. I run about 3 pints through the line/faucet and then will leave it for at least 24 hours. I will then remove 3 pints of the cleaner-water again, empty the keg and sanitize before adding fresh beer to it.

My lines are clear, but stained. Beer colored. Am I using enough BLC?

Any comments and especially what your lines look like would be great.[/quote]

Your system sounds fine. Even a little more effort than I would put into it, but there’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing. Beer lines will stain. Nothing you can do about it. Make sure you replace them at least once a year if not more.

WOW, I’m surprised at what I read. I have 5 taps and 9-10’ beer lines to each. I replace them once a year and never clean them. They do not discolor hardly at all and while I do move quite a lot of beer through them, I see no adverse effects from my regimen.

Here is my standard procedure.

Disassembled keg all the way. Rinse with hot H2O & dump.

Fill keg with PBW with the liquid tube in the keg. Let it sit for an hour or so. Liquid & gas posts, lid, gas dip tube and all gaskets get a soak in a smaller container with PBW as well.

Clean beer lines when a keg kicks with BLC pumped through/left sit with one of the hand pump units.

Flush with hot water, multiple times.

Perlick faucet, removed form kegerator, and liquid QD run with hot H2O and soaked in PBW for the time it takes me to clean the lines.

Rinse with hot H2O and reassemble.

Hook up liquid QD to the keg after appropriate carbonating time.

ENJOY!

Lines are stained , but clean. Never had any real issues with this routine.

Good Luck

Thanks.

The point of my process is not really about cleaning the lines so much as keeping crud out of my faucets. I’m not overly strict about everyday, but I find if I leave it for a few days, it turns into a week and I start to get a build up.

It also is not that big of a process. I always have the keg of cleaner set up so it takes about 40 sec. to empty the line.

When I eventually get around to getting perlicks, I will probably go back to cleaning once every few months or so.

The point of my process is not really about cleaning the lines so much as keeping crud out of my faucets. I’m not overly strict about everyday, but I find if I leave it for a few days, it turns into a week and I start to get a build up.

It also is not that big of a process. I always have the keg of cleaner set up so it takes about 40 sec. to empty the line.

When I eventually get around to getting perlicks, I will probably go back to cleaning once every few months or so.[/quote]

Just a tip, if you push a little beer through every day… even only a few ounces, your taps wont stick. I just switch to perlicks this past weekend, but before them my taps would also stick after a few days of sitting. I started to make sure to pull a few ounces everyday (not a problem since I have a beer or two a day) and they stopped sticking. Don’t give them a chance to stick and they wont.

It is actually rare I don’t pull 3-4 pints through daily. But yes, sticking usually only occurs when they sit unused.

But the black crud builds up no matter what. I have just found that pushing a little cleaner though every day or two, helps in this regard.

Can’t wait till I get me some perlicks - will solve most of my issues.

I should also mention that my faucets are on a bartop, and at least half my line length is not inside a refrigerator.

Some of you all make me feel lazy! After kicking a keg I run oxyclean through the lines, let sit for an hour, and then drain. Following the oxyclean I run a pint or two of star san through. I have a few extra kegs on hand---- I keep one filled with oxyclean and the other with star san. I buy a cheaper 3/16 id line from my hardware store, so replacing it once a year isn’t an issue.

[quote=“MullerBrau”]WOW, I’m surprised at what I read. I have 5 taps and 9-10’ beer lines to each. I replace them once a year and never clean them. They do not discolor hardly at all and while I do move quite a lot of beer through them, I see no adverse effects from my regimen.
[/quote]

I’m moving in this direction. Sort of.

I used to clean the lines after each keg, and since installing the “glass-lined” tubing (for which you’re supposed to be able to swap over beverages without thorough cleaning), I’m deciding on cleaning after every third keg.

Muller – how often do you disconnect & clean your taps?

[quote=“Silentknyght”]
I’m moving in this direction. Sort of.

Muller – how often do you disconnect & clean your taps?[/quote]Never like I said earlier. I always keep 5 beers flowing. After a keg kicks, I put another in its place and pull a few ounces of new beer through to flush out the last kegs yeast.

Interesting the difference in level of effort, and as best I can tell, no difference in results :?

I pull apart kegs after every empty, soak the parts in hot water then Star San. The keg itself gets rinsed with hot water, scrubbed with a brush, rinsed again and then filled with about a gallon of hot water before being reassembled. I’ll then hook up the keg, push the hot water through the tap to empty the keg. Fill with about a gallon of star san, slosh it around, then push it through the tap too.

Should probably replace the lines at some point, but so far no problems at all.

[quote=“MullerBrau”][quote=“Silentknyght”]
I’m moving in this direction. Sort of.

Muller – how often do you disconnect & clean your taps?[/quote]Never like I said earlier. I always keep 5 beers flowing. After a keg kicks, I put another in its place and pull a few ounces of new beer through to flush out the last kegs yeast.[/quote]

Greg Muller how do you clean your beer lines?

“I run BEER through them!”

Proving once again, the correct process is the one that works for YOU.