I always clean my kegs when they blow. I always take them
apart again and star san everything before re-filling them.
I wondered how many poeple just gave them a star san rinse
and drained them before filling. Am I over doing it? Seems like the
only way to get star san on all surfaces is to completely take
them apart. How do YOU do it?
I have a mark’s keg/carboy washer and it makes cleaning kegs a breeze. I just add hot water and PBW, hook up the lines and let it recirculate for 15 mins. Dump it, fill it with clean water and let it recirc again for about 5 mins. Dump water and put in star san and let it recirc for about 20 secs. Clean and sanitized. I usually let my kegs build up so I clean them at one time.
I usually give them an Oxiclean or PBW soak for an hour or more, rinse thoroughly and then store until needed. Just prior to filling I’ll siphon some Starsan into the keg, wait a few minutes, and then siphon the Starsan out. This also sanitized my auto-siphon before racking.
Every 2-3 fills or if I had hops in the keg, I’ll tear them down completely and be sure to run a brush through the liquid dip tube.
I’ve never had an infected keg.
I have 21 kegs so I wait until I have at least 4 to clean. Open up and rinse with hot water followed by filling completely with hot water and PBW. Soak overnight and rinse then let dry before putting lid back on. When its time to keg, I fill completely with cold water and Iodophor making sure the dip tube fills too. I never take them apart unless I suspect an issue with something.
My procedure is similar. After kicking a keg I may clean it immediately or it may sit for a bit depending on my schedule. I usually rinse it out, and then fill with oxyclean and water. It sits for a few minutes then I rinse it out. Next, I fill it with 1/2 gallon of starsan and pressurize until I’m ready to use it. I take my kegs apart every other fill completely to clean the poppets, etc. I keg hop frequently so there is hop particles that are sometimes difficult to get out.
[quote=“kcbeersnob”]I usually give them an Oxiclean or PBW soak for an hour or more, rinse thoroughly and then store until needed. Just prior to filling I’ll siphon some Starsan into the keg, wait a few minutes, and then siphon the Starsan out. This also sanitized my auto-siphon before racking.
Every 2-3 fills or if I had hops in the keg, I’ll tear them down completely and be sure to run a brush through the liquid dip tube.
I’ve never had an infected keg.[/quote]
This is what I do. I let them soak overnight with Oxyclean. Rinse well and if I have starsan made up I’ll pour or siphon some in and let it sit until needed. If I don’t have any starsan made up, I just let them sit until needed then sanitize. I’ll break the keg down completely every so often and soak all the parts overnight. I’m not religious about. Just when I think it’s been a while.
When kicked - I immediately rinse with hot water, then fill with hot water about half way, add PBW. Shake it up. Let sit for a few hours, or overnight. Then flip upside down in the sink and let sit a few hours, or overnight.
Then dump, rinse in hot water a few times. Then I add about a quart of water/StarSan, hit with CO2, shake it up, and store on its side. I have been doing this for years and never had any issues leaving a small amt of StarSan mix in a keg - sometimes for a few weeks before I need to use again.
When ready to use the keg, I depressurize, drain, and rack the beer in.
I will only break a keg down about once a year and typically change out the O rings when I do.
