Beer Forum

Does anyone have recommendations on purchasing a line cleaning kit? I am tired of wasting CO2 to pump cleaner through my lines and then rinse it. Also if anyone has a recommended cleaner I would appreciate it. I find myself cleaning detecting off-flavors in my lines more frequently than I would have thought. Usually I only pull a pint or two a night and in one weeks time I am noticing off flavors, I am wondering if there may be bacteria growing within the faucet. Any recommendations on faucet maintenance? Thanks for the help

joshwilfong wrote:Does anyone have recommendations on purchasing a line cleaning kit? I am tired of wasting CO2 to pump cleaner through my lines and then rinse it. Also if anyone has a recommended cleaner I would appreciate it. I find myself cleaning detecting off-flavors in my lines more frequently than I would have thought. Usually I only pull a pint or two a night and in one weeks time I am noticing off flavors, I am wondering if there may be bacteria growing within the faucet. Any recommendations on faucet maintenance? Thanks for the help

Perlicks are worth the extra money to ensure this problem (and sticking taps) doesn't happen.

The guy at this link makes his own carbonator caps using bicicycle tire valve stems. Maybe you can use the same concept except hook up hose with one end being a normal corny gas connector (so you connect that to the keg) and the other end has the bicycle tire stem valve on it. (It would probably be a good idea to put a HEPA filter inline in the hose too).
Then, you can use your bicycle pump to force air into your corny to drive the cleaning solutions through rather than CO2.
http://www.whenyeastattack.com/2011/09/ ... ator-caps/

I don't know. Just a thought.

Go down to the hardware store and get yourself a garden chemical sprayer like this.



Take off the spray gun and hook up a flare fitting on the hose so you can hook your beer line to the hose. You can then fill the tank with BLC or PBW and pump it through the line and faucet.

The link to the photo is this: http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... agpspn=pla You can find this at almost any hardware store or garden shop.

I just built this one that was posted on the AHA website:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/p ... ne-cleaner


I run Oxiclean solution through it and then clean water after that. Then I run sanitizer through and let it set for when it's needed.

Does anyone thing storing sanitizer in your unused keg lines is a bad idea?

TheDarkSide wrote:Does anyone thing storing sanitizer in your unused keg lines is a bad idea?

I don't do it on purpose, but I do have a picnic tap that I use to keep my StarSan bottle full. I made it for a mountain party, but 99% of the time I just use it for StarSan so it ends up full most of the time. I've never had a problem with a 'film' that others have had though either. Possibly water chemistry differences? Our water is pretty low on everything.

Ozwald wrote:

TheDarkSide wrote:Does anyone thing storing sanitizer in your unused keg lines is a bad idea?

I don't do it on purpose, but I do have a picnic tap that I use to keep my StarSan bottle full. I made it for a mountain party, but 99% of the time I just use it for StarSan so it ends up full most of the time. I've never had a problem with a 'film' that others have had though either. Possibly water chemistry differences? Our water is pretty low on everything.

Good to know. The star san I'm using is mixed with distilled water.

I don't know what might cause such a film, or even if it's even water chem related. I heard it brought up a few years ago & just kept an eye on my gear. The only thing I get is the general water spots from drip drying. Either way, I've never had a problem with that picnic faucet, but I don't go out of my way to do it either. I also use my spray bottle a lot & end up filling it 1-2x a week, so that same StarSan isn't sitting in the line for more than a few days. For kegerator lines that are going to stay empty for a while, I clean, sanitize & blow them out with CO2. StarSan has the potential to go bad eventually.