acepilot wrote:I've got my keg sitting in the basement (on the floor, no fridge) as it is about 55 degrees this time of year. Yesterday I went down to pour a beer and happened to look at the tap outlet and noticed it looked about half clogged. As the glass was just about full, the "plug" shot out into the glass and it looked like a half of a hop pellet, so it was obviously a wad of mold.
How do you folks keep this from happening? Should I be taking the serving line and tap off the keg every few days and soaking in pbw/sanitizer or what? I was thinking of maybe putting a mason jar filled with One Step next to the keg and keeping the picnic tap in that between pours? I'd probably have to change out the One Step weekly I imagine?
During the summer, I have a beer fridge in the shop with tap handles mounted to the door. Any ideas how to keep mold out of the end of the faucet in that case?
The big boys send reps to their tap accounts to clean the beer lines monthly. It's also a good idea to disassemble the tap and clean them too. The mold isn't just in the spout. It's covering the valve that opens when you pull the tap handle, too. I help my dad clean the keg pumps for a local liquor store, and you would be amazed how much mold can grow in a tap.
