That’s cool and all, but people don’t always consider these things and assume everything we buy is safe enough.
See the linked article above. Some tool left cleaner in the lines and the customer suffered in a big way.
I’m aware of the article and read it before you linked it. The danger of drinking chemicals is a discussion my father and I had when I was 4 years old. There are millions of home brewers. How many of them were dumb enough to drink drain cleaner from the tap?
Just pointing out the dangers. First thing I learned in chem lab was to never under any circumstances drink from a piece of lab ware. Even if it is brand new and outside of a lab setting. It’s the same as always assuming a firearm is loaded.
I really don’t like using BLC or any similar products for my draft system. I just run Iodophor through the lines between kegs. In 9 years, I’ve never had any issues. However, I endeavor to change my lines once a year (though it often ends up being 18 months).
On a side note, what is a safe way to dispose of BLC and undiluted Star San? Is it ok to pour down the drain or do I need to take it to a S.A.F.E. center?
BLC is the same thing as drain cleaner.
Steve, I understand you are pointing out what should be obvious dangers to most people that can read the back of a bottle of caustic because you are apparently very concerned for their safety.
In the context of this thread, the OP has proven to be quite capable of searching for MSDS sheets and understanding them. I’m very confident the OP or his keg tapping guests will not drink Draino from a beer line, even if he lets it in sit in the line for a year and gets Alzheimer’s before the line is safely drained.
Before you say, “well I was just saying this for anyone who doesn’t know” for the third time, please save your breath. They probably aren’t here and hopefully the improbable minority heard you the first or second time.
This isn’t about the OP. You made a recommendation that many others would determine is unsafe. You and others can do whatever they hell they want, but somebody should point out he stupidity of your recommendation.
Now excuse me while I make toast in the tub.
You take things very personally Steve. It’s clearly hard for you to admit being wrong.
Simply put, a trained monkey could learn how to move a line full of caustic to a location that would not be tapped for a week. All I want to know is why you haven’t figured out how to do it?
My recommendation was for people that aren’t stupidly paranoid. Anyone else should reconsider using caustics.
How many people remove their line? Never seen that.
Only the least paranoid, most secure and adequately bright homebrew people remove their lines for cleaning. Perhaps that is why you haven’t seen them. We are a rare breed that aren’t easily influenced by the homebrew hive mind.
Protip - the easiest way to do this is to have a spare line. Just a line with fittings. Not even an extra keg. Your drunk guests won’t tap a new keg with a line from a utility sink because all the kegs are pouring. You can always put a note on the caustic line that says drinking from this line will make you wish you were dead, stupid . You can even use bold red text, if your guests are especially stupid. 
I’m kind of betting that frequent cleaning has a similar effect over time to longer less frequent contact.
And wow, you and Stevie need to relax and have a caustic-free beer.
All of my home brews are poured from caustic free lines that were filled with an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS caustic solution for 2-10 days. The caustic in the line could liquefy a corpse given enough time. It would take a lot longer than 15 minutes at room temperature and pressure. Just saying. 
Hey, glad to see a lighter tone developing here. But on the subject of protecting forgetful selves or clueless guests, rather than removing a line, it occurs to me, why not just put a bag over the faucet? Like the gas station does when a pump is out of order. Seems simpler, and takes so little effort it hardly seems like a mark of paranoia!
It’s ok Robert. The sign of a good question is one that creates contention. It’s obvious you are capable of handling caustics in a home brewery. Some people have determined how to do something ‘the right way’ and can’t think about how to do it any other way safely. You already have. Way ahead of the curve. Pretty soon you will be brewing better beer than everyone here except for me. ;D
You know I just rejoined AHA after letting my membership lapse about 25 years ago (have I been lazy or just really busy brewing? ) Two things that didn’t exist back then are online forums and any decent knowledge about cleaning and sanitation. All great advancements come at the price of some aggravation, don’t they? 
Sorry that the forum became a bit contentious over your initial post - we usually agree on things or quickly agree to disagree peacefully. For example, the homebrewer now has antimicrobial beer lines available to him (though some say it is a waste of money and prefer to simply swap out lines more frequently at around 1/3 of the cost or to stay on top of the cleaning process keg to keg - either way works, if you are happy with the results).
Innovations are sometimes embraced and sometimes dismissed; unfortunately, we sometimes really put our faith into a product and are not willing to be dissuaded; other times, we don’t have the means of measuring the product’s efficacy and fall prey to anecdotal evidence presented. in the end, you should look at things for what will work best/easiest in your situation.
Anyway, Cheers to a long time brewer!
That’s what I’m running now and have been pretty happy with it.
Same here. Like it pretty well.
I wasn’t aware of this product. I’ll check it out. It seems to me though that the line itself is less of a potential problem than the faucet and disconnect with their nooks and crannies; it’s prudent to disassemble everything once in a while anyway so I can understand those who just replace lines more often.
But as I suggested early in this thread, I like having as many tools as possible in the kit, so to speak, and be adaptable to use what’s most expedient in any given situation. That’s pretty much my philosophy in every aspect of brewing – there’s rarely just one way to proverbially de-pelt a feline!
Thanks for the tip and link.
Okay, just an update from the OP. Too soon old and too late smart, I downloaded the BA’ s Draught Beer Quality Manual. Anyone reading this thread with questions, start there! Everyone posting here has been a great help in clarifying things, and of course homebrewers will develop their own practical solutions – but DBQM is a welcome addition to my “library.” http://www.draughtquality.org/