Cleaning beer lines and taps

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I clean my beer lines with a pump sprayer that has a liquid connect on the end of the hose. I really like this and it works great.

I first run hot water through the lines to flush them out and let it sit about 5 minutes. Then run a tank of BLC through the lines and let them sit a few minutes as well. Then flush them out with water again.

My question is does this clean the taps well enough or should I remove the taps and give them a soak in PBW, brush, rinse and reinstall them? I haven’t been doing that every time and everything seems good, but if it’s necessary to take them off everytime, I can do so.

2

I definitely would recommend dismantling and cleaning out the faucets.

I’d also recommend cleaning them more often than the actual lines. There’s a lot more places for bacteria to hide and grow.

5 Likes
3

Thanks, I’ll give them a cleaning.

4

Removing and cleaning the taps is good advice that I never take, given that it’s homebrew and not a commercial brewpub. Honestly I haven’t taken my taps off in a couple years. The line cleaning I have done apparently does a good job on the taps with them still attached, and I’m lazy.

One suggestion is to run sani-clean or star-san through the lines after rinsing out the BLC. This step is an acid rinse and will neutralize any trace of BLC that remains, which is good for safety and for head retention. Cheers.

2 Likes
5

I think of it this way - the taps are at room temperature and that is a bad thing for beer that is in contact with that surface. I don’t clean mine often enough, but I have mostly gone to using stainless picnic taps that are stored fully in the refrigerator and on lines that can be pulled off and cleaned very readily. Not nearly as elegant as my tappers, but more cleanly than the “hot taps”. For the few hot tappers, I keep a small brush designed to be left in place on each tap and dunk it every time I remember in sanitary solution. Here is the Amazon site for the tap brushes:

Cheers!

2 Likes
6

I would definitely recommend disassembling your taps and clean them often. I went for an extended period of not removing them, thinking that running cleaner through the lines, letting the cleaner soak for an hour or two was “good enough”, not so!! I use side pours and was disgusted by how filthy they were when i broke them down for a deep cleanse. Personally, 3 months is what I do. The last thing I want, is getting the squirts, because of laziness!!

1 Like
7

It is a good idea to remove and clean the faucets periodically. I do not do this as often as I should. When I clean mine I use 2 oz. of caustic (similar to BLC) mixed in s gallon of hot water and use a garden pump sprayer to pump the caustic though the EVA Barrier lines and the Perlick faucets. I let it set in the lines for about 5 minutes. It cleans them pretty well. I repeat this process three times to make sure the caustic mixture runs clear and then rinse the lines three times with hot water. I then take apart and inspect the faucets about every 6-8 months or so. They always look pretty clean.

One other thing that I do is to spray the insides of the faucet outlets with either isopropyl or ethyl rubbing alcohol after every beer session. This kills any bacteria that could accumulate in the faucets and also keeps the gnats at bay.

8

Thanks to all the responses and suggestions. I did clean my taps and they were in need of a good cleaning. My keezer is under a porch and it works well, but it is exposed to the outside temperatures. That may provide a better environment for the bad stuff to grow. I will clean them on a regular basis from now on. The beer line cleaner was not enough to keep the taps clean.

9

Ever since I switched to DuoTight fittings, I no longer bother to clean my two beer lines. I will rinse them with sanitzer after every keg and then every two months I just pop the lines off and and cut new lines off the 39 ft roll of line that More Beer sells.