Question, I have yet to play with Brett or Bugs but was thinking of doing so at some point in the near future. I know about the needs of maintaining second line of equipment for brewing/fermenting brett or sour beer but in terms of kegging and serving are there concerns about contamination of lines, kegs, faucets, kegerator beyond that? Was wondering. I have a 7 cu ft kegerator with three faucets next to each other.
I haven’t had the guts to do it on my tap system. I’d be more concerned about the lines and faucet than the kegs. I do ferment and bottle lambics, guezes, krieks, and other sours, and the only precaution I take is keeping plastic fermenters and siphon tubing separate. Never had any cross-contamination.
I’d also like to hear other peoples experience on this… some draft young lambic would be amazing. I only have two taps right now, so making one a dedicated sour line is not really an option.
I have a labeled keg that I use for my sour/funky beers. I also use a picnic tap that is separate from my faucets along with separate fermenters, siphons, etc. I haven’t had a problem yet after 3 years.
I have separate kegs and picnic taps for my sour beers along with separate tubing, auto-siphon, and wine thief. All is properly marked so I don’t mistakenly use it on my normal beers. This just gives me peace of mind when incorporating those brews into my normal rotation.
I know some do not worry too much about separate kegs as long as you take them fully apart and soak all rubber pieces and metal in hot PBW, followed by a hot rinse(s), along with appropriate sanitizer prior to filling. But, once again, I would hate to inadvertently contaminate a normal beer by accident because I used a keg/tap for a sour/brett beer before it.