8’ beer line maintenance question

[MikeSkril]

Hi,

I’m gathering information for the moment but I want to have my kegs in the basement and run the beer lines to my kitchen.

I will have around 8’ to cover. I’m aware that I need to cool the lines and I will go with a glycol (or salt water) solution.

I would like to know how much cleaning / maintenance would be needed for beer lines and faucets in such a system. This will only be used on weekends (if that has any impact). Anyone has experience?

Thanks brewers!

 

[actionjackson905]

Are the lines going to remain under pressure when not in use (I. E. During the week)? And are you using CO2 to carb and pressurize? If so, can leave them alone, if not you'll need to flush the line with water/mild solution of cleaner and then sanitizer after disconnecting, IMO. My cousin works for draft services here in Canada and says this is pretty much the standard at bars also, along with blowing out the lines after with CO2. But figures that's not needed for your application.

 

[MikeSkril]

Yeah, CO2. I wanna have as less work as possible. I don't want to have to shut down CO2 or anything. The system should be functional all the time (you never know when you need a glass).
So I guess I would only have to flush the line if I empty one keg and not connecting another right away, right?

 

[day_trippr]

You may find you want to clean the beer lines at least monthly, regardless of kicking kegs or not...

Cheers!

 

[actionjackson905]

Yeah, CO2. I wanna have as less work as possible. I don't want to have to shut down CO2 or anything. The system should be functional all the time (you never know when you need a glass).
So I guess I would only have to flush the line if I empty one keg and not connecting another right away, right?

Correct. The man says "flush clean as above between keg changes and when you empty a keg". Otherwise your fine.

I use a 1gal weak mix of PBW in a keg up for cleaning. Fire that under pressure through your line. Then a starsan run, and let it empty out and blow air for a min or so. When I hook a new keg up after, I dump the first glass. Done.

 

[banks412]

Dumb question guys - I'm still new to the kegging world and learning - how do you blow CO2 through the line to clear it out after the PBW/StarSan? Am i overthinking this?

Thanks in advance...
Tim

 

[day_trippr]

I don't.

I clean with BLC, rinse with water, then hook up a keg.
I never leave anything like Star San in the lines because there's always a keg ready to go...

Cheers!

 

[actionjackson905]

I clean a keg and a line at the same time. Then I use CO2 to push the starsan out through the line until empty. I use about a gal of diluted starsan mix to finish. Then pop the keg and turn it upside down to dry.