Cleaning corny kegs

[Mattyde05]

Hi guys , just wanted to know what’s the best tool to use for cleaning corny kegs? ( brushes etc) And what do you find the best
Thanks

 

[uDicko]

I fill mine with sodium percarbonate + water to the brim, dispense some out the post/tap.
Leave upside down for a few hours then stand up overnight.
Shake it all about, empty it out.
Refill with a little bit of clean water and shake about again, rinse and repeat 2/3 times
Fill with Starsan/Chemsan diluted to specification. Or fil up from another keg that has the starsan/chemsan in it
Push through the post/tap
Leave
Job done

When it comes to kegging I will push all the starsan into another clean keg that has had the above treatment and then transfer into the freshly emptied keg.

 

[uDicko]

Sodium Percarbonate thread here:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/sodium-percarbonate-5kg.89123/
Hope this helps!

 

[Horners]

I fill mine with sodium percarbonate + water to the brim, dispense some out the post/tap.
Leave upside down for a few hours then stand up overnight.
Shake it all about, empty it out.
Refill with a little bit of clean water and shake about again, rinse and repeat 2/3 times
Fill with Starsan/Chemsan diluted to specification. Or fil up from another keg that has the starsan/chemsan in it
Push through the post/tap
Leave
Job done

When it comes to kegging I will push all the starsan into another clean keg that has had the above treatment and then transfer into the freshly emptied keg.

What amount of percarbonate for 19L @uDicko?

 

[Mattyde05]

Brilliant thanks for the advice and the link

 

[Leon103]

I find mine only need to be rinsed clean with the hose pipe. I then put 5 litres of star Sam, give it a shake and pull it all through the tap to reuse it another time.

 

[uDicko]

@Horners Probably should weight it out at some point. Honestly I chuck in roughly a tablespoon per keg (12 Litres though). I am only using it to get the gunk off from the last brew.

Its also most likely completely the wrong amount but it seems to work for me

 

[foxbat]

1. Rinse
2. Add 4 litres of water + 10g of PBW
3. Shake rattle and roll
4. Pump some of that PBW through the lines
5. Rinse and pump some of that water through the lines

 

[PhilBrew]

I've got one of those ... Pressure Sprayer 5Ltr (link) ... which is useful if you don't have spare cornies sitting around to transfer cleaner/sanitiser in and out of ... the spray "wand" section unscrews off and can be easily replaced with some 3/8" beer line ... then you can fill the sprayer with your cleaner, pump up the pressure and pump it into your corny via some disconnects (beer and gas) attached to the 3/8" line ... you can then use it to pump the cleaner out of the corny by pumping air through the gas in tube ... then fill the sprayer with your sanitiser and repeat the filling and empting procedure into/out from your corny

Cheers, PhilB

 

[-Bezza-]

A non scratch kitchen sponge and then the gun on the garden hose is all I've ever needed. I also have a thin bottle brush for cleaning the two tubes.

 

[Andrew Taylor]

I bought a toilet brush that stays with my homebrew kit. Cheap and reaches in to the corners when used with the cleaning solutions already mentioned etc.

 

[Crappyfish]

I use washing up liquid and hot water with a non scratch pan scrubber. Then rinse well with hot and cold water then starsan to sterilise. No problems or washing up liquid taste so far. But the most important tool is a thin arm.

 

[Braindead]

I use simple Oxiclean, quid from Poundland

 

[Graz]

1. Rinse
2. Add 4 litres of water + 10g of PBW
3. Shake rattle and roll
4. Pump some of that PBW through the lines
5. Rinse and pump some of that water through the lines

This is probably the closest to what I do. Essentially rinse any obvious crud out of it with warm water after it is empty. I've got a handy length of hosepipe and a Chinese Hozelock adapter that screws onto the mixer tap I have in our utility room that helps with this. Then couple of spoons of Oxiclean (cheap stuff from Aldi/Lidl), maybe quarter fill with hot water, put the lid on and give it a good shake. Pump a bit of this through the line to which the keg was previously attached then leave it all for about an hour trying to remember to return to it occasionally for another shake.

The rinse the keg well with cold water, again fill and shake but then empty after, maybe do this about three times after the initial rinse. Also pump a bit of this water through the line to flush the oxi. Then as the tap is usually destined for another keg I'll put a little bit of StarSan in the keg (0.25L maybe), give it a shake and then pump that through the line until it's all gone and gas is just blowing out the residual.

I'll then just leave the keg open upside down to dry off. Before filling again I'll just give it another shake with some StarSan after checking no spiders etc. have set up home in there.

 

[Ronnie23]

I find mine only need to be rinsed clean with the hose pipe. I then put 5 litres of star Sam, give it a shake and pull it all through the tap to reuse it another time.

Likewise. Bit of elbow grease for anything caked on. Happy for someone to change my mind