Corny Keg beer line hygiene

[Michael Burnley]

New corny keg user here, as I don't drink the full contents of my keg in one go, and it may be another week before I have some more, is it ok to leave the beer in the line? I would obviously on my next session, drain say a quarter of a pint to clear the 'old' beer out of the beer line. Is that satisfactory or do I need to be more hygienic, if so how do I clean out the line ?

PS I do know how to clean the line when the keg is empty

 

[Wilfy]

That’s all I do, not had a beer go off or anything like that yet.

 

[RGeats]

I don't clean my lines whilst there's beer in the keg, just do it when cleaning the keg by running cleaner through the lines, not had a problem

 

[Michael Burnley]

Thanks Wilfy, I wasn't really thinking of it making the keg contents go off, but more of any nasties that may develop in the beer line and be transferred to the glass on my next session

 

[Wilfy]

Thanks Wilfy, I wasn't really thinking of it making the keg contents go off, but more of any nasties that may develop in the beer line and be transferred to the glass on my next session

I do use something similar to these, put them in between pints as well to keep creepy crawlies out.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bierdorf-B...ocphy=1007088&hvtargid=pla-499484443860&psc=1

 

[Michael Burnley]

Thanks guys, I was hoping it was going to be ok, but wasn't sure as it's new to me

 

[user 18729]

I’ve not cleaned my lines between kegs for a few months now not dead yet

 

[Michael Burnley]

I've just thought of this, do you leave your beer line connected to the keg all the time ? or do you disconnect in between sessions ?

I think I might be over thinking this lol !!

 

[Wilfy]

Leave it connected.

 

[Edison]

I’ve not cleaned my lines between kegs for a few months now not dead yet

 

[Edison]

Everything’s sealed, so no baddies can get in from the outside world. As long as you have proper beer line (e.g. Valpar MDPE) you shouldn’t get any off flavour from the plastic.

 

[Michael Burnley]

Everything’s sealed, so no baddies can get in from the outside world. As long as you have proper beer line (e.g. Valpar MDPE) you shouldn’t get any off flavour from the plastic.

Thank you, yes my beer line is Valpar

 

[Darenn]

New corny keg user here, as I don't drink the full contents of my keg in one go, and it may be another week before I have some more, is it ok to leave the beer in the line? I would obviously on my next session, drain say a quarter of a pint to clear the 'old' beer out of the beer line. Is that satisfactory or do I need to be more hygienic, if so how do I clean out the line ?

PS I do know how to clean the line when the keg is empty

I use one of these ;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bottles-Carbonation-Carbonate-Water-Brewed/dp/B01KYZ463M
Put a Coke bottle filled with line cleaner in, and squeeze through lines and taps. This can be done when keg is empty or part way through. Remember to rinse after the cleaner has done it's work!

 

[Graz]

Also leave beer in the line here, it's inside the fridge, in the dark, and therefore fine. None of this pouring away beer lark either Just drink it as it come out of the tap.

For cleaning lines I do it the same time as I'm cleaning the keg. Rinse the keg with hot water a few times to get rid of most of the crud, then a spoonful of Oxi-Clean, and maybe quarter fill with hot water. Give it a few shakes to coat the inside then hook it up to the gas and beer lines, short blast of gas and then open the tap until the residual beer is out of the line and it's full of warm Oxi. This also means the dip tube has Oxi in it. Disconnect everything, give the keg another shake then leave for an hour for it to do its stuff shaking the keg occasionally.

After the hour vent the keg, pour away the Oxi and rinse it several times in cold water to get rid of the residual. Now put say a litre of cold water in the keg, hook it up again, short blast of gas and pump through the cold water to rinse the line until just gas is coming out, let all that vent through the tap to get as much water as I can out of the line. Job done. My beer lines rarely stay disconnected for long so when I have another brew ready to go in just blast a bit of StarSan through in a similar method to the water above.

 

[Horners]

For everyday use I use a party tap and a coil of 3/16" beer line which is neatly tied up with cable tie. Disconnect after finished for the day and leave it with beer in the line. Then when starting a new session just pour first bit out away - you can physically see when the fresh beer has reached the tap as it is fizzy and the amount discarded is negligible due to narrow bore of line. As others have said when a keg is having a clean I run the oxi and then starsan through any dirty beer lines I have.

 

[valdid_shaw]

I clean all beer lines between corny uses at the same time as I clean the keg. But never between cracking open the keg and finishing it.

However, if it’s been more than a couple of days I tend to run off a tiny amount into a separate glass and discard. Probably being paranoid cos it is sealed, just enough so the bit of that’s outside of my fridge leading up to to the tap.

 

[foxbat]

I've just thought of this, do you leave your beer line connected to the keg all the time ? or do you disconnect in between sessions ?

I think I might be over thinking this lol !!

I only drink at the weekends. The line stays connected from Friday night to Sunday morning when I pop the beer disconnect off the keg, spray inside it with Starsan and leave it until next week. The next Friday night I pop the disconnect back on then run off a few fingers of beer from the line and chuck it before pouring the first pint. I clean the lines with PBW when I'm cleaning the empty keg.

 

[Leon103]

I don't bother wasting 1/4 pint between sittings.

 

[peebee]

Beer-line is okay (the MDPE, polythene, sort). Often translucent so you can see anything suspicious in it. Usually gets flushed when changing kegs, often with something "aggressive". Beer sitting in them for a day or more may not be premium (some gas exchange, oxygen in, CO2 out, but nothing like as bad as silicon tubing).

But what the line connects … that's a different matter!!

Corny keg disconnects? Do you make an effort to flush these when keg cleaning? And the dip tubes connected to them? I do use flexible dip-tubes with floating extractors which might make things worse? But I was getting beer tainted (especially the first beer poured) recently. Which I eventually tracked down to the dip-tubes and the solid masses (yeast?) forming in them. All the dip-tubes are removable now and I have a long fine line cleaning brush to deal with them.

And at the other end the taps. I thought all this "forward sealing" taps business was more marketing nonsense, but after a period plagued by black specks in my beer I dismantled a tap. I was immediately puzzled by the fibre seal, about 10mm diameter and 25mm long. Except when I took it out, it was obviously some organic growth filling the entire barrel of the tap! Porous enough to allow beer past, but friable enough to add the occasion chunk to the beer as it past. Forward sealing taps on the shopping list for me! Meanwhile, I think the cleaning regime will have to step up from just a flush through with line-cleaner.

 

[foxbat]

Corny keg disconnects? Do you make an effort to flush these when keg cleaning?

Yes, mine are stainless and will come apart for cleaning. I stopped using the black plastic CMB ones after noticing that Starsan dissolved the plastic.