Learned a lesson last night

[soupdragon]

Well, I'll never take cleaning my beer line/tap for granted again.
Usually I flush the oxi cleaning stuff used for my kegs through the beer line as part of the process.

That will now change forever.

When I was about to finish off my pint last night I noticed something black bobbing around in the bottom of the glass. Never seen anything similar before so passed it off as "one of those things". Later that evening something made me check the tap on the keg. Got some tissue and bunged it up the hole and gave it a wipe. What came out was disgusting, black slime and lumps of it too. The line was removed from the keg and dismantled. Line was fine, maybe a little yeast build up but nothing major. I use picnic/party taps, never had an issue with them and they've served me well. The tap however was hanging. I took it apart and it was full of the black slime. Gave everything a proper clean and discovered the flaw in picnic/party taps. The silicone (or whatever it's made from) bung that gets retracted to allow flow had a small split in it allowing a build-up of product over time that my flush through simply wasn't clearing.
I didn't notice a change in the beer as over a length of time the changes are subtle.
As luck would have it, I have a spare tap. Cleaned and now fitted ready for use. New taps have been ordered and I've even invested in some of that fancy Brewmaster 2 line. More resistant to yeast build up they say.

So lesson learned, I will now dismantle the tap each time the keg is changed.
To those of you that use these taps, if you don't already, strip them down regularly.

Cheers Tom

 

[hoppyscotty]

I just use purple line cleaner. and flush lines and taps in between kegs. Is super concentrated so a 5litre container will last for ages. Initially flush until the discoloured liquid reverts back to purple (it changes colour if there are nasties in the beer line and tap), then leave for 20 mins to soak and get into all the nooks and crannies, and flush through until purple again. Then flush through/rinse with starsan and you're good to go. If it's good enough for the trade it'll do for me.

 

[soupdragon]

I've seen various companies selling the stuff. Is purple line cleaner the same wherever you get it from?
Is it suitable for use as a keg cleaner too?

Cheers Tom

 

[phildo79]

I encountered a similar thing when taking apart a flow control tap. Yuck. I have since bought a Nukatap which is forward sealing (I think) and helps against this sort of thing (I think). But yes, a regular clean is advised.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I've seen various companies selling the stuff. Is purple line cleaner the same wherever you get it from?
Is it suitable for use as a keg cleaner too?

Cheers Tom

I'd like to know too. I thought I read on here that it's not suitable for SS, which would rule it out for me as I have SS Nukataps

EDIT:
Post #1 and #7-#9 here: Tap and line cleaning

 

[hoppyscotty]

As far as I'm aware purple line cleaner is only for line cleaning. It should be good for use with stainless steel, I've had a tour of a couple of pub cellars and in both cases they use the stuff and their taps are all stainless steel not to mention all the regulators and other things that are connected along the length of the beer line, and they never remove and disassemble the taps for cleaning, that is what purple line cleaner is for.

I got it in a 5 litre container but you dilute it at a rate of something like 150ml or something to 5 litres of water and there is no way you need 5 litres to clean a tap. I have 4 taps on the go and a 5 litre 'batch' does all 4 taps with most left over. I just make it up in one of those pump action garden sprayers where I've attached a female ball lock connector to the end of the lance so I can connect upto the line ball locks and push the line cleaner through the ball lock, line and tap, basically everything the beer touches. I have a second garden spayer with starsan to flush it out once done.

 

[soupdragon]

As far as I'm aware purple line cleaner is only for line cleaning. It should be good for use with stainless steel, I've had a tour of a couple of pub cellars and in both cases they use the stuff and their taps are all stainless steel not to mention all the regulators and other things that are connected along the length of the beer line, and they never remove and disassemble the taps for cleaning, that is what purple line cleaner is for.

I got it in a 5 litre container but you dilute it at a rate of something like 150ml or something to 5 litres of water and there is no way you need 5 litres to clean a tap. I have 4 taps on the go and a 5 litre 'batch' does all 4 taps with most left over. I just make it up in one of those pump action garden sprayers where I've attached a female ball lock connector to the end of the lance so I can connect upto the line ball locks and push the line cleaner through the ball lock, line and tap, basically everything the beer touches. I have a second garden spayer with starsan to flush it out once done.

How long before the diluted mix needs to be dumped?
Any recommendations for where to purchase? The ones I've seen all seem to be targeted at the trade and postage is a bit steep

Cheers Tom

 

[hoppyscotty]

Diluted or non diluted? Not sure, there isn't any guidance on that I've read. I got mine from the Malt Miller I think, currently up there for £17.99 for 5 litres. I didn't bother shopping around so not sure if you can get it cheaper anywhere else, but like I say, with such a low dosage it will last some time.

You could just dilute what you need, but I couldn't be bothered doing the maths so just made up 5 litres.

 

[Sadfield]

Looking at the MSDS for it, it appears to be a blend of Caustic Soda, Bleach and Potassium Permanganate. The latter, I presume, acting as an indicator via redox reactions. I could very well be wrong. Caustic is fine on stainless. Bleach less so, and can cause damage depending on strength and contact time. IIRC correctly, it removed the protective chromium oxide layer in stainless. That layer should reform in contact with oxygen. Probably fine for line fittings, but I wouldn't want to cycle through damaging and repairing the surface of kegs.

More school boy science. Bleach is quite unstable and breaks down quickly when diluted.

 

[soupdragon]

So if used carefully and in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines it should be fine on stainless.
Definitely something to bear in mind next time I've got my purchasing head on

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

3 new taps in the post today. £4.99 delivered from Amazon Brewmaster 2 line should turn up tomorrow.
Now to do some research on suppliers of the purple people eater stuff

Cheers Tom

 

[Sadfield]

Or you could just brew tap slime coloured stouts.

 

[hoppyscotty]

3 new taps in the post today. £4.99 delivered from Amazon Brewmaster 2 line should turn up tomorrow.
Now to do some research on suppliers of the purple people eater stuff

Cheers Tom

It’s widely available. Amazon and the usual homebrew outlets as well as many other options come up on Google.

In theory you don’t need to use it every time you change a keg. I have a few kegs of different sizes do for a small 5litre keg I might run the cleaner every few kegs but for a large 19 litre corny I might run the cleaner every time I switch out a keg as it takes a lot longer to empty 19 litres of beer unless I have a few mates around. A flush through with starsan is fine if I’m not running the purlpke line cleaner through.

 

[soupdragon]

It’s widely available. Amazon and the usual homebrew outlets as well as many other options come up on Google.

In theory you don’t need to use it every time you change a keg. I have a few kegs of different sizes do for a small 5litre keg I might run the cleaner every few kegs but for a large 19 litre corny I might run the cleaner every time I switch out a keg as it takes a lot longer to empty 19 litres of beer unless I have a few mates around. A flush through with starsan is fine if I’m not running the purlpke line cleaner through.

Can't remember where I saw it. Might have actually been on a h&s document but it says use within 6 months of opening? At a keg a month I'd hardly use any of it before it was out of date.
Are they being over cautious or is 6 months right?

Cheers Tom

 

[Sadfield]

Can't remember where I saw it. Might have actually been on a h&s document but it says use within 6 months of opening? At a keg a month I'd hardly use any of it before it was out of date.
Are they being over cautious or is 6 months right?

Cheers Tom

Bleach degrades after 6 months.

https://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20060213/bleach.html

 

[hoppyscotty]

Just checked and there is nothing on the package that mentions an expiration date or use by date or anything. Looking at the spec for another manufactures product it does say 6 months from opening (24 month shelf life) so 5 litre packages is probably a bit too large a package for home use. You can get smaller packages or just add some fresh bleach.

However as with everything these things are probably massively conservative and the real life of the product will be much much longer. I got milk in my fridge that is weeks beyond its use by date and still perfectly fine. Just backside covering or a ploy to get people to buy more stuff.

 

[soupdragon]

Just checked and there is nothing on the package that mentions an expiration date or use by date or anything. Looking at the spec for another manufactures product it does say 6 months from opening (24 month shelf life) so 5 litre packages is probably a bit too large a package for home use. You can get smaller packages or just add some fresh bleach.

However as with everything these things are probably massively conservative and the real life of the product will be much much longer. I got milk in my fridge that is weeks beyond its use by date and still perfectly fine. Just backside covering or a ploy to get people to buy more stuff.

Indeed, there's more than a grain of truth in that
I've emailed @KegThat to see if he knows anything that us mere mortals don't get to know about. Once the busses are back on (Arriva Merseyside are on strike) I can catch the bus to my local train station and hop on down to Hooton and save on the postage.
I just love my old bugger pass

Cheers Tom

 

[Baldbrewer]

I ordered this today :

Beer Line Cleaner 5 Litre : Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

after stripping down my taps and being thoroughly embarrassed lol

 

[soupdragon]

I ordered this today :

Beer Line Cleaner 5 Litre : Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

after stripping down my taps and being thoroughly embarrassed lol

I feel your pain

Cheers Tom