Kegging and low consumption

[Olleman]

I've been brewing for 10 years now and always wanted a kegging setup but never really took the plunge. The thing that stops me every time is the cleaning aspect.

I consume perhaps 2 litres of beer/week and almost only on the weekend. I also want to drink different beers so let's assume that I will drink 1l from the keg each week and some extra when I have guests at the house. Some people tell me that I need to clean the beer lines every week to keep them clean and avoid infection spreading to the keg (I will have the setup including lines in a fridge). Is this really necessary? This is a deal breaker for me. If I were to clean the lines for each litre of beer consumed I suspect I would lose another dl or two just from the beer in the lines. If everything is inside the fridge can't I go longer?

Are there other solutions for me? Perhaps a tap that connects directly to the keg thus avoiding beeer lines all together? Or should I just accept that bottling (which I've become quite good at) is the best way for me...?

Incidently, does anyone know of cheap place for kegging equipment with shipping to sweden?


,Olle

[vacant]

Flushing out 1.5 metres of 3/16 inch beer line (I have Valpar 4.8mm OD 3mm ID) would waste about 100ml of beer.

[Olleman]

It's all a matter of perspectiv I guesse but with my consumption pattern that amounts to 10% of the whole keg going to waste just because of cleaning.

[vacant]

Right! Schedule your line clean for when you want to drink.

• Disconnect beer line and attach to keg/pressure cleaner with Starsan
• Hold beer tap over empty beer glass
• While watching beer line, give short squeezes on tap trigger until clear Starsan nears the tap
• Place beer tap in waste pot
• Wait one minute
• Connect beer line to beer keg
• Give short squeezes on trigger until beer reaches tap
• Fill rest of beer glass with beer

NO WASTED BEER!

[chris172]

Why not just fit the tap direct to the keg... this is what I do. If you have your pressure and temperature right you'll get no foaming. Disconnect the tap when not in use and rinse ready for the next time. I've got 5 kegs to choose from so made sense to me to go this way.

[Olleman]

Why not just fit the tap direct to the keg... this is what I do. If you have your pressure and temperature right you'll get no foaming. Disconnect the tap when not in use and rinse ready for the next time. I've got 5 kegs to choose from so made sense to me to go this way.

Yes, this seems more and more like the best solution for me but I'm wondering about the foaming issue. You say you have no problems at all getting to much foam? May I ask which faucet you use? Found http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chrome-Sampling ... SwubRXFH8U on eBay that are really inexpensive but will they do the job right?

Right! Schedule your line clean for when you want to drink.

• Disconnect beer line and attach to keg/pressure cleaner with Starsan
• Hold beer tap over empty beer glass
• While watching beer line, give short squeezes on tap trigger until clear Starsan nears the tap
• Place beer tap in waste pot
• Wait one minute
• Connect beer line to beer keg
• Give short squeezes on trigger until beer reaches tap
• Fill rest of beer glass with beer

NO WASTED BEER!

hehe good solution, there's a solution for every problem

[bigtoe]

flow control tap direct to keg....no foaming at all, works very well and you can get one of those PET bottle fill caps that helps keep everything open while you clean the tap in hot water etc.

Dead easy, swap between kegs also in seconds

[Olleman]

You've got a link to such a tap?

[bigtoe]

I got mine on ebay, unlisted now, kegkingdom or similar do flow control taps, you just need to call them and ask for a kit to conect direct to keg. That said not cheap, i paid 55 quid each for 2 so 100notes for 2 taps, shopping around you will find cheaper.

Also remember if you dispense at 3 to 5psi you will get no foam anyway...so its more in the gas control then the tap control

Angle home brew do one at 33quid http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/dispe ... aucet.html call him and explain you want direct to keg connection, he will sort you out

[Olleman]

Thanks, I've seen the same one at eBay for about 25. Maybe some adapter will make it fit directly to the keg.

[TonySan]

I've had beers in a keg for 6 months, never flushed the lines. Just squirted Starsan up the spout of the plastic Dalex tap after use.

May well have been very lucky, but I don't intend to change the practice much other than maybe drinking the beer a little quicker until it goes pear shaped.

[Brewedout]

I clean my lines infrequently, probably once every 6 weeks. But when I do clean them I allow them to "soak" with sanitiser/cleaner for a good 30 mins. Rinse then flush through with starsan no rinse sanitiser. Never had a problem. This probably isn't best practice, but in reality what is the difference between this and beer sitting in the tubing of a king keg float system?

[Olleman]

I clean my lines infrequently, probably once every 6 weeks. But when I do clean them I allow them to "soak" with sanitiser/cleaner for a good 30 mins. Rinse then flush through with starsan no rinse sanitiser. Never had a problem. This probably isn't best practice, but in reality what is the difference between this and beer sitting in the tubing of a king keg float system?

This was my thinking also "how bad can it get" Do you just pour straight from the tap even if you've had no beer for a couple of days or do you at least empty the beer that's been sitting in the lines before you pour a new one?

[Kyle_T]

When I used to use taps I never had an issue with the beer inside the line, as long as a sufficient pressure is maintained inside the keg then the beer in the line (in theory) shouldn't back flow.

I have the luxury of having a freezer that I briefly used as a keezer but I also the experience of having nothing, even with the warmer ambient temperature the beer in the line didn't go sour if I left it for a week or two at a time, if I was ever in doubt I'd run off what had been sat in the line and then normal beer would run though fine.

After the keg was finished I'd do my routine cleaning and maintenance.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I never cleaned my lines while they were attached to a keg. Once a keg was empty then I would clean the lines and tap thoroughly ready for the next time.

As far as i can make out the beer lines are just an extension of the inside of the keg, it's all sealed and airtight, I can't see the problem.

Some of my kegs did admittedly only last about a month or two, but I had a keg of Imperial Stout connected up for 18 months without a problem.