Cleaning Taps on FV.

[Newt Dundee]

I was bought a Little Bottler for Crimbo which came with a tap to fit to my bucket. I measured up, drilled the hole and first time lucky got a good seal on it. Having had a brew in it and getting ready for the next I'm now in 2 minds. Knowing that nasties can lurk everywhere, do I:

1) Take the tap off and soak all the components refitting the tap, or

2) Pay even more attention to cleaning the tap and fittings whilst it's still fitted?

I'm conscious of weakening the rubber seal by removing it, but at the same time wary of how much muck it may harbour on the inside of the barrel if I don't remove it.

I'm just wondering what other people do with theirs?

[timbo41]

Normally just run cleaner through then good rinse,but every 3 or4 brews I feel guilty and give it really good blasting with little hand steamer ebay job. Up spout round handle,wherever I can. Very occasionally take it off and overnight soak in oxiclean,,or bleach solution.but take rubber seal off first

[gregorach]

I do not have a tap on my FV... Barrel taps get removed and disassembled for cleaning every time. The rubber washer should hold up just fine.

[barneey]

Yep every fitting for me on the cold side, gets cleaned (disassembled) everytime after / before use.

[gnutz2]

If it's a tap on a fv then I would probably clean it very often (I dont have taps on fv's ). On the other hand, I dont clean my tap on the bottling bucket very often atall, a rinse and sterilise is all I do

[Newt Dundee]

Cheers Gents, I appreciate the replies and have decided that for the 15 minutes it's going to take me to strip the tap off and refit it (cleaning between of course) it's going to be a lot less painful than waiting 6 weeks for crap beer. Somehow I had a niggle that I really ought to do it as that's what I used to do with the barrel taps in the cellar, strip literally the whole unit down, scrub and then soak.

[a-slayer]

I don' have a tap on my FV, to much of a trap for the nasties I think.

[TC2642]

I have a tap on both my FV's, don't really bother disassembling them since I just run a weak bleach solution through them that I use to initially clean my FV's. Never had a problem with infection.

[Underground Joe]

I was a flipping retard when I fitted my little bottler tap and I used silicone sealant. Feel free to laugh at me. Having said that I must have used the bucket about forty times with no worries.