beer line cleaner

[kandycorn]

Hi All
I have been using oxyi clean with a splash of Tescos Rinse Aid to clean most things including my keg lines, i live in a hard water area and this combination seems to bring everything up a little cleaner, anyway i have just tripped over this and wondered if anyone has used it http://www.myhygienesupplies.co.uk/purp ... e-cleaner/
and if so any comments as the review says tis cheap.

[Kev888]

I've not used that exact brand, but purple line cleaner is quite popular - its what the pub trade use to clean their lines and quite a few homebrewers too.

The instructions for mine are to rinse through the line with water, then fill the line with a solution of this stuff at between 3ml and 6ml per litre and leave for 20 mins, then rinse through (well) with water again - if the purple colour deteriorated noticeably though then the dirt beat it, so a second attempt may be needed. I just put some in a corny and use gas pressure to fill the lines, but I believe people have rigged up spray/pressure bottles or pumps too.

There aren't any ingredients given on mine, but the health and safety info says it contains sodium hydroxide so its caustic, and you should observe the limited contact time with things like stainless to avoid pitting it.

Cheers
Kev

[kandycorn]

I had thought to do the same, as that is way i sanitise my kegs,thanks for pointing out the limited time factor i may also consider using an auto syphon to push it through as an alternative, anyway if i have problems with it i will post, thanks for the response.
cheers

[jmc]

I use purple line cleaner to clean cornys, beer line and taps.

In the past I've soaked for 20mins as per instructions but I saw this video today which proposes another method of soaking in 5 min stages until cleaner stays purple in the line, which makes sense. I think I'll try it out.

Video with sound: Cleaning beverage dispense systems with beer-line cleaner (3:24)

[Kev888]

Interesting. They seem to be not flushing out with water first, but rather going direct with the line cleaner and then replenishing it until it stays the right colour. I would have thought it would use more cleaner that way, but is there any advantage to this that you know of?

At the mo I can flush all lines/taps then fill them all for 20min soaking in more or less two steps; if I wanted the cleaning keg connected to each line for repeated replenishments it would become a lot more involved - especially as my kegs and taps aren't in the same room.. I'd do it if there was a good reason, but otherwise it seems more work?.

Cheers
Kev

[jmc]

Interesting. They seem to be not flushing out with water first, but rather going direct with the line cleaner and then replenishing it until it stays the right colour. I would have thought it would use more cleaner that way, but is there any advantage to this that you know of?

At the mo I can flush all lines/taps then fill them all for 20min soaking in more or less two steps; if I wanted the cleaning keg connected to each line for repeated replenishments it would become a lot more involved - especially as my kegs and taps aren't in the same room.. I'd do it if there was a good reason, but otherwise it seems more work?.

Cheers
Kev

The video is from a company that sell PLC so they probably aren't concerned about PLC amounts used.

I agree with you on the pre-rinse. I normally hose-out cornys, then run water through line/tap and then add diluted PLC to corney and run via tap until its purple then leave for 20mins.
After PLC-soak, I flush with clean water & then starsan as well.
Starsan is probably OTT but I like to remove any trace of PLC.

The change I like in the video is soaking with PLC for 5mins stages, then pour to see if its still purple in lines and repeat until it is.
Idea being that if PLC remains purple in lines after 5 mins they are clean.

I generally just do 1 corney and line / tap at a time when I change a cornie over. I could see it would be more fiddly if you did lots of corneys/lines at the same time

[Kev888]

Ah I see, thanks.

With my regime (including pre-flushing) its rare for the purple line cleaner to noticably lose colour after 20mins, but on reflection thats just looking at the colour of the stuff coming out as the rinse water begins to push it through. As my 20min soak is largely a static one, maybe 'somewhere' down the line there could be local regions where the cleaner is more exhausted, and any local areas of discolouration could become less obvious if these mingle on route to the tap. Not sure I'd want to go to 5min stints (or reduce total contact time) but maybe two 10min stints would be a decent compromise.

Cheers
Kev

[Newt Dundee]

I used to use PLC when I was in the pubs as it's a quick visual way of checking for 2 things; Firstly whether the line is clean, you'll know by it no longer being cloudy or green (the yeast indicator within), and secondly to know that you've flushed enough water to make the line safe for serving beer.

As a general rule we used to say flush 3 times as much water as you have line cleaner.

The other alternative is the clear stuff. Both have caustic soda in them as the main ingredient, but PLC removes the need to do the physical check to ensure it's all been flushed. If you're not aware caustic dissolves fat which is why when you rub your fingers under the tap and it feels soapy, it's because is dissolving the fatty tissues in your finger tips

Personally I would recommend flushing all kit prior to cleaning, leave lines sat in cleaner, agitate by pulling some fresh stuff through and repeating on a 15 minute regular until all is good. You can never flush enough water through once cleaned, the more the better,

That's just my experience though. I've had a gut full of caustic where they put the beer straight on and didn't flush. I had the first pint off followed by the next 3 days in bed.