Cleaning Beer Lines

[Jake]

How are people cleaning their beer lines?

Is it pretty much just pressurizing a keg with oxyclean or PBW and pumping it through, then rinsing with water & sanitizer? I saw this on HBT and thought it was a pretty easy way to go about doing it without having to waste all the CO2 ... anyone taking this approach?

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=226497

[Roger]

I usually fill one keg with hot water and PBW and run a quarter of it through each line I have 4. Then one of hot water than abut half a keg of sanitizer. I also find if I take my time with the PBW solution like run an eighth or so wait 15 min then run the other eighth it seam to scrub the lines better.

[robcoombs]

Every time a keg kicks I run about a gallon of warm water and PBW followed by about a gallon of water and starsan. I leave the starsan in the line until that keg is refilled and carbed.

[shallow]

Every time a keg kicks I run about a gallon of warm water and PBW followed by about a gallon of water and starsan. I leave the starsan in the line until that keg is refilled and carbed.

Same. I draw out the starsan when I pull off the yeasty first pint of the next brew.

[Roger]

Every time a keg kicks I run about a gallon of warm water and PBW followed by about a gallon of water and starsan. I leave the starsan in the line until that keg is refilled and carbed.

It's probably a good idea to clean between each keg fill. But I usually only do a full cleaning of all the kegs at once about every 4 months or so.

[mikegraham]

maybe i should do more all i do is run hot water thro the lines than the odd time starsan

[Two Wheeler]

I've been eyeing up that sprayer project for a while, but haven't pulled the trigger. I clean my lines every 6 months or so, usually coinciding with a big keg cleaning day, similar to Roger's method.

I figure cold, plus alcohol prevents it from getting too grimey

[Jake]

My kegerator beer line was so nasty that I decided to replace it altogether ... after seeing the colour of that thing after sitting there unused for the last year, I couldn't bring myself to run any beer through it, even if I did clean it.

I would like to build one of those hand pump mechanisms though. Seems like a way better idea than having to pressurize kegs and waste all that co2.

[Two Wheeler]

I leave the starsan in the line until that keg is refilled and carbed.

Any issues with starsan making the tubing slimy? My blowoff tube that sits in star san gets pretty gross when in contact with starsan for a while.

[robcoombs]

Not so far. It generally doesn't sit in there for long. Couple days at most while I'm waiting for keg hops to steep. Then it just gets poured out, first glass obviously goes down the drain.