If your kegerator lines are being used for commercial use like in a restaurant or a bar, then they should be cleaned every 2 to 4 weeks. If they’re not cleaned regularly enough there will be a build-up of bacteria, mold, and yeast from the alcohol.
Regular cleaning will prevent the alcohol from tasting off and will enable you to have a longer shelf life.
When kegerator lines are cleaned with the proper chemicals, they will get rid of the mineral calcium oxalate. This is better known as beer stone and will prevent this mineral from creating bits in your draft beer, which will cause it to taste strange and also look unsanitary on the surface of the drink.
In a home environment, you will only need to clean your keg lines every time you switch the keg out or every few weeks or so, the lines will not need to be cleaned as often as there will not be as much beer passing through the lines as there would be in a commercial setting (unless you’re having hosting gatherings with lots of people). If do not need to utilize your keg lines after you have finished a keg, be sure to clean them right away and store the lines in a lit and dry place so they can dry properly and no bacteria or mold will grow on them.
Do not leave lines with beer in them to sit out in a dark place. If you do you will come back to a zoo of mold creatures waiting to mess up your next project!
How do I clean my Kegerator lines?
There are a handful of different ways that you can clean your kegerator lines with the most common using a recirculating cleaning pump, a hand pump cleaning kit, or a pressurized cleaning kit.
Clean Kegerator lines with a recirculating pump
If you have a recirculating cleaning pump or want to use one to clean your lines, then follow these steps:
- Connect your keg couplers with cleaning adapters
- Get a bucket and fill it with warm but not hot water and put the ‘in’ end of the hose into the bucket.
- Connect the out end of the hose to the dispensing system and switch the dispenser system on
- Make sure the beer that is being flushed out is going into another bucket and keep flushing out the beer until the line runs clear with water instead of beer
- Empty and rinse out the second bucket that is full of the flushed beer and then fill it with your cleaning solution
- Now place the in part of your hose into the bucket with the cleaning solution which will create a closed loop for the solution to recirculate through the lines
- Turn the pump on and allow everything to circulate through for 15 minutes
- Empty the first bucket and rinse it again, then fill it with cold water and put the in end of the hose back into the bucket
- You’ll now want to rinse out the lines with the cold water by pumping it from the first bucket into the second bucket and then refilling the first bucket as necessary
Clean Kegerator lines with a pressurized cleaning kit
If you’re going to use a pressurized cleaning kit to clean your lines then you’ll want to follow the following steps:
- The first step is to fill the provided cleaning bottle with your cleaning solution whether that be homemade or chemicals
- Secure the cap onto the mouth of the cleaning bottle and detach the coupler from your beer keg and attach it to the cleaning bottle cap
- Place a bucket or a big container under the beer faucet and bring your faucet handle forward or whatever way you turn the faucet
- The CO2 will push the cleaning solution through the keg coupler, through all the beer lines, and out of your faucet and into the bucket underneath the faucet.
- Keep the process going until no more liquid comes out, rinse out the cleaning bottle and fill it back up with cold water and rinse the lines to make sure no chemicals are left
- If you are going to use a hand pump cleaning kit to clean and rinse through your lines, then you’ll want to follow these simple instructions below:
- Make sure you turn off your CO2 first of all and un tap the keg whilst removing the beer line from the keg coupler
- Now attach the beer line to the coupler on your cleaning coupler
- Pour the instructed cleaning solution into the cleaning bottle and add the amount of water that is recommended on the label to your to the container, but make sure you don’t overfill it
- Then insert the hand pump and twist it to tighten it and squeeze the pump to pressurize the bottle
- Place a bucket or large container underneath your beer faucet and turn it on and let the cleaning solution to flow through the lines
- Keep pumping until no more liquid comes out and then rinse out the cleaning bottle and fill it with clean cold water and repeat the cleaning process to make sure no chemicals are left in the lines
What can I use to clean my beer tap lines?
In terms of equipment, some of the best things to use are a hand pump cleaning kit or a pressurized cleaning kit. BLC Beer Line Cleaner or OxiClean are some of the best cleaning solutions to effectively clean your lines.
Can I use vinegar to clean beer lines?
You can use vinegar to clean your beer lines but it won’t do a good enough job, a proper cleaning solution will get rid of any harmful build-up. Even if you rinse out everything with cold water after using vinegar to clean your lines, there may be still some vinegar residue left and leave a strange taste when you run your beer through again.
How often should Guinness lines be cleaned?
You should clean and rinse your Guinness lines every week, however, some bars only clean their lines every 2-4 weeks and they manage to maintain good hygiene standards.