Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

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Wozboy
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by Wozboy » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:57 pm

Wozboy wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:51 pm
orlando wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:11 pm
As requested. It really is a simple method. Just pump it up, until you can feel it.

Image
Many thanks, I'm presuming that you use this so that you can just flush through with this rather than pressurising a corny keg with the cleaning solution in? I presume push fits on your keg taps so you just take them off the keg and push fit into your distributor?

How much do you flush through per line clean? I'm presuming 7 litres is a good size of sprayer for this and that's enough for four lines? I've got four lines on my system. Once flushed with the purple stuff or whatever cleaner then fill this with star an to flush through? I'm guessing just chuck away the cleaner and steriliser each clean through as it's not that expensive is it.

Another question I have is about the size of the lines, I have standard valpar beer line and my taps have flow regulators in so do I need to steady the flow by running through a length of 3/16" or will the taps do all the work in regulating the flow?

Apologies if these are impossible questions to answer I appreciate you haven't got my set up but if you do have anything to add I'd be most grateful.

Cheers 🍻

Cheers

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orlando
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by orlando » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:19 pm

Pretty much as you surmise. I remove the disconnect from the Beer line and push it into the 3 way. You could make it 4 by adding a two way to it. 3 litres is enough PBLC. You just want enough to sit in the lines to do their thing. Pull through a bit more, let it do its thing, then pull through a little more etc. You get the drift. I flush with 5 litres of fresh water and frankly I'm done. I don't bother with Starsan but you could if you wish. After the PBLC there shouldn't be much left in the pipes, if anything, to worry about. Don't worry about the taps and regulating flow. You don't want flow, you just want the PBLC to sit in the lines for 20 minutes each time you use it until it is purple after sitting in the line. i.e. It has done its job and there is no more organic matter for it to work on.
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by f00b4r » Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:16 pm

Northern Brewer wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:10 pm
Wozboy wrote:
Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:57 pm
the purple stuff?

Is it cheap enough
Typically £6 or so for 5 litres from wholesalers like Booker, Stephensons etc or double that from homebrew places. Follow the instructions but typically you dilute it 1 in 100, pull it through til there's purple at the other end, leave it to soak for 15 minutes, then pull through with copious water til clear, then pull some more water through. You really don't want to drink it - it's typically a mix of sodium hydroxide and hypochlorite (bleach).

Here's an overview of the various types : https://cellarcraftuk.com/whats-beer-line-cleaner
Jocky wrote:
Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:44 pm
I should say that it really helps to have good quality beer line. The Valpar stuff from the Malt Miller might not be cheap
This article from Jolly Good Beer is a good explanation of why you want something better than standard MDP - which pretty much means buying Valpar from Malt Miller (who have both Brewmaster 2 and Gen-X), unless you fancy buying 5km of the stuff.
That link shows beer line cleaner to have a pretty short shelf life.

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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by Wozboy » Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:27 am

orlando wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:19 pm
Pretty much as you surmise. I remove the disconnect from the Beer line and push it into the 3 way. You could make it 4 by adding a two way to it. 3 litres is enough PBLC. You just want enough to sit in the lines to do their thing. Pull through a bit more, let it do its thing, then pull through a little more etc. You get the drift. I flush with 5 litres of fresh water and frankly I'm done. I don't bother with Starsan but you could if you wish. After the PBLC there shouldn't be much left in the pipes, if anything, to worry about. Don't worry about the taps and regulating flow. You don't want flow, you just want the PBLC to sit in the lines for 20 minutes each time you use it until it is purple after sitting in the line. i.e. It has done its job and there is no more organic matter for it to work on.
I'm presuming that's 20 minutes total time, so fill the line leave it for 5 mins, flush through leave it again for 5 mins and continue until you've had it in the lines for 20 mins and it's purple in colour so no contamination then flush it all through with clean water so it's clear?

The flow regulation question was more about beer flow as I'm just building the set up, I used party taps before so I reduced from 3/8 to 3/16 to reduce beer flow and just wondered whether I'd need to do that with flow regulators on the beer taps as I was hoping not to have to. Apologies I appreciate the question is slightly off point!

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orlando
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by orlando » Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:00 am

Wozboy wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:27 am
orlando wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:19 pm
Pretty much as you surmise. I remove the disconnect from the Beer line and push it into the 3 way. You could make it 4 by adding a two way to it. 3 litres is enough PBLC. You just want enough to sit in the lines to do their thing. Pull through a bit more, let it do its thing, then pull through a little more etc. You get the drift. I flush with 5 litres of fresh water and frankly I'm done. I don't bother with Starsan but you could if you wish. After the PBLC there shouldn't be much left in the pipes, if anything, to worry about. Don't worry about the taps and regulating flow. You don't want flow, you just want the PBLC to sit in the lines for 20 minutes each time you use it until it is purple after sitting in the line. i.e. It has done its job and there is no more organic matter for it to work on.
I'm presuming that's 20 minutes total time, so fill the line leave it for 5 mins, flush through leave it again for 5 mins and continue until you've had it in the lines for 20 mins and it's purple in colour so no contamination then flush it all through with clean water so it's clear?

The flow regulation question was more about beer flow as I'm just building the set up, I used party taps before so I reduced from 3/8 to 3/16 to reduce beer flow and just wondered whether I'd need to do that with flow regulators on the beer taps as I was hoping not to have to. Apologies I appreciate the question is slightly off point!
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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orlando
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by orlando » Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:04 am

orlando wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:00 am
Wozboy wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:27 am
orlando wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:19 pm
Pretty much as you surmise. I remove the disconnect from the Beer line and push it into the 3 way. You could make it 4 by adding a two way to it. 3 litres is enough PBLC. You just want enough to sit in the lines to do their thing. Pull through a bit more, let it do its thing, then pull through a little more etc. You get the drift. I flush with 5 litres of fresh water and frankly I'm done. I don't bother with Starsan but you could if you wish. After the PBLC there shouldn't be much left in the pipes, if anything, to worry about. Don't worry about the taps and regulating flow. You don't want flow, you just want the PBLC to sit in the lines for 20 minutes each time you use it until it is purple after sitting in the line. i.e. It has done its job and there is no more organic matter for it to work on.
I'm presuming that's 20 minutes total time, so fill the line leave it for 5 mins, flush through leave it again for 5 mins and continue until you've had it in the lines for 20 mins and it's purple in colour so no contamination then flush it all through with clean water so it's clear?

The flow regulation question was more about beer flow as I'm just building the set up, I used party taps before so I reduced from 3/8 to 3/16 to reduce beer flow and just wondered whether I'd need to do that with flow regulators on the beer taps as I was hoping not to have to. Apologies I appreciate the question is slightly off point!
See in bold. More like 60 minutes if the lines are bad but you can get away with 20 minutes in total if not. The key is what colour is the fluid that comes out after each soak. If its purple your done.

I use 3/8ths. Never seen the need to go smaller just reduce the amount of carbonation. Admittedly I don't make styles that need a lot.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
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Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by f00b4r » Sun Mar 14, 2021 2:57 pm

How old is the cleaner you are using Orlando?

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orlando
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Re: Keezer nearly finished what beer line cleaner should I get?

Post by orlando » Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:53 pm

f00b4r wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 2:57 pm
How old is the cleaner you are using Orlando?
Years :lol:
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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