Frankenbrew Keg Washer - More Videos At www.coloradoboy.com

[@GTownH2O]

Tom, 5 years since I first watched Frankenbrew and you just keep coming back with more and more great stuff! Thanks

[@fathergratwick]

I just wanted to say thanks for this, after watching this video a couple years ago I was able to build one of these for our brewpub. I am in the process of adding a timer and a dual, individually pressure controlled manifold to be able to clean 2 kegs at once without uneven pressures between the two. I'm surprised at everyone asking for parts lists.. the video is pretty good at showing everything and its not hard to google or search for these things. I got everything on ebay.

[@PautNeteru79]

A parts list for this bad boy would be amazing

[@mauicalendar2546]

Do you have a parts list that you would be willing to share for this excellent set up, it really is a great resource for people who are trying to learn how to clean kegs. I have not seen anything else like it. Thank you for posting it.

[@ekapada]

We are not doing a sanitizer rinse. The beer goes into the keg and is used up in less than a week. You could follow up the cleaning with a sanitizer if you need to hold the keg for very long.

[@underkid22]

More videos please! This is such a great resource for new brewers! What is your fermentor cleaning/sanitizing regimen? Do you use Acid#6 for those as well?

[@ekapada]

Since we do not distribute but use the kegs to keg off tanks that are almost empty, we clean with acid number 6 at about 140 degrees. Rinse with city water, and pressurize to 12 psi. After three years we have had no infection problems.

[@josholson108]

Thanks for the upload! I agree a parts list would be super appreciated. Mostly curious on how you connected the water hose to that 1 1/2" butterfly valve?

[@armyguy209]

Back at it with a few more questions. I went ahead and ordered the same 1HP Thomsen #4 pump with internal seals. Built my keg washer to the same exact specs at yours with the manifold and all tubing the same sizes. The only differences are that I built mine with a 10 gallon kettle and on a keg cart. Pump wise I ended up going with the 3 phase version so I could run it on a VFD. Mine at full power won't get above 11psi which is funny, because my hot water hose gets it to 20psi in the manifold gauge. What would be causing that? Pretty frustrating! Especially seeing that yours isn't even fully cracked open and you hit 15psi no problem.

[@ekapada]

For cleaning as long as you place your hands on the keg you are cleaning and you can feel the surface is hot, that means the cleaning solution is hitting everything. The 15 psi is important to pressurize the keg once it is rinsed and your co2 regulator should do that.

[@ekapada]

Just look at the catelog for Foxx equiipment for your sankey. You can get your ball valves there or from GW Kent. They go on the sankey. You also need a tri clamp to 1/4 inch hose barb and you can get that from gw kent, along with the manifold and pressure guage. Good luck.

[@ekapada]

Ok, more videos coming. We use PBW and sanitizer on tanks BTW.

[@ekapada]

Parts list - Keg Washer Parts

[@marcosherrero1511]

Hi Tom, I´m Marcos from argentina .... for this procces, do you not use alkaline clining ??

[@mellisawutzke8991]

great video, i would however recommend you put a valve between the manifold and your acid supply hose. when you go to rinse with city water you could be causing a venturi and pulling acid into your "fresh" water rinse

[@ekapada]

Good comment. I have a valve on the pump. It is shut off before I start up the city water.

[@bassbeer________1607]

Good video! Which compressor you use for blow keg? Oil or oil-free? Do you use filters for compressed air?

[@rcemech]

You don't do a no rinse sanitizer after the rinse, or do you wait to do that prior to filling?

[@Hayespublichouse]

Curious...we just built this system but wondering...with Acid 6 which we use on kettles and such...but do you not need to do a seperate sanitizing method after? Just water rinse, Acid 6, blow out, and pressurize?

[@coloradoboy1080]

+Hayes Public House Brewery & Taproom Yes that's all I do for in house kegs. I have never had a problem. If I were distributing then I would rinse after cleaning, drain the tank and fill with sanitizer and repeat the process sanitizing the keg.

[@owentp]

Just out of curiosity, why not sanitize them as well? Does the Acid #6 have sanitizing properties in it? I think this is genius and copying your set-up for ours. I have ordered your book as well!

[@Edwards032]

Colorado Boy along with this question how long do you let clean kegs (without sanitizer) sit before filling? And does the temp of the room matter (eg room temp, warehouse temp, etc)

[@atvexplorer]

where did you find the little shut off valves for the keg filler handle.. do you have a part number.. thanks JJ

[@jackmclane1826]

How much of your time to you spend doing this? This would be VERY easy to automate.

[@ekapada]

Each keg is about 5 to 7 minutes which includes the lifting and. sorting. This works great for a brewpub, where you are only doing 8 to 12 kegs per week, as everything is out of serving tanks.

[@TeriiK]

Great keg washer, how hot is your hot water feed? Hot enough to sanitize I imagine?

[@jessenarducci8466]

What is the fittings you have on the outlet of the pump? ballvalve, 90, and ??? we have the same pump and always have issues keeping a prime... thanks.

[@ekapada]

A tee with a sample valve used to prime the pump, followed by an elbow, then a sanitary ball valve which is better for fine adjustments in flow

[@brewlab5175]

Are you able to maintain the temperature of the acid solution in the sink, or is the solution only initially mixed at 140 degrees? Does it cool down substantially? If one were to clean, say, 30 kegs in one sitting (which would take a little while), would the solution have to be reheated at some point in order to remain effective? Cheers!

[@ekapada]

We use a simple home brew immersion heater to maintain temp. If you are only cleaning 5 or 6 kegs you don't need it. But we clean about 20 at a time.

[@brewlab5175]

ekapada What kind of valve is placed on the tee directly after the 'out' of the pump that you opened to prime? Also, what kind of hose is used for the acid? Is it just vintner/brewer hose? Or is it hose specifically made to hold chemicals?

[@ekapada]

Brew Lab I use a sanitary ball valve which works better than a butterfly. Our goodyear (hot hose) that we use in brewing is fine for heat, pressure, and chemicals.

[@dylanschatz1097]

@@ekapada Any chance you could provide a link to the immersion heater that you are using?

[@ekapada]

@@dylanschatz1097 I think I got it from Foxx equipment but it is just a simple home brew heating element. I bet they have them on an home brew web site.

[@ekorastudios]

Hey guys, quick question. And as an aside, thank you so much for this vid, we've been using this set up for 3 years now. Life saver. My question - is there a reason you break apart the rinse time after the acid loop? You do 5 seconds, purge, then another 25 seconds. Just curious what the thought was behind this. Cheers!

[@ekapada]

Hi Brian, that's just me. I do a quick purge to get the acid out, then a full rinse. My thinking is if I just do a rinse the water will build up and dilute the acid so not all of it gets out. I'm not sure if it's effective but it seems to work. You could do an experiment - test the water pH on one set up and then the other. Cheers, Tom

[@brandonmikel3901]

@@ekapada I'd agree, bursts rinses are the way to go. My kegs tend to fill up a bit, so I do rinses in bursts. If you had really good drainage, it wouldn't matter.

[@b3astie]

Can you tell me how you can go from your sink to that brewers hose? or maybe Sink to NPT?

[@ekapada]

Just one of those mpt through nuts from home depot. Then get a mpt to tc adapter from GW Kent

[@b3astie]

ekapada Now with the acid solution I would want to get a stainless connection correct? If you have time please email me at [e-mail] trying to build this system. Thanks!

[@peternorthway235]

What is Acid number 6 please, is this Phosphoric Acid, what concentration? Thanks.

[@jaywaldner8017]

Does that sink have two drains? Also, what parts are needed to connect the drain to the tri clamp fitting? Thanks

[@ekapada]

Yes! A second has a simple ball valve to a tri clamp. That is the return to the pump

[@jaywaldner8017]

Did you cut a hole in the bottom of the sink? What fittings did you use to connect the drain basket to the ball valve? Thanks

[@ekapada]

I cut a whole in it then went to home depot and got a threaded through-fitting. You can buy a tri clamp to female mpt fitting at GW Kent or Glacier Tanks. This simply screws on and you are ready to go

[@adrianruelas8627]

Did I miss the part where you sanitize?

[@ekapada]

We don't for in-house kegs. I learned this from Breckenridge years back. Never had a problem in over ten years. If kegs go out to accounts then after final rinse, we change tank to sanitizer and run a loop with that, ending the same way with purge and pressurize. Hope that clarifies.

[@enash7070]

Is there a parts list? or source list?

[@jaywaldner8017]

Where did you get the sink hanger for the manifold? Do you have a vendor and part number? Thanks

[@ekapada]

Haha, It's just simple plumbing strap from home depot. Bend it to the shape you want and use a nut and bolt to secure the loop that fits onto the manifold.

[@georgerenner1553]

Hey Tom, if you were going to hold on to a full keg for a bit longer (maybe distribute to another bar) what would you do to help sanitize your keg further? I am torn between running two pumps, or building a Tee that switches between acid and sanitizer.

[@brandonmikel3901]

Pumps are expensive, so I wouldn't run two pumps. If you have another tank, you could use a tee and switch to sanitizer. What I do is run 10-14 kegs through the wash step, drain and rinse wash tank, fill tank up with sanitizer, then run all the kegs through the sanitizer.

[@thrillhouse900]

@@brandonmikel3901 Yeah this is what we do now as well. Saving our pennies for a real keg washer...

[@brandonmikel3901]

@@thrillhouse900 Even if I had the money for a real keg washer, I would have no where to put it. I use my boil kettle as my wash tank for washing kegs lol

[@thrillhouse900]

Brandon Mikel haha. Rip the top off a keg and put an element in it already!! Cheers dude

[@fathergratwick]

We use this system, first we give a quick rinse with hot tap water, then we run pbw for 10 mins, then we give it a quick rinse again... then when all our kegs are cleaned this way we drain the pbw and give the sink and pump a quick rinse, followed by filling the sink with saniclean and running that through each keg for 5 mins followed by a purge and charge on each keg to 12psi with co2.

[@mattbuckham]

Do you have to clean the spear separately or does this method clean that as well?

[@coloradoboy1080]

+Matthew Buckham as you clean the keg the solution runs through the spear cleaning it as well.

[@MrItivino]

+Colorado Boy, thanks for this advice. Will it clean the outside of the spear during this process? Great video by the way.

[@coloradoboy1080]

+MrItivino You know thats a great question. This method is the same as commercial keg cleaners as they do it the same way. All I can say is we have never had a problem.

[@derbiumVi]

I have read that commercial keg cleaners run the wash at a lower pressure for a period of time. Just enough pressure that the cleaner bubbles up through the spear and then runs down the outside of the spear cleaning it as well.

[@zachlaegel9847]

Where did you find that 3/4hp pump? I cannot find it anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[@coloradoboy1080]

+Zach Laegel It's a Thomsen pump. There is a guy who sells them on Probrewer "Gimurtu" or something like that. It's the best deal I have found. Get an internal seal, not external. This pump is the only one you need in your brewery. Sanitary. The one we use for everything.

[@kaceymuhlmichl2633]

Hello great video!! Would like to build a setup like yours. Would you be willing to send more info and part list.

[@ekapada]

I need your email address and sure I can.

[@kaceymuhlmichl2633]

ekapada thanks. It's [e-mail]

[@jimludwig9471]

Would you be willing to send me the parts list as well? My email is [e-mail]

[@litolito7314]

hey great video, would send me some pictures of the manifold? I don't think I can get that here, so I'll try make one! thanks

[@ekapada]

Sure but I need your email address

[@litolito7314]

[e-mail], thanks!!

[@duckmanco04]

Same process for half barrels I'd imagine?

[@rickwilliams2937]

Anyone know what size/hp pump this system uses?

[@尹嘉鑫-c4n]

Hello My name is Quintin. I am from China. I want to know the cleaning process of this bucket. Can you draw me a drawing? Or you can write it down for me, my equipment is always not clean.

[@ekapada]

send your email address to [e-mail]

[@尹嘉鑫-c4n]

@@ekapadaMy email [e-mail]

[@taylorhousebrewingco.6457]

Any way to still get a parts list and where to buy?

[@ekapada]

Go to coloradoboymontrose.com and send me your email and I'll send it off!

[@taylorhousebrewingco.6457]

Just went to the site and sent an email. Thank you!

[@taylorhousebrewingco.6457]

I was wondering if you had a chance to email that info?

[@TheStevenbryant19]

Thanks for posting. So you got the manifold youre using from gw kent?

[@ekapada]

Yes, about $100

[@robertfuller1766]

hey how much did this setup cost you, including pump?

[@coloradoboy1080]

+Robert Fuller The pump is the most expensive. $1,350 new but it is the same pump we use for brewing. Sink about 100, Keg filler, and all parts including manifold a out $175

[@b3astie]

What pump is that?

[@ekapada]

A Thomsen 3/4 HP sanitary pump. Same one we use in the brewhouse

[@b3astie]

ekapada Would a 1/2 HP pump work if I have a short length of tube from pump to manifold?

[@ekapada]

Andrew Smith 1/2 HP would work fine. You are watching your psi, and keep it at 15 and no hire, but no lower either so you have enough force to get the kegs clean. Cheers!

[@ekapada]

I don't use compressed air. We use CO2

[@brettz8364]

R.I.P. headphone users 🤣

[@ekapada]

Exactly the same.