How To Clean Your Beer Lines: All About Line Cleaning

[@CaskTheology]

Do you have any quetions about line cleaning? Post them below!

[@jamie1234591]

Question: Is it ok to put on a fresh keg for a busy occasion and re connect a half full keg after the event, leaving another mostly full one to use later? My boss, who's a bit clueless is complaining. Thanks for the ace content, and advice.

[@CaskTheology]

Hey Jamie! Great question. Funilly enough, I had to make a similar decision recently, althought this was to check a keg I had was dodgy. I switched a keg halfway through service to see if the seal on the keg was knackered. Turns out it was, so on a busy day we had ahead of us I switched to a better keg, then switched back to the other on less busy day, because it would be less hassle. We still lost a couple of gallons to fobbing though, because it was too late to send it back at that point. But we lost those gallons on a quieter shift. Kegs are pretty low maintainence, and because they're pretty well sealed you *could* switch to a new one if you're expecting a mental day in which you expect to sell the whole thing. Now I live in the Corporate Pub (tm) side of things, where we empty the keg we have on before we go to the next. It makes sense, especially since we have to do stock counts on our kegs quite regularly and having half kegs lying around makes this a pain in the arse to count, because figuring out how many gallons you have with both a Kegmeister Stick or that Pump Action thing are never 100%. Gotta get that Yeild! Also, if a keg is faulty, the supplier may not refund a half full barrel, which means you absolutley have to shift that product now or you've made a really big loss. So while yes, it is OK to put on a fresh keg, you have to think about that other half empty keg too. Now, as a Corporate Guy, I'd lean on the side of using that half empty keg first, but this does depend on how far your cellar is away from the bar. Mine's a few steps away so I can change a 22g in less than a minute, as it's RIGHT THERE, but some places I've worked at, the cellar is the other end of the building and downstairs, making it a 5 minute job as I've got to trek to Narnia and back and Mr. Tumnus and the rest of the pub are getting impatient. So in that case, I might just stick on a new keg if I *know* it's going to get wrecked, I.E a Football Event/Wedding/SPecial Occasion. So what I'm saying is, yeah, it's fine to stick on another keg, but it depends on a few factors, mostly cellar location and sales of the beer that you're thinking of putting a new keg on of. Mine's a ground level cellar that is situated next to the bar, so I wouldn't switch to a new one. It really boils down to this- are you gong to sell it all? And by all, I mean the new keg and that old one. If that new keg isn't going to go on that day, then it'd be better sticking with the old one. Are you going to sell 11g of it? 22g? Trick Question, you have no idea. Not until you get a 'feel' for what will sell in your pub/venue. The goal is to get rid of all of it of course! So the TL:DR version is this- yes, it's OK to switch, but only if you know you'll be able to shift the old as well as the new. Wibbly answer, but I hope it helps.

[@jamie1234591]

@@CaskTheology Thanks for the detailed response. We work on a boat. A keg can last a couple of weeks on normal service, but when we have a party cruise we can do half a keg easily. During previous events I've had to change 3 kegs during the cruise leading to queues of impatient punters and stressed bar staff tapping their feet. The boss thinks that changing the barrel will degas it (?), and ultimately make it go bad. After the cruise I often end up with 10 litres in one keg and 25 in another. Can you tell me if the physical act of changing the barrels reduces the quality of the storage conditions for the beer in the keg? So, how long can you keep a half empty keg for before it goes bad. Thanks!

[@DavidLuger]

How do you spell the British term for "foam"? It sounds like "fob" (?) here in California. Thanks for the show.

[@CaskTheology]

Thanks for watching. :) Yep, good catch. When your beer is coming out as foam it's referred to as "fobbing." Not sure where the term came from but it's been in use for a good 20 years.The things on the walls are Fob Detectors.

[@DavidLuger]

@@CaskTheology "Fob Detectors". A good name for a band. Thanks for the reply and explanation.

[@andrewgreenwood3998]

@@CaskTheology FOB = Foam On Beer. 😉

[@JuanCruz-ui7ie]

Thanks a lot! Very helpful 👌

[@CaskTheology]

Glad you found it helpful! This video coincided with some training I had to give so I made it as part of that. Glad it can help others. :)

[@andrewgreenwood9941]

you should fill the cleaning vessel with clean water first and flush out the product with water before introducing line cleaner!

[@lostsoul7136]

I work as a barman and I clean the pipes every week.

[@CaskTheology]

I've heard some places do. Every pub I've worked in has gone with a two week rule, with the exception being Cask lines. Varies on company/owner I think.

[@lostsoul7136]

@@CaskTheology yea it does. Our cask ales get cleaned between 1 and 2 weeks depending on if we change to a different ale or continue with the same.

[@bexsy34]

I find personally, that if a real ale hasn’t been sold for a few days, the 1st pint pulled off tastes “funky” so I always pull 1 off before I serve the customer their ale. Especially as there’s roughly 6-8 pints in the lines sat there until product is sold

[@bexsy34]

My line cleaning can sometimes be a nightmare, sometimes I flush the cellarbuoy through with water fine and then flush with line cleaner, but once every so often it won’t actually pour through pumps up in the bar? I turn gas to cleaning mode, but my pumps on every brand has 2 black little switches. I’ve been told to put both down. ? But the last couple of times it hasn’t gone right ? 😊

[@bexsy34]

I also put the connectors into the wall as advised. I’ve had pubs for years, and all cellars are different, but mine at the moment I’m having trouble with tbh

[@jamie1234591]

A guy at work recons you're better off leaving sparklers on during a line clean to clean the sparklers. All the sparklers are straight through. Who's right?

[@CaskTheology]

Well, leaving them on isn't terrible as long as you make sure there's no line cleaner left on them and it's had a fair bit of water flushed through them. I tend to err on the paranoid side when it comes to line cleaning, so taking them off is one less thing for me to worry about. At our place we take them all off at the end of a shift and give them a good rinse anyway. I've seen line cleaning done a few different ways over the years, including leaving the nozzles and sparklers on. I'll admit, I do it slightly differently than I show in the video. Anyways, I'm waffling so in short- as long as its being done safely it couldn't do any harm.

[@jamie1234591]

@@CaskTheology Thanks for the info. The line cleaning video was very helpful!

[@AncientAccounts]

ooh an intro, i feel as though it it needs to be like one second shorter imo

[@CaskTheology]

The program I ued to make it was reallly simple, didn't let you adjust timings and stuff. I'll keep that in mind when I make my next one though, thanks. :)