Keg Cleaning 101- How to Clean Corny and Sankey Kegs (home brew or commercial)

[@tylerwilson4951]

“You’re gonna wanna give that keg a good shake.” (Proceeds to gently flip it over)

[@BobZed]

I always disassemble my corny kegs and clean all the parts in StarSan. Not sure if it makes a difference but it can't hurt. If you don't have PBW on hand you can also scrub inside a corny keg with a blue scratch pad, assuming your arm isn't too burly to fit. I can just barely get mine inside with a bit of twisting. I also have a brush that fits inside the dip tube and can be used to scrub it out. That being said, no substitute for PBW. Five Star says that "If circulation cleaning, heat to 130°-180° F and circulate for at least 30 minutes. If soaking, heat to 140° and soak for 4 hours or allow to soak cold overnight." That being said, PBW can blast a lot of crud off pretty quickly.

[@tiffanyc332]

How do you rinse the Sanke keg of all the PDW before you put in the sanitizer.

[@SFXD24]

It's better to run a pump and circulate water through it for about 10 minutes and then sanitize water for another 10 15 minutes.

[@PeterMcArthurNU]

The dip-tube cleaning fountain makes me giggle :)

[@pieterstrauss3158]

Need more on cleaning the Sanke keg. You show how to siphon PBW solution into the keg, but not how to get it out and rinse the keg. Am used to Corny kegs, no worries, but have inherited a Sanke keg I want to clean. Any clues, or links to other videos appreciated. (BTW I have a little Sanke keg I am practicing on, and can't get the solution out.)

[@GenusBrewing]

If you use the same coupler (no check valves) from our sankey video, you can invert the kegs and reliably drain the solution through the gas side. After you use your alkaline, you just need a few gallons of fresh water back in the keg to rinse out the alkaline. Then use your no-rinse sanitizer and shake it around the keg. Finally pump the sanitizer out with CO2 and hold under pressure until filling.

[@pieterstrauss3158]

Thanks, I had missed the part about removing the check valves! Could possible be crucial!

[@GenusBrewing]

Yep that's certainly important :)

[@ib2fast4u]

Nice video.... btw with out sounding dum how do you remove the yeast sediment form a Sankey keg?

[@GenusBrewing]

Depends on the amount of sediment. We generally recommend avoiding removing the spear as that breaks down the snap ring which is a pain to reattach. If you have a lot of sediment taking out the spear is probably your best bet, but for small amounts of sediment a good rinse, followed by the PBW and star san step we've shown are good enough to remove all the sediment.

[@jamescobbett6409]

Thanks for the vid guys. Informative and well explained.

[@4rdzlla]

What about the posts. Do u just oush pbw through gas and beverage. Or do u actually remove the post everytime and aoak and hope it seals again wheb reinstalling

[@rb8058]

Great video! Question: do you put any kind of grease or sealant on the rubber pieces of your keg? I am specifically talking about the top on the corny keg.

[@gzup240]

Thanks & Keep up the good work. Washington Rocks!

[@joshuaquick3748]

Hi thank you that helped a lot! Funny question where did you get that attachment for your faucet at 0:58

[@GenusBrewing]

The hose adapter? We sell those in the store, but you can find them at most Hardware stores as well

[@smgri]

hey got a question for you guys // I have a kegerator with 4 corny kegs on a 4 top tower . I want to use jumpers to clean all the lines in one shot . not sure if you guys see what I am saying,,,its how they clean commercial towers .. Is there double sided corny fitting that I can place between to female corny connectors of the beer lines to connect them to make them open up to allow cleaner to go through them ?

[@GenusBrewing]

So you're in need of a 1/4" mfl nipple basically as well as the tap to tap jumper. The jumpers are common but those corney bits arent.

[@smgri]

Yea the jumpers I see around...but they don’t have a double ended post which would fit between the connectors ? Not sure how the MFL would work ?they have connectors for joining sanke style taps...not sure if that equivalent in a corny style even exists

[@GenusBrewing]

Are your corney fittings threaded or just a barb?

[@smgri]

well,,,they are standard ball locks...idk if you have ever seen how they clean sanke style connectors when they run a continuous flow through all the lines in the tower by connecting them.... all of the keg connections in the keg room..or kegerator in this case ...are essentially looped in the keg room and jumpers are hooked up on tower ....but it is like a double sided bard which works by opening both sankes to allow the cleaner through . you can do the same process with a corny set up but obviously u would need a fitting that would fit between the two black corny connectors of two different lines...it basically makes one long line to circulate the cleaner . my question is,,,do they make that fitting ????

[@ryanholland9348]

@@smgri I don't know if you ever found the answer to this, but it's "yes" a.co/d/gjVChzs

[@jasoncooper6242]

How long do you keep the pbw in the corny keg? And how many kegs can you wash with the same solution? Does it matter that the temperature drops from one keg to the next? Thank you guys!

[@vikombucha]

how do you rince that sanke keg from pbw...

[@BARFYADAMS]

Do you rinse the starsan out of the keg with clean water before you store them?

[@GenusBrewing]

Nope! Just blow out as much as we can with CO2 and store under pressure. It's flavorless so we don't worry about it impacting the beer.

[@trevorthomas678]

Do you guys use filtered water for cleaning?

[@GenusBrewing]

Nope! Just plain tap water

[@chrisgeorge8408]

My CO2 post sometimes sticks open when the take the CO2 line off. Do I need new springs or will some food grade grease fix the problem?

[@mjlee177]

Excellent video! Thank you!

[@philipmountain4014]

Do you leave the StarSan in the kegs until you use them again?

[@GenusBrewing]

You can, but normally we just pressurize the kegs to about 30 PSI and store them until the next use.

[@ElDuardo01]

@@GenusBrewing whats the science behind that?

[@MultiLexos]

Been a year since its been cleaned.. Im afraid to see what comes out

[@GenusBrewing]

Fun! :)

[@palmtree5544]

How do you know the sanke is clean if you don't open it. How do you know all the PBW is out of the sanke.

[@GenusBrewing]

A thorough rinse cycle is used before sanitizing, both those steps are sufficient to remove the PBW.

[@chrisgeorge8408]

Could I hook up my keg to my air compressor to run Star San through the lines to clean everything? Saving CO2 for the beer. Could this hurt or contaminate it somehow?

[@GenusBrewing]

Air compressor is OK for the cleaner, but it is best to push the sanitizer with CO2 so that the keg is purged. Of air. This helps protect your beer from both oxidation and contamination.

[@chrisgeorge8408]

@@GenusBrewing i bought two old Coca Cola corny kegs with missing pressure relief valves (didn't notice till I got home). How can I release pressure without replacing the lids?

[@GenusBrewing]

@@chrisgeorge8408 the only other way is to push down on the gas-side poppet, although it would be a good long term investment to either install a pressure relief assembly, or replace the lid.

[@timmcwhajr8053]

Check out the Keg WaSsher from Ss Brewtech....works GREAT!

[@palmtree5544]

If you do a video on sanke, make it thorough by opening it.

[@GenusBrewing]

We generally recommend leaving the sankey kegs in tact so as not to damage the snap rings. There are plenty of people who remove the spears, but commercially it is not done unless inspecting a soured or damaged keg.

[@lorijewels9391]

Didnt show how to rinse out 6th keg.. :(

[@davidcanine7654]

In the pro world co2 is not used anywhere near caustic, there is a chemical reaction that neutralizes the caustic and causes a vacuum in the vessel , which can cause implosion, crushing the vessel being cleaned.Vessels are always well vented of all co2 before CIP.

[@reyn66]

I designed the label on that chalk marker. fk-ay

[@andrewfilipczak6277]

I will never buy anything through Amazon

[@genusbrewing9631]

No jokes about blowing made the final cut.. impressive!