Cleaning Beer Tap Lines

What is a Beer Tap Line?

Beer tap lines are the hoses through which beer flows from a keg to a dispensing nozzle. Be it a portable rented keg or the kind kept on tap in any bar, the lines are the same. They're pressurized, as is the keg in most cases, to keep air out. This prevents the beer from loosing its carbonation and going sour. After each keg has been emptied, whether it takes a day or a month, the tap and tap lines should be thoroughly cleaned. This is because a small amount of beer is always caught within the tap and tap line after it's used. When the beer sits and dries, it leaves behind residues. These residues build up and can make any further beer passing through the lines taste sour.

Why Water Can't Be Used to Clean a Beer Tap Line?

What's worse than a soured tap line is a poisoned tap line. Uncleaned beer tap lines are an ideal breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria, mold, spores and fungi. The obvious result of drinking from a line with such things growing in it is sickness and possible death. Many people say that running a few gallons water through taps lines is sufficient to clean them. This is incorrect. The bacteria and other disease-causing pathogens embed themselves in the plastic of the line itself. It doesn't matter how much water is passed through such a tap line, it won't be entirely safe.

How do you Clean a Beer Tap Line?

A beer tap line is best cleaned with specialist chemicals. These can be obtained through most organizations that sell beer kegs, though homebrew stores that specialize in providing the materials to brew your own beer are sure to keep a stock of such things as well. The chemical is usually called a "one-step sanitizer" and comes in a crystalline powder. Simply mix the prescribed amount of powder with several gallons of chilled water and pour it into the keg. Pressurize the keg, depending on the model this is done with an integrated hand-pump or a CO2 port. In either case the tap lines should be attached and then the whole amount of water sprayed out through the tap. Such sanitizers are specifically designed to kill harmful bacteria without disrupting the flavor of beer or causing any harm if ingested, meaning no further rinse or maintenance is necessary until the next cleaning.