How to Clean Beer Tap Lines

Clean the lines on your beer keg regularly for the best tasting brew.

Bar owners and home beer aficionados alike need to clean beer tap lines periodically. In many jurisdictions, bar owners must clean their tap lines once or twice a week. Regular cleaning keeps the beer tasting fresh and avoids yeast, mold and bacteria buildup. Microorganisms in the beer lines will cause funky tasting beer as well as increase the foam when a pint is poured.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket
• Beer line cleaning kit

Instructions

1. Mix the beer line cleaner and warm water per the package instructions in the bucket.

2. Fill the plastic jar and pump assembly from the kit with the beer line cleaner and water solution. Keep the remaining solution in the bucket for use in later steps.

3. Shut off the system's CO2 tank.

4. Remove the keg coupler from the keg and detach the beer and air lines from the coupler. Immerse the keg coupler in the bucket of beer line cleaning solution. Use the brush included in the cleaning kit to clean the coupler probe.

5. Detach the faucet from the system, disassemble it and place the pieces in the bucket of cleaning solution. Use the brush from the kit to clean the faucet pieces.

6. Connect the plastic jar and pump assembly to the faucet shank assembly per the kit instructions. Place the other end of the lines into the bucket. Pump the solution through from the plastic jar through the beer keg lines.

7. Rinse coupler and faucet parts under running water.

8. Detach plastic jar, rinse and fill with clean water. Reattach to beer keg lines and pump through. Repeat this step several more times until you are confident the lines are free of the cleaning solution.

9. Detach the plastic jar and pump and reattach lines and faucet to the keg. Turn on the CO2 tank.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't forget to clean the rest of your Kegerator

• Follow the manufacturer's directions for mixing the Beer Line Cleaner

References

• Micro matic: Clean Beer Lines Dispense Quality Beer!
• Beverage Factory: Common Beer Line Cleaning Questions