EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT: Keg Maintenance

Maintenance of your kegs isn’t always the most glorious part of home brewing, but it is one of the most important practices for sanitation, extension of the life of your equipment, and can go a long way in keeping your brewed beer fresh and off-flavor free.

To make your life easier, I recommend using any keg washer, but I prefer the one from SS Brewtech. The reason I like that one is because it has a clean-in-place (CIP) ball that cleans inside of the keg and it has liquid and ball-lock connections that attach to your keg and clean all the parts simultaneously.

To clean my kegs, I use a three-stage process: 1 Run a solution of warm water and either PBW or OxyClean. 2 Clean water rinse. 3 Sanitation rinse with StarSan and water.

I have found that with this process, everything is cleaned and sanitized and ready for the next winning beer.

After cleaning, I store the kegs with the lids on. After the wash process is over, I inspect all of the o-rings and gaskets to check for cracks that can cause gas or liquid leaks and repair as necessary.

You can purchase rebuild kits that include 5 different gaskets. Two for each of the keg posts and one for the keg lid and two for the dip tubes underneath the keg post (you will need to remove the post to locate the dip tube o-rings). This is also a great opportunity to inspect these areas for any build up.

Follow these steps, and you’ll be ready to keg your next beer.

-Jarrett Long, Club Treasurer