Why You Should Clean Your Beer Lines
/Over time, beer lines collect deposits of bacteria, yeast, and mold that can degrade the quality and taste of your draft beer and negatively affect the foaming properties of the beer to be tapped. Beerstone, a form of calcium that builds up in a dirty beer line, can be a particularly difficult problem. The buildup starts as small white spots within the beer line. When the deposits become larger, they may flake off and appear in the draft beer. Since beerstone can entrap bacteria and/or wild yeast, ie., Biofilms, the taste of the beer can be compromised, detracting from what the brewmaster intended. Beerstone can be incredibly difficult to remove.
To avoid deposits and buildup in your beer lines it is recommended that you regularly clean them with Draftec® beer line cleaner, which includes a proven, balanced combination of chelating agents, surfactants and caustic soda. Caustic Soda (NaOH) is undeniably the best alkali chemical for removing beerstone and microbial deposits associated with beerstone. Cleaning with Draftec® beer line cleaner on a regular basis will ensure brewery fresh taste the way the brewer intended.
A free sample of Draftec's beer line cleaner is available for professional line cleaners and beer distributors. To request a sample, please email us at info@draftec.com or call us at (888) 226-8228.
How to Clean Beer Lines
Draftec’s beer line cleaner will eliminate mineral crystals, hop resins, yeast residue, sugar and protein build-up, bacteria, mold and biofilms that are embedded in the polymers of the beer tubing. Follow this procedure to keep your beer lines functioning at their best:
Remove the beer faucets for hand cleaning parts and gasket inspection.
Push the beer with water out of draft lines. Leave the lines packed with water. Next, fill the cleaning solution circulating or holding vessel with water.
In gallons, calculate the liquid volume the draft line system holds. This includes the liquid volume in the beer lines as well as the liquid volume in the cleaning solution holding vessel. Wear proper eye and hand protection (safety glasses and rubber gloves).
Accurately measure and add to the water in the cleaning solution holding vessel the calculated amount of concentrated “Draftec®” to use based on the liquid volume the draft line cleaning system holds and soil conditions of the beer lines. Safety Note: Add Draftec® Line Cleaner to water, never reverse.
Thoroughly mix the contents of the cleaning solution holding vessel.
Pump the contents of the cleaning solution holding vessel into the beer lines.
With circulation line cleaning, pump from and return to the cleaning solution holding vessel. The velocity should be 2 gallons per minute.
With static line cleaning, make sure all the water packed in the lines from pushing out the beer is displaced with the Draftec® cleaning solution.
Contact time for the cleaning solution to effectively clean the beer lines should be a minimum of 20 minutes.
A free sample of Draftec's beer line cleaner is available for professional line cleaners and beer distributors. To request a sample, please email us at info@draftec.com or call us at (888) 226-8228.
