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Keg washer not rinsing all the way

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  • Keg washer not rinsing all the way

    We have a home grown keg washer which consists of using our three basin sink with our chemicals and sanatizer and a hookup to our water line for the rinsing. We built a valve manifold using cpvc lines and braided vinyl hoses connected to a coupler with the check valve removed for the co2. We connect each line to a pump that seems to spray pretty good against the bottom of the keg while cleaning.

    We are having trouble getting all the chemicals out of the kegs even if we rinse each keg 4 times and drain it out completely. We have tried burst rinsing by introducing c02 pressure into the line to make sure it sprays really good, but still nothing. It seems to rinse better on our new kegs, but our used ones (been used once in house) seem to always have this bad smell and chemical taste left in the keg.

    We have tried both Birk Ox (PBW alternative) and a Phos./Nitric Acid blend and get the bad taste after rinsing both. We have a ph tester on the way to see what ph is coming out.

    Any ideas on how to solve this, we are ready for a new and improved version of our keg washer.

  • #2
    Are the kegs stainless or plastic?
    Luch Scremin
    Engine 15 Brewing Co.
    luch at engine15 dot com

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Luch15 View Post
      Are the kegs stainless or plastic?
      Plastic from Plastic Kegs of America.

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      • #4
        We had some issues with PKA kegs that had an aroma and taste that could not be removed no matter what we did. We got in touch with PKA and they replaced all of them. These were older generation. The flavor was best described as chalky, etc. may not be the same issue that you have though.
        Luch Scremin
        Engine 15 Brewing Co.
        luch at engine15 dot com

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        • #5
          We use Ultra Niter and X-Puma for washing. It's an acid cleaner with a detergent additive which rinses out pretty easily. Then we use PAA for sanitizing.

          If you do a C02 purge of the keg you may be tasting carbonated water. This will also change the ph a little.

          Are you rinsing the spears or just the shell?
          Chris Enegren
          www.enegrenbrewing.com

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          • #6
            Is the bad smell/taste detectable after its been filled with beer? Or is this directly after the sanitizer cycle?

            I'd suggest adding forced air to your manifold and blowing out the chemicals between cycles if you don't already.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by CaptainEBC View Post
              Are you rinsing the spears or just the shell?
              we are attaching a coupler to the keg to rinse it all out. We have Ultra Niter and X-puma but haven't tried those yet because we weren't sure on the mixing ratio. We'd thought about the C02 taste, but it is fine when we start from one of our new kegs, but when we go to wash one of our used kegs we can't get the taste out.

              I am going to take the stem out today and see the inside. We are only using 1/6 hp submersible pumps for this application but can hear them spraying the top of the keg pretty good.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by DaveK View Post
                Is the bad smell/taste detectable after its been filled with beer? Or is this directly after the sanitizer cycle?
                We are worried this is where our "soapy or chemical taste" is coming from in our beers. We just opened and there were lots of reports on our lighter beer. But for the most part it is after the cleaning cycle, before we sanatize. We don't rinse our sanatizer and Birko has assured us we don't need to.

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                • #9
                  Invert

                  Are you washing the kegs inverted (upside down). Are you getting all of the liquid out of the keg after cleaning?
                  Cheers!
                  -Alan

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by millerag View Post
                    Are you washing the kegs inverted (upside down). Are you getting all of the liquid out of the keg after cleaning?
                    Yeah. We even rinsed a keg for over and hour and still couldn't get the bad taste out.

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