keg sanitizing

[Dragos]

Hey Folks,

We are a small microbrewery from Atlanta and we are currently looking to optimize our sanitizing process. We usually rinse the kegs with hot water under pressure and manually sanitize them. What we were looking for is a solution to connect the "sanitizer" in line with the hose that goes to the kegs, so that we save time and accomplish two things at once. We usually use PAA(per acetic acid) for that.

I have seen that the majority of breweries either sanitize them manually or have a different sanitizing station(SIP). We can't afford another one but doing it manually takes a lot of time especially when you have more than 100 kegs in the stock.
Please let me know what you think would work.

The image below shows the hose that goes to the keg. The water flow is controlled by the valve. The sanitizer should probably look like that. See the photo.



Please let me know if you know any companies that manufacture such containers for this purpose. I have searched the internet but couldn't find anything. Also please let me know if you can come with a better solution. We are looking for a cost efficient, automatic solution.

Thank you.

[WAORGANY]

Hey Folks,

We are a small microbrewery from Atlanta and we are currently looking to optimize our sanitizing process. We usually rinse the kegs with hot water under pressure and manually sanitize them. What we were looking for is a solution to connect the "sanitizer" in line with the hose that goes to the kegs, so that we save time and accomplish two things at once. We usually use PAA(per acetic acid) for that.

I have seen that the majority of breweries either sanitize them manually or have a different sanitizing station(SIP). We can't afford another one but doing it manually takes a lot of time especially when you have more than 100 kegs in the stock.
Please let me know what you think would work.

The image below shows the hose that goes to the keg. The water flow is controlled by the valve. The sanitizer should probably look like that. See the photo.
[ATTACH]34314[/ATTACH][ATTACH]34315[/ATTACH]


Please let me know if you know any companies that manufacture such containers for this purpose. I have searched the internet but couldn't find anything. Also please let me know if you can come with a better solution. We are looking for a cost efficient, automatic solution.

Thank you.

Drago,

Here is a link to good You Tube Video by Colorado Boy with a easy and simple and economical keg cleaning system

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl6pxAV32t4

[beerguy1]

are you running any caustic or acid solutions thru the kegs?

[andrew_FSBC]

Drago,

Here is a link to good You Tube Video by Colorado Boy with a easy and simple and economical keg cleaning system

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl6pxAV32t4

I would not recommend this as a keg washing regime. Acid 6 is not meant to be the only chemical used in a cycle. There is no sanitizer stage in this set up either.

[barleyfreak]

Drago,

Here is a link to good You Tube Video by Colorado Boy with a easy and simple and economical keg cleaning system

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl6pxAV32t4

+1 on this. I have used this since we opened 2 years ago. I do kegs about 10 at a time, then store in walk-in. Obviously much slower than an dedicated keg washer. Takes about 2 hours for rinsing/washing/sanitizing.For my space, a 7bbl system, 4 FV's (2 more coming), and all less than 407sf, this is pretty much my only choice. But I don't have a 100 kegs to go through. I have half that number in total inventory.

[barleyfreak]

I would not recommend this as a keg washing regime. Acid 6 is not meant to be the only chemical used in a cycle. There is no sanitizer stage in this set up either.

I now use UltraNiter from Birko for this. My understanding from Dana at Birko is that this can be an effective keg cleaner. See here. Also, when I was at Colorado Boy, they didn't use a sani step. I added that. easy enough.

[Pohodak]

Cheap beer keg rinser and filler

Hello,
your beer keg rinser seems to by quite old model.
We use this keg cleaner and filler from Czech producer :

KCM-10 keg rinsing and filling station



Without any problem, simple construction, easy operation. We had similar problems like you describe. We solved them several months and in the end we decided to purchase a new machine and now all goes well.

Alex

[feinbera]

I, too, work at a small brewery, in a small space with a small capital improvements budget – this is how we sanitize. We mix up a keg and a half worth of pretty weak peracetic acid, then "daisy chain" it through all the clean kegs. Fill one keg all the way up, fill the second one half way, and get an empty keg, connect them in a chain with three keg couplers. Push CO2 into the full keg, dispense the full keg into the gas-in side of the half-full keg and the half-full keg into the gas-in side of the empty keg. Then, when the (previously) full keg is empty, the (previously) half-full keg will be full and the (previously) empty keg will be half-full. The first keg in the chain is now sanitized and full of nothing but CO2, throw it on your pile of finished kegs, promote the other two, and throw the next one off the cleaning station onto the end of the chain, (don't) rinse and repeat! We'll typically do this with the two people, one running our two-keg manual washer, the other one herding the daisy chain (and usually doing other small tasks while the kegs are dispensing), but depending on how labor-intensive your washing is, probably one person could keep on top of both tasks if they really hustle?

Your other option is to get a couple stainless T's, a couple ball valves, a bucket of PAA, and your mobile pump, and kludge a PAA loop onto your keg washer. You'll wanna blow CO2 (or compressed air or whatever you use) between the rinse and the sanitize, so you don't dilute your PAA with too much residual rinse water, and after your sanitize cycle, so you don't leave a bunch of PAA in the keg and water lines. No idea how well this would work, we don't do it, and I can't recommend exactly where to put the new parts without seeing the machine, but if you can't figure that part out, probably you shouldn't be doing it anyway. Let us know how it goes!

[Ted Briggs]

Hello,
your beer keg rinser seems to by quite old model.
We use this keg cleaner and filler from Czech producer
Alex

This looks like the space saving machine ive been looking for but no N.America shops make.
Your pick looks like a semi-auto but the manufactures website says manual.
Did you upgrade?

[rdcpro]

I, too, work at a small brewery, in a small space with a small capital improvements budget – this is how we sanitize. We mix up a keg and a half worth of pretty weak peracetic acid, then "daisy chain" it through all the clean kegs. Fill one keg all the way up, fill the second one half way, and get an empty keg, connect them in a chain with three keg couplers. Push CO2 into the full keg, dispense the full keg into the gas-in side of the half-full keg and the half-full keg into the gas-in side of the empty keg. Then, when the (previously) full keg is empty, the (previously) half-full keg will be full and the (previously) empty keg will be half-full. [...]

I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Doesn't the (previously) half full keg start to push out the PAA as soon PAA flows in the gas-in connection? IOW, where does the air in the headspace of the middle keg go, if you have liquid flowing out of the spear, and liquid coming in the gas port? Don't you have to vent the headspace of the second keg in the line until liquid comes out the relief?

Regards,
Mike