Tag Archives: kegging

Recirculating Draft Line Cleaner: Pin Lock Edition

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Most of us who own kegging setups probably don’t clean our draft lines as often as we should (if ever). For me, the big deterrent has been that the procedures require either 1) wasting a bunch of CO2 to push cleaning solution out of a keg or 2) specialized, somewhat costly, and unwieldy equipment. So, I was really excited awhile back to read a post on Homebrew Finds about a DIY draft line cleaner. It looked cool, but the default build was for a ball lock keg. I use pin locks, and the alternative suggestions they had for pin locks assumed quick disconnects on the draft lines, which I don’t have. So, I needed to do some minor tweaking. Fortunately, the original post gave plenty of specifics for the base build, and a little research helped me put together my own pin lock recirculating draft line cleaning system.

The basics are the same as outlined at Homebrew Finds; the only minor change is in the hardware connecting the pump to the beverage lines. Parts include:

The cost for everything was roughly $45 (the main costs were in the pump and power switch).

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Bushing, Tube Fitting, and Keg Post

Once I had everything, I assembled the parts, using teflon tape to seal the threads. First I connected the bushing+tube fitting+keg post (in that order).

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Assembled Hardware

Then, I attached that assembly to the pump. Everything fit perfectly!

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Hardware Attached to Pump

Now, I was ready to go! I attached the silicone tubing to the beer faucet, connected the beer line to the pump, and pushed some hot water through to clear the beer out of the line. After this, I ran line cleaner for 20 minutes, recirculating the cleaner by draining it out of the faucet and back into the bucket with the pump.

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Once this was done, I rinsed out the line by running hot tap water through the entire assembly for another 20 minutes. Done, and done!

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So far, I’m pretty happy with this setup, and anticipate that it will reduce my excuses for not cleaning my tap lines more frequently. This will in turn lead to tastier draft homebrew!

A big thanks to the folks at Homebrew Finds for posting such a clear and easily modified tutorial. You made my own build that much easier!

Safety note: Please use good judgement and be aware of all manufacturer warnings and safety protocols for this equipment. Be smart, be safe!

Lithographica Pilsner Update

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The Lithographica Pilsner has been chugging along for awhile now. After four days at 66°, the gravity was down to 1.011. I let it sit there for three more days, and then cold crashed to 33° on 18 June 2016. After over three weeks at this temperature, I kegged the beer. The final gravity was 1.011, with a clean flavor and a very clear beer. A little yeast was transferred over to the fermenter, but I am hoping that the continued cold conditioning will take care of that.

Spring Cleaning Amber Ale Kegged

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20160526_174737After 12 days in the primary, tonight I kegged my Spring Cleaning Amber Ale. The beer dropped quite clear in the carboy, and comes across as a fairly classic amber ale in color, flavor, and aroma. Amber ales often aren’t terribly exciting to me, but I think they make a nice “dark” beer to have around during the summer months.

From a starting gravity of 1.050, we ended up at 1.014. That works out as 4.7% abv and 71% apparent attenuation. This is a bit higher final gravity than predicted, but could be explained by evolution of the yeast towards a less attenuative strain over the cultured generations (supported by the very clear beer on the transfer, somewhat different from my earlier batches with this same culture).

Pannotia White IPA Kegged

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Pannotia White IPA
After a little more than two weeks in the primary fermenter, tonight I kegged the latest iteration of Pannotia White IPA. I think the bitterness level in this version is just about perfect, and the overall flavor and baseline aroma are also pretty good.

At the time of kegging, I added the dry hops charge in a weighted mesh bag (1 oz. each of Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops pellets), along with 2 oz. of the lemon zest extract that I made earlier.

The final gravity for this beer was 1.012, down from 1.060, equating to 6.3% abv.