Keg cleaning question

[MikeRoy]

Quick question for anyone out there.

My regular keg cleaning routine is 3 stages ( caustic,acid,iodine)...I'm curious though, at somepoint if I'm under a time constraint if I could turn this into a 2 stage cleaning, caustic & acid or caustic & iodine...I'm not looking for shortcuts as I want to keep my cleaning routine for my kegs since I've never had an issue with my cleanign procedure, but more just a one time thing that could cut some time down for me that wouldn't hurt the quality of the keg cleaning as much.

Has/does anyone outthere use/d a 2 stage method like I've mentioned? What were the results??

Thanks in advance,

[RobZamites]

I used a Mini-King from IDD for a year, two stage, hot caustic, cold H2o rinse, sanitize. Every three months, I'd switch it up and run the kegs with acid on the second stage, just to minimize beerstone.

Rob

[Beersmith]

We have recently switched to a simpler keg washing cycle with excellent results so far. Hot water rinse, then Acid Cleaner #6 wash (its a Five Star product, detersive acid blend), 190F hot water burst rinses, CO2.

[tariq khan]

Hey guys what are your thoughts about detergents specifically Caustic.....Is it the best way to go ?
is there any health/safety issues with using hot caustic ? (fumes etc)

thanks

Tariq (Dark star Brewery)

[GlacierBrewing]

We use PBW, Acid #5, StarSan (Five Star Chemicals RULE!). Maybe excessive but I sleep well. I have always steered clear of hot castic. Seems to me that there are other products that do as good a job with the risk of burning/melting your skin off.
.....my two cents

[dick murton]

Hot caustic is OK on stainless, but must not be used on aluminium kegs - you won't have anything left after a short time. And be careful of acids on ali kegs / casks, for the same reason. A neutral specialist keg cleaner is the only realistic option here.

Bu I bet the only ali kegs / cask in the States & |Canada are those we Brits have sent across on one trip exports

Cheers

[Sulfur]

We use a 1 stage (1.5% caustic) with great results, the cycle also involves pressurized steam. We occasionally run acid through against beer stone as mentioned above.

[Adventinus]

Skip The Iodine And Acid. Just Use Caustic, H20 Rinse And Sani With Pereocedic Acid(paa). Iodine Can Leave A Residue In A Sealed Environment Even If It Is Purged Well. Paa Will Just Turn Organic.

[Adventinus]

Sorry, Also Results Speak Louder Than Theory. Try A Combination Of Things That You Think Might Work. Then Check It Out. Remove The Spear, Inspect And Go From There. There Are A Thousand Ways To Skin A Cat.

[GeorgeJ]

do you not get rather large salt deposits from allowing caustic to come into contact with acid at any point without rinsing??

id imagine youd get salt in the kegs, acid+alkali->salt?

i know when ive managed to get caustic on my skin or clothes, ive instantly reached for the nearest thing with dilute peraoxycetic acid in it to neutralise the alkali, and sometimes theres salt deposits

[MikeRoy]

Sorry for not mentioning it, there are rinse stages that I did not mention in there. So it's actually rinse,caustic,rinse,acid,rinse,iodophor,rinse... so now caustic to acid= no salt

[GeorgeJ]

Sorry for not mentioning it, there are rinse stages that I did not mention in there. So it's actually rinse,caustic,rinse,acid,rinse,iodophor,rinse... so now caustic to acid= no salt
this makes far far more sense :)

[brewingnewbie]

we've had great results with hot caustic, water rinse, then pereocedic acid.
used to use iodine/phosphoric acid but switched over to paa and have been very happy. (1-2oz caustic / gal., 3 mL PAA / gal)
hot caustic might be a little more dangerous but the results sure are good.

[Moonlight]

I'm with Rob Z on this one. I run a minking with only a cleaner and sanitizer/rinse. I don't believe acid is necessary each time unless you are overly thorough. It isn't perfect that every keg gets an acid clean eveery fourth cleaning because the kegs are returned randomly, but it is pretty close. By all means, I agree that opening up the kegs and looking inside tells no lies.