Draught Operations > System Maintenance and Cleaning > Common Issues
This section contains the following topics:
Cleaning Safety
System Design and Cleanliness
Other Line Cleaning Methods
System Maintenance: Line Replacement
Later in this chapter, we cover the details of cleaning solutions and procedures, but first let’s review some related issues. We’ll start with an important look at safety, then briefly discuss design considerations and wrap up with the long-term maintenance issue of line replacement.
Cleaning Safety
Line cleaning involves working with hazardous chemicals. The following precautions should be taken:
- Cleaning personnel should be well trained in handling hazardous chemicals.
- Personal protection equipment including rubber gloves and eye protection should be used whenever handling line cleaning chemicals.
- Cleaning solution suppliers offer Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on their products. Cleaning personnel should have these sheets and follow their procedures while handling line cleaning chemicals.
- When diluting chemical concentrate, always add chemical to water and never add water to the chemical. Adding water to concentrated caustic chemical can cause a rapid increase in temperature, possible leading to violent and dangerous spattering or eruption of the chemical.
System Design and Cleanliness
Draught system designs should always strive for the shortest possible draw length to help reduce operating challenges and line cleaning costs. Foaming beer and other pouring problems waste beer in greater volumes as draw length increases. Line cleaning wastes beer equal to the volume of the beer lines themselves. Longer runs also place greater burdens on mechanical components, increasing repair and replacement costs.
Large venues like stadiums, arenas and casinos often combine very long draught runs with long periods of system inactivity that further complicate cleaning and maintenance. Additional maintenance costs eventually outweigh any perceived benefits of a longer system.
Other Line Cleaning Methods
Devices that purport to electrically or sonically clean draught lines are not a suitable substitute for chemical line cleaning. Although some sonic cleaners may inhibit bacteria and yeast growth, they have little or no cleaning effect on draught hardware and fittings.
System Maintenance: Line Replacement
- All vinyl jumpers and vinyl direct draw lines should be replaced every year.
- All long-draw trunk line should be replaced in the following instances:
- When the system is ten years or older.
- When flavor changes are imparted in a beer’s draught line from an adjacent draught line.
- When any line chronically induces flavor changes in beer.
- Draught lines may need to be replaced after pouring root beer, fruit-flavored beers, margaritas or ciders. Such beverages may permanently contaminate a draught line and possibly adjacent draught lines in the same bundle. Such contamination precludes future use of that draught line for beer.
- In the case where a coupler’s gas back flow valve (Thomas valve) is or ever has been missing, the gas line may well have been compromised and should be replaced.
Next topic: Detailed Recommendations >
