Cleaning keeps lines sanitary. Tubing, seals, and faucets still wear out. At some point a line won't come clean no matter what you run through it. These are the signs to watch for.
Why Lines Wear Out
Beer tubing soaks up a little of whatever passes through it. Over time, flavors seep into the walls, tiny scratches build up inside, and gunk settles into the scratches where cleaner has trouble reaching. Each cleaning works a little less well.
Vinyl tubing wears out fastest. Barrier tubing, used in most long-draw trunk lines, holds up much longer.
How Often
The Brewers Association Draught Beer Quality Manual says to replace vinyl tubing every year. That includes jumper lines and the lines in direct-draw coolers and kegerators. Barrier trunk lines last longer and get replaced based on condition.
Faucet and coupler seals, the washers and o-rings, should be checked every time those parts come apart for cleaning. Replace any that are cracked, flat, or hard.
Signs a Line Needs Replacing
- Off-flavors that come back soon after cleaning. The beer tastes fine for a day or two, then goes sour or stale again.
- Cloudy, yellow, or spotted vinyl. If you can see it from the outside, there's more inside.
- A line that tastes like the last beer. A lager on a line that used to pour an IPA picks up hop flavor.
- Stiff or cracked tubing. Old vinyl hardens and cracks. Bacteria live in the cracks.
- One line that foams when temperature and pressure are right on the others.
- Leaks at fittings or seals. Worn seals leak beer and can let air in.
New Lines Still Need Cleaning
Bacteria move into new tubing on day one. A fresh line on a skipped cleaning schedule develops the same problems, a little slower. Pennsylvania's 14-day cleaning rule applies to new lines the same as old ones.
Good cleaning also makes lines last longer. Caustic every two weeks and acid every quarter keeps tubing in better shape than cleaning now and then and scrubbing hard to catch up. See alkaline vs. acid line cleaning.
What the Job Looks Like
Swapping jumper lines on a kegerator or direct-draw cooler is quick and cheap. Long-draw trunk lines are a bigger job because they run through walls and ceilings. That's one more reason to keep them clean. When lines get replaced, the length and size should match the original setup. If not, the system can end up out of balance and pour foamy. See why draft beer gets foamy.
We'll Tell You Straight
Every visit includes a look at lines, faucets, couplers, and seals. If something needs replacing, we'll tell you what and why. If a cleaning is enough, we'll tell you that. Call (267) 282-1002.