Bottom Fill Growler Station

That's how most places around here do it. Not to mention, the tubes are rather inexpensive. I'm sure they could go to a hardware store, buy in bulk, cut and not even have to use a single one twice in a day...save the cleaning for end of shift

 

That's exactly how we do it... We replace the tubes every few weeks.

 

Can you just flush the tubes out after each use? (I've never seen a bottom-filler before, so if this sounds stupid, that's why )

 

That would be my suggestion too. When it gets nasty or worn or broken, pay the nominal fee for more tubing.

 

We use silicone tubing, rinse between uses and leave in sanitizer after the rinse. Use three tubes for 12 taps so each is used for different beers throughout the day. Do a caustic cleaning on them about once a week.

 

Remember these are all at a retail level for homebrewers (much cheaper options exist but even at these prices the cost is not that much) as a point of reference:
1) http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/kegging/tubing/5-16-id-beverage-tubing.html
2) http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/star-san.html
3) Different conditions will call for different actions, but no rinse sanitizer can last a long time. On the homebrew level I know of people who reuse it over multiple batches
4) Tubes can be mixed up

 

I think we"re really looking at less that $5 a week in Iadophor and tubing and under 15 minutes a day to swap the sani out every couple hours and cut new bev-line once a week. The time it takes to slip the tube over the spout for each fill is less than the time it takes the foam to subside after top-filling...
Anywhere that has a growler station should have absolutely no issues with this degree of inconvenience.

 

1) When you all say tubing is cheap, can you quantify?

• $.50/foot, give or take.

2) How much does sanitizer cost?

• $30-40 (at most) for a gallon of Iodophor, and 1/2oz of it is enough for a 5 gallon bucket. If you're using a 2-3 gallon bucket (with the proper ratio of water/sanitizer) a 1 gallon jug should last almost a year and a half.

3) Using my idea (tubes sitting in santizer), does the water/sanitzier get dirty enough that it needs to be cleaned more than once a day?

• It shouldn't. When I homebrew I fill a 5 gallon bucket with iodophor solution and use it for the entire brew day. That said, even if you're changing it every few hours it would still cost less than $.50/day

4) If re-using tubes, do you have to use the same tube for each beer, or can they get mixed up?

• You shouldn't need tubes for each beer. Fruit beers and chili beers will taint a beer line if they're on tap for more than a couple days, but in the 1-2 minutes it takes to fill a growler it shouldn't be an issue. I would probably err on the side of caution and have 1 tube designated for sour/wild ales just to accidentally infecting someone's growler of IPA or stout, but that's just me being paranoid.