First off, sorry if this question has been handled already in previous threads, I didn't see it specifically when I searched, so figured it was ok to shoot over a new one. Working on installing a tap in my new kitchen - my kegerator will be in my basement and I'll be running lines up to the kitchen. Any go-to products for keeping the lines clean? I've only ever bottled my home-brew and kegs were just grabbed for backyard bbq's so this is pretty new to me. Thanks in advance for the help!
BLC (Beer Line Cleaner) should do it alone, but will certainly do the trick if followed by Five Star's Acid Cleaner #5. Micromatic also sells their own acid cleaner to follow the BLC but I've never used that. When I had a kegerator I would only run the acid about once a year.
For cleaning Nero is right on. With beer line cleaning products you are basically paying for the concentration of caustic. There is a little more to the products and the manufacturers try to differentiate, but they are essentially the same. So compare the cost per mixed gallon, not the cost of the bottle. More importantly, a remote draw beer system is not anything as simple as running some lines to a faucet and having beer come out. It's not domestic plumbing. It's domestic plumbing using CO2 gas to dispense expensive liquid at 38F from the first ounce to the last, always, and at a precise flow rate. So you need to consider line diameter. Line material. Product lift. Cooling. Pressure. Maybe mixed gas. Maybe glycol. Oh, you'll need a drip tray and a drain too. That;s a start. It's a big job but if you are prepared it can be done. Plan on this being about 5 times more expensive and 5 times more complex than you think it will be. No kidding. Cheers.
Also do not pin the lines in any way that would prevent you from feeding new lines at some point. Depending on the beer choices how long they last varies, but you should accommodate the need to pull new lines.
One thing to note, if you can pull it off, is that a tap at your kitchen sink is an absolutely magnificent thing! I've only seen it done once, but it was fantastic. Of course the guy that did it was a refrigeration mechanic. If you went to the basement, right below the kitchen was a keezer and you could get another 7 beers there.
