Leaving Beer Line Filled With Just CO2

draining unused lines of beer is a good idea.
but you won't have much luck with CO2. just purge with BLC and water. then drain the water, or if you have a cleaning can, leave the water in the line. either way.

any gas you introduce into the liquid line will not be held by the faucet. not sure why air in your beer line is a concern.
Cheers.

 

what's a little mold?

 

I leave any unused beer lines filled with Starsan . . . just like an unused keg.

 

I'm assuming there is still beer in the keg - you're just not using it frequently. If that's the case, why do you believe the beer in the line will stale? It's as protected from oxygen as the beer in the keg. The only problem area would be that portion of the faucet that is open to the air. For extended idle periods, I fill a faucet stopper with StarSan solution and put it on. This also helps with the fruit flies that inevitably show up during the summer.

For those times when it will be sitting without beer (rare), I clean the lines with BLC, then flush with StarSan solution that I keep in a spare keg. The StarSan stays in the line until I tap the next keg - that could be hours or weeks. I then flush the line with beer, and enjoy. This is homebrew, so the first pint gets tossed anyway.

 

I wouldn't bother trying to fill the beer line with CO2. Their are plenty of microorganisms that can live in the absence of oxygen, and in CO2.

 

this is a great point. think about an "infected" beer. the bugs live in beer. virtually no oxygen present, CO2, and alcohol too. so even if you could get the lines full and hold the CO2 it wouldn't matter much anyway.
Cheers.

 

As someone with a bachelors in biology I have to disagree with what you are all telling him. Gas or even air regardless of how well it seals is better than any liquid. Primary ingredient to any living organism is water, pure and simple.

So yes. I would purge the line first with a cleaner, wait 15 min, then rinse and blow out all liquid to "winterize" your draft system.

 

not just any liquid, but Starsan or a similar sanitizing agent. bugs don't like Starsan very much, which is why we use it.
Starsan is fine for long term, like Mike does. so long as it is under pressure in a keg it will stay in the line.

but in any event most all of us just empty the liquid and let em air dry.
Cheers.

 

"Bugs" or in this case anaerobic bacteria will grow in just about any liquid, even sanitizing liquids because the sanitizer breaks down as it oxidizes or off gasses. It's true that a sanitizing liquid would keep a line clean for a long time, but how long I don't know. Eventually however it would still grow bacteria in it and you would get a sulfuric smell from the fermentation of the aneraerobic bacteria as you cleared it back through.

But as far as I understand you could never grow something that would make you sick, just affect the flavor of the beer.

 

There are even some microorganisms that could survive a star san treatment. I bet Helicobactor palori could. For a while at least. I mean... it can live in your stomach acid... that's tough stuff. But it evolved some cool mechanisms to do that. Probably spore forming microbes could survive as well like Clostridum for instance. What are the odds of you introducing those into your equipment? Pretty slim. Wash your hands and be sanitary.

 

I have a beer line like this:

http://www.kegconnection.com/draft-party-faucet-with-5-hose-and-disconnect-choose-ball-or-pin-lock/

Do you ever disassemble the entire line or do you simply push cleaner/sanitizer through it? My line has some weird clamps on it that make it seem like its not meant to come apart easily. @mikehartigan @billandsuz ?

 

those clamps are Oetiker stepless or Oetiker single ear. look them up. they work really well, much better than a worm screw clamp. but they are a bitch to remove, and I suggest you leave them alone.

disassembly should not be required. it is not done unless the line is being replaced. but you should pull apart the cobra faucet occasionally and give all the parts a good soaking. the liquid ball lock connector can also be disassembled. do the tear down on a towel; there are small springs and junk that will roll under the fridge or something. be sure to put the pin back the right way too. I think Cobra taps really need some special care. they hold beer inside the mechanism, the discharge end comes in contact with kegs, your hands, the bottom of the kegerators etc. those things can really get nasty.

other than that, not too much required to clean and maintain.
Cheers.

 

Thanks!