I brew biab, but mash in a cooler and then transfer to my boil kettle, I keep most of the junk in the cooler, well at best as I can. All of sudden on my last 2/3 beers I kegged I am finding floaties in my beer, see below. I got a used kegerator from a friend who was no longer using it. When I keg I go straight from primary to keg. I don't cold crash or use clearing agents. This seems likes a recent issue as I didn't notice it before. I haven't changed my process so I am not sure why all of sudden I am getting these floaties. Any thoughts on what the floaties are? Also, I haven't dissassembled and cleaned the kegerator since I got it. I do clean the line by blowing cleaner and sanitizer though the beer line and clean the spigot.
Take apart the whole system, kegs (post, dip tubes, everything), QDs (pull them completely apart, including barbs), taps (whether picnic or metal), and soak in Oxi/PBW. Use a brush to clean all the parts, rinse thoroughly, sanitize, then put it all back together. Make sure to use a long stem diptube brush on the, well, diptube. Run a good amount of cleaner through the lines as well, or replace them. If it is still pouring with the floaties I would look at the fermentation or transfer (tranfer from kettle to fermenter (ballvalves need to be broken down and cleaned, as well as a good transfer tubing cleaning) as well as how you transfer from fermenter to keg (racking cane, tubing, etc, if you use a QD on the end of your tubing break it down and clean it).
I'll have to do a proper cleaning. I take apart everything on the keg but because of the tower I haven't been able to figure out how to access the tap and line. Sounds like I need to look more into that and make sure it's clean. Thanks.
Line cleaning with a corny is very easy. Prepare a half gallon of line cleaning solution and put it into your clean keg. Run that through your system and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Do it again and again. Residence time is keg and turbulence from flushing is key. Then rinse thoroughly with clear water. The choker should be almost clear. If it is amber or darker it is time to replace. Truth is, it is difficult to foul a line on a home unit. The volume of beer passing through is just not that great (yeah yeah I know...) Pull apart your faucet too. In fact, take a look with a bright flashlight. Get a faucet wrench if you don't have one. You need to service the faucet at least as frequently as the line. More often. PBW, hot water, brush, flush. The amount of grease that can get up in those things is truly bizarre. Cheers.
