Steralising barrel tap.

kevin

hi i am new to home brewing and need some advice on cleaning the barrel tap, after the brew as been drank and the barrel is empty do you have to dismantle the tap from the keg to steralise it I have a King Keg with a top tap and I am not sure whether to remove it or leave it in the keg  and clean and steralise while attached ?.

HBO_Staff

Sterilising is a very important part of brewing and is the best way to ensure that brews do not become contaminated, but by simply using a good steriliser such as VWP, etc, and cleaning everything in warm water then rinsing with clean water, everything that will come in to contact with the brew, most brews are a success. Although this will not guarantee success, it is nearly always OK and thankfully contamination is not too common and when it does happen is either bad luck or mistakenly not cleaning something. With kegs it is sufficient to simply put a sterilising solution into the barrel and give it a good rinse round, it can be left to soak for a while on any stubborn stains, but never use anything which may scratch the surface as this will then hold the dirt and be much harder to clean in future, and always follow the instructions on the steriliser. By the letting some of the sterilsied solution run through the open tap and through where beer will flow, and repeating with clean water to rinse, this will make sure it is clean. Removing the tap is not usually necessary, and can create other problems such as problems with the seals, the less you disturb them the lower the chance of any problems with them

kevin

Thanks HBO wasn't quite sure what to do with the movable parts of the keg