Ikegger Spear

[AZ Stout]

Hi there,

I just completed my first BeerDroid brew, the Shadow Hill Porter.  I kegged it into 2 iKegger 5L kegs.  This was my first time ever using a keg.

While reviewing videos on YouTube, everyone in the US removes, cleans and sanitizes both posts on their Corny Kegs.

I saw a video showing the sanitizer being put in and brought out the beer line using CO2 on the iKegger keg which I did do in addition to cleaning and sanitizing everything.

For the IKegger spears, do the gas and beer posts need to be removed to be cleaned every time too?

Also I have 2 small fridges to do my secondary maturing as I am in AZ and it is hot here!

What temperature would be best set on my inkbird for aging mostly stouts and porters?  I tried room temperature but my house gets too hot.

Thanks in advance for your time!!

[Thagomizer]

@AZ Stout,

Welcome to the Forum.

I would recommend cleaning the spears.  They make a long slim brush for this.  I use it to clean the keg spear for the Party-Star tap system for my 5-liter mini kegs.  I also use a BrewFlo and always clean the spear in these BrewArt  kegs.

I store my kegs and bottles at 76^o F.  My kegs and bottles are primed with dextrose, so I need a temperature that will encourage secondary fermentation.  Since you are using CO², you could afford a lower temperature, but not too low.  As you are using refrigeration, you have more options.  Stouts and Porters generally benefit from longer aging periods.  I think 65^oF to 70^oF would be good.

@Wazza_wantsbeer and @Rob Courtney could you add your wisdom to this topic?

[Rob Courtney]

On 04/09/2023 at 6:43 AM, Thagomizer said:

@AZ Stout,

Welcome to the Forum.

I would recommend cleaning the spears.  They make a long slim brush for this.  I use it to clean the keg spear for the Party-Star tap system for my 5-liter mini kegs.  I also use a BrewFlo and always clean the spear in these BrewArt  kegs.

I store my kegs and bottles at 76^o F.  My kegs and bottles are primed with dextrose, so I need a temperature that will encourage secondary fermentation.  Since you are using CO², you could afford a lower temperature, but not too low.  As you are using refrigeration, you have more options.  Stouts and Porters generally benefit from longer aging periods.  I think 65^oF to 70^oF would be good.

@Wazza_wantsbeer and @Rob Courtney could you add your wisdom to this topic?

When I am using the kegs always clean spears in the PBW and give a scrub with bottle brush.

I guess a rule of thumb is you can't over clean

[AZ Stout]

Thank you both very much for the reply!  I appreciate your time.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

On 04/09/2023 at 7:13 AM, Thagomizer said:

@AZ Stout,

Welcome to the Forum.

I would recommend cleaning the spears.  They make a long slim brush for this.  I use it to clean the keg spear for the Party-Star tap system for my 5-liter mini kegs.  I also use a BrewFlo and always clean the spear in these BrewArt  kegs.

I store my kegs and bottles at 76^o F.  My kegs and bottles are primed with dextrose, so I need a temperature that will encourage secondary fermentation.  Since you are using CO², you could afford a lower temperature, but not too low.  As you are using refrigeration, you have more options.  Stouts and Porters generally benefit from longer aging periods.  I think 65^oF to 70^oF would be good.

@Wazza_wantsbeer and @Rob Courtney could you add your wisdom to this topic?

I'll jump in an add my $0.02 worth as well.

First, welcome to the forum and the world of homebrewing.

In terms of the corny keg or iKegger (I have both) gas and liquid posts and whether to clean or not to clean with every "keg wash".

To be honest, I unscrew the posts of both gas and liquid and give them a thorough cleaning only every 3rd use or so.

However, I make sure that I do a 3 step cleaning process every time and that is:

1. Rinsing
Use cold water for an initial rinse then use hot or even add boiling water to rid of all the sediment/trub at the bottom of the keg
So I usually fill to 1/3-1/2 with hot water from the tap and then another 1-1.5l of boiling water from the kettle.
Close the lid tightly and shake the absolute crap out of it let sit right side up and then after 15-20 minutes, turn upside down
Pour out the liquid which should take with it all the sediment/trub.

2. Cleaning
Using Powerful Brewery Wash (PBW) I fill the keg with hot water from the tap, I will add a 1/2 scoop of the Kegland PBW
Again, close the lid tightly and then shake the absolute crap out of this following same procedure as in step one by turning upside down and then right-side up
The key thing here is then using CO2 bottle with appropriate regulator, I push the PBW solution out of the keg into another keg if I'm cleaning multiple kegs at the same time or into another storage vessel if I want to keep the solution for later use. Otherwise, just push it out into your sink or down a drain
This cleans the liquid post and attached line very well.
If I don't plan on using a keg for a while, I will sometimes just leave the PBW solution in the keg as it won't damage it.

3. Sanitising
Here I use Kegland's StellarSan (in the US and other countries, you might use StarSan which is basically the same thing)
If I have a keg already filled with StellarSan, then I will use gas to move the StellarSan solution from that keg into the clean empty keg
If not, then I open the keg, fill close to the top with hot water from the tap, add the appropriate amount of StellarSan and then fill to the top, note all the bubbles that quickly form, close the lid and shake like mad.
Then leave upside down for 10-20 minutes then right side up for another 10-20 minutes
When I am ready to use, then I push the StellarSan solution out of the keg with CO2, again either into another keg ready to be sanitised or into the sink or drain, which also sanitises the liquid post and line
Added benefit for beer that is susceptible to oxidization is that you have also purged all the O2 out of the keg

So using the above steps, I feel that I've cleaned and sanitised the liquid post sufficiently and generally the gas post should be okay and using this process, I've not as yet (knock on wood), experienced a contamination in any of my kegged beers/ciders/seltzers.

4. Post cleaning
As said above, I do this every 3rd usage or so except...
If I've had a post get stuck due to some blockage (usually hop debris when kegging) or if I've over filled and the beer, cider, seltzer, etc. goes out the gas post then I will always clean immediately after using

When cleaning the posts, always do one at a time, removing one, clean it, then put it back before removing the other for cleaning. This will help you not confusing the parts of the two posts, especially those little O-rings
To clean, I will first wash off using hot water out of the tap. Then use an old toothbrush or similar, give the metal parts a light scrub.
Then I put the metal parts into a PBW solution for about 5 minutes. Note here, do NOT put the O-rings into the solution as it will degrade them a bit shortening the life of those parts
After the short 5 minute soak, I put it back together and reattach.

One last point here, I've been making the conscious decision to replace the O-rings on all my kegs yearly. I've also made sure that the larger O-rings on the corny kegs I have, I've taken the extra step of replacing all the white silicone with the new Kegland yellow Low2 O-rings.

Why you might ask, well straight from the Kegland website... "Because of their unique composition (Synthetic M-Class and Cross-Linked Elastomers), they have superior oxygen barrier properties than that of the previous O-Rings (Silicone). This results in your beverage staying fresher for longer."

And the last point I will make is that shaking the crap out of full or near full iKegger or even more so with 9.5 or 10l Corny kegs is a damn good work out and boy, you need a beer (or three) after that and why not as you've earned it.

Cheers  🍺

Edited September 6, 2023 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[AZ Stout]

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I am new to kegging and this really helps me out!!

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

3 hours ago, AZ Stout said:

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I am new to kegging and this really helps me out!!

A pleasure to help. Please feel free to reach out in this forum any time as we have a lot of knowledgeable and keen home brewers.

I would add to my post above as I forgot but remembered as I changed out the O-rings on the last remaining corny keg that doesn't have the Low2 rings is to make sure you use a good food grade lubricant on the O-rings after cleaning the posts or changing the O-rings.

This will help extend the life of the O-rings and also will help them make a better seal.

I usually use the lubricant on the keg posts before filling them as it helps the gas and liquid connects attached quicker and helps to create that better seal.

[AZ Stout]

Hi Wazza,

thanks for the reply!  I also just stumbled upon your write up about elements and enhancers.  Thank for that information too!

i appreciate you took the time to respond!