Some Of The Main Things Which Can Contaminate Beer


Everyone who runs a bar or pub has to clean their beer lines, and how often this should be done is a matter of some disagreement. Most people say that the beer lines should be cleaned with beer line cleaner every week, while others say that you can let that extend to two weeks. Whatever your opinion, the fact is that you are going to have to clean the lines with beer line cleaner on a regular basis.


Some of the main contaminants which can affect beer lines include limescale which actually comes from the water you use to flush out the lines after using the beer line cleaner. This mostly affects cask beers because the lines are not usually flushed after each barrel is emptied. You can also see it in kettles and on taps as a solid white layer, and it is worse in hard water areas.

Beerstone is formed from a chemical reaction between oxalic acid which is produced during the brewing process, and calcium from hard water. It looks like limescale except that it is brown or beige in colour.

Mould is another contaminant and is usually black in colour. Moulds live in damp conditions that are exposed to the air and live on cellar walls, barrels and casks, couplers, cleaning sockets, and so on, and they can get into the beer when you change barrels or casks.

Bacteria can be another problem and while they are not lethal, they can cause a severe stomach upset if they get into the beer. Yeasts can also be a problem, and these can be brewery yeasts left over from the brewing process, or they can also be wild yeasts which are in the air around us and in your cellar. Yeasts can be on the couplers, spouts, sparklers, and drains. If they are on the couplers, they can get into the beer lines when changing the barrels and casks and they can give the beer a sour flavour.

Beer can also become oxidised and is simply caused by beer that has started to age. Nothing can be done about this, except to dispose of the beer.

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