Some of the Things to Think About Before Cleaning Beer Lines

One of the most important jobs when you run a pub does not entirely take place in the bar, but in your cellar as well. It's that tedious weekly job of cleaning the beer lines, although today there are some beer cellar solutions that can extend the weekly clean to four weeks or even longer. Those beer cellar solutions each work in slightly different ways, so if you are considering one you should research it to ensure that it is a good fit for your pub, or alternatively try one where the manufacturer offers a free trial. Most of those that do the latter will also give you a free line clean, so that gets rid of that week's job if nothing else!

You should always carry out beer line cleaning when your pub or bar is closed. This provides better safety for customers and staff, because people have suffered serious injury through drinking beer line cleaner. It also takes the pressure off you from wanting to get the line back in service quickly and perhaps cutting corners with the cleaning as a result. 


You should switch off the remote chiller units at least an hour beforehand, but preferably the night before, as beer line cleaners will not work below freezing and will freeze in the lines which means that you would have to wait for them to thaw out. It can also taint the beer lines and be difficult to remove, causing taints to the beer flavour. You should also put warning signs on the fonts and beer engines to show that they contain cleaning fluid. Some breweries will let you have these, but if not, you can print them off on your printer.

Before you start cleaning you should read the beer line cleaner manufacturers instructions about time of use and dilution, and you should wear rubber gloves, a rubberised apron, and goggles. Beer cleaner in your eyes is NOT good.

Beer line cleaning is such a tedious job that the less often you have to do it the better. If you investigate beer cellar solutions to extend the time between cleans you will find at least one supplier which offers a free trial and guarantees savings from the word "go".

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