Unfiltered Wheat Beers - Line Cleaning

[bornearly]

Are any other line cleaners out there having problems with the unfiltered wheat beers like Sam Summer, Linny, Magic Hat 9, etc? I get a lot of brown skin/flakes coming out of these lines on long draw systems. A lot comes out in the rinse water too. Apparently, I am not getting it all!

I am using Mircro Matic Beer Line Cleaner at the recommended concentration and contact time using a recirculating pump. In a couple of cases these flakes have returned (or perhaps never were removed) shortly after I leave. I am returning to one customer tomorrow to re-clean the Sam Summer that I just cleaned on June 11th. No other lines affected.

Any comments or suggestions would be helpful. I risk losing customers if I don't get these lines cleaned properly.

[draft45331]

Try turning the pump off for 5 minutes while using solution and then turn back on and rinse. Put a flash light up to the line inside the cooler and verify it is clean. If not completely clean brush out with a 5 foot brush and repeat.
I have found this to happen most often to beers that are near the cooler door and are subject to temperature change when cooler door is left open for too long.

Ralph

[BrewGuru]

You probably have a combination of problems here.

First and foremost, how often do you use acid to remove the Calcium Oxalate, aka "Beer Stone" or "Milk Stone"? This is absolutely required, and if you are not doing it now, your regimen should include an acid treatment every x number of cleanings or so, this is variable depending on lines, trunk size, previous maintenance, etc... but should be run every 3 to 7 times you clean the lines.

Additionally if the pieces are dark and brown like tobacco flakes floating in there, it sounds like the caustic solution that has been used in the past to clean these lines has not been strong enough, and soluble as well as the insoluble proteins have deposited with the Oxalate, and built back up over time. Strengthen your caustic.

Resting solutions in the lines is a good answer, and always good practic, rest and re-circ, rest and re-circ.

If you haven't run an acid / stone remover, that's likely your foremost problem, so start there and if not, let us know a little more about your regimen and hopefully we can make some suggestions.

[bornearly]

Although I have cleaned lines with MM Beer Line Cleaner and MM Acid Line Cleaner (maybe not often enough on the Acid) I still see considerable flakes coming out of some lines. In some instances I can see the build-up inside the lines within the cooler. In one case I even used a brush to knock it off as far as the brush would reach (6ft).

An overnight soaking in Beer Line Cleaner seems to work. One thought that I have had is that I know that these lines were cleaned for 12-15 years using a glass bead cleaning machine. Is it possible that the interior of these beer lines is damaged from that method thus creating a surface for this protein build-up to attach to?

I have several accounts where this machine had been used.

Thanks for any advice.

[Scott Zuhse]

Once the bead system is utilized to clean the system, it will require cleaning from that point on with this system. This process is so abrasive that it will scratch and scar the interior surface of the lines. This allows beer stone and bio film to cling and is virtually impossible to remove.

Best practice would be to update the system with newer line (barrier) and clean with conventional methods.