One afternoon my good friend and kegging mentor Dan stopped over for a beer. I drew him a glass of my harvest mulberry. I was feeling really proud because this was the best mulberry harvest I had to date and this year’s brew was particularly wonderful.

Dan is not one to hold back his feelings or opinions. Until this point he had at least not spit out one of my beers. He took in the aroma and was pleased. He sipped it, got a queasy look on his face, and made a mad dash to my sink. While giving me a disgusted look, he spit and then held his hand to his mouth and with his tongue pushed out a little black and white globule. He said, “You know you have to clean your faucet and stuff don’t you?”

This led to a discussion and a disassembly of nearly my whole keg fridge. Upon disassembly of the faucet and quick disconnects, I found some of the most disgusting mold formation I’d ever seen this side of a dorm-room toilet. That was the moment I put together my first “friendly” keg system.

If you already have a keg system set-up, you may find this information, particularly the sections on faucet disassembly, helpful when it comes time to completely clean your system. Over the years and after disconnecting the system many times to clean, I’ve come across the problem of shrinking hoses. Every time you have to disassemble the system, your hoses get shorter and shorter because you must cut off the hoses from the barbs. This design tackles that problem by eliminating the barbs entirely.

You don’t have to clean all of the hoses after every keg, but you do need to clean the faucet, shank, and disconnects. Flushing sanitizer through all of these parts just doesn’t get into all of the areas you need to clean.

These instructions set up a two-keg system for easy disassembling and cleaning. The complete system is configured around 1/4-inch flare fittings and 3/16-inch tubing.

Easy Setup

This set-up is divided into two groups: carbon dioxide and beer. It is designed for a two-keg system. The only tools you need are an adjustable wrench, a hacksaw or tubing cutter, and a pipe-flaring tool (optional).

Carbon Dioxide

The design starts with an easy disassembly for your CO2 tank and some shut-off valves for keg changing and accessories. Next come quickly removable hoses for reconfiguration and ease of transportation.

Parts Needed

5-1/4-inch flare nuts (49 to 69 cents).

1—two-foot length of 1/4-inch “L” copper tubing ($1).

1—length of 3/16-inch ID (inner diameter) vinyl tubing, rated for 25 psi (pounds per square inch) or higher. The length varies depending upon your set-up. You will be using this same tubing for beer as well as CO2.

2—1/4-inch gas flare fittings.

2—quick-disconnect soda keg fittings ($3 to $5).

Assembly

Step one is to make or purchase some female flare fittings. You can purchase these already made from some homebrew supply stores and hardware stores. They will cost from $1.99 to $3.99 each.

To make your own, cut a two-inch length of the 1/4-inch copper tubing. Using a flaring tool, flare one end and insert it into the flare nut (see figure 2). This is now the stem you will insert into the tubing. For this project you will have to make seven stems. While you’re at it, you might as well make 10 — you will always need them for future projects.

Screw the CO2 supply hose (the one that goes into your refrigerator) onto your regulator output. The other end of the supply hose will connect to the gas manifold.

Gas Manifold

Parts Needed

2—1/4-inch compression needle valves with 1/4-inch pipe thread.

2—1/4-inch female pipe thread to 1/4-inch male flare adapter.

1—1/4-inch male flare T.

1—length of 1/4-inch “L” copper tubing.

Assembly

Insert the flare stem into the compression end of the valves with flare nut already on the other end and tighten down. Screw flare nut onto flare T (see Figure 1, page 51).

Screw pipe-thread-to-flare-thread adapter onto pipe-thread end of valve. Do this to other side of T. This is your gas manifold. Empty end of T goes to CO2 hose. Screw supply lines onto valve ends to route to your keg’s quick-disconnects.

Beer

Now we have to get from the keg to the glass. This should be as simple to set up and tear down as the rest of the system. This also needs to be the easiest to clean.

Parts needed

2—1/4-inch flare nuts with stems (made previously).

2—faucet shanks without hose barb.

2—1/4-inch hose tail pieces (65 cents to $1).

2—coupling wing nuts ($1.50).

1—length of 3/16-inch ID vinyl tubing, rated 25 psi or higher. You need a length of tubing long enough to hook up the CO2 and to reach from your beer kegs to the faucets.

2—1/4-inch beverage flare fittings.

2—quick-disconnects (soda keg fittings).

Assembly

Cut your tubing to size to reach from kegs to faucets. Insert previously made flare nut and stem into one end of each piece of tubing. Slide coupling wing nut over the other end of the tubing, push it along the tubing to cover the nut and stem. Insert the hose tail piece for the faucet. If your faucet is a hose barb type, you can cut the barb off with a hacksaw and still achieve a seal. Screw tail piece onto faucet shank and flare fittings onto disconnects. That’s it. You are now ready to pour yourself a pitcher.

Typical System Cleaning

This should be your typical, quick system cleaning method. It is best to clean your kegs immediately after you empty them. If for some reason this can’t be done, at least keep them under pressure to ensure a stable “clean” environment.

Keg Cleaning Tip

Scrub your keg and be sure it is free of all yeast splooge (technical term) and other yuckies (another technical term). The next step is to clean out your beer lines.

Fill the keg with sanitizer (such as 180° F water, iodophor). Connect the filled keg to your system as you would for beer. Pressurize to 10 psi. Shut off the CO2 and open the faucet, draining the keg into a bucket. When the keg comes to a slow drain, close the faucet and let set for five minutes. Pressurize the keg again. Shut off the CO2 and drain the keg again. When the flow stops, your lines are clean.

To keep the keg clean between brews, fill the keg with cool water and about one ounce of iodophor (an iodine-based sanitizer that won’t harm stainless steel). Seal the keg and fill it to 10 psi. Release this pressure and then fill it again to 10 psi. You then can store it until you next need to use it. It will remain clean with iodophor, and the CO2 fills all of the air space, keeping it clean.

Faucet Cleaning

As intimidating as it may seem, the beer faucet is actually a very simple piece of machinery. The faucet consists of 10 parts (see figure 3) that are very simple to disassemble and thoroughly clean. For quick changing from keg to keg, simply running a faucet brush dipped in sanitizer in and out of the faucet a few times will be sufficient. About four times a year or if a keg has been on for a month or more, it is a good idea to disassemble the faucet for cleaning. The faucet shank can be cleaned with a good cotton pipe cleaner or a long, wooden-handled cotton swab such as those used to clean heads on tape decks.

To disassemble the faucet, remove the handle and unscrew and remove the collar. Unscrew and remove the bonnet. Pull the knob lever up and out of the body and shaft. Push the shaft out of body from the front of body. Then you can remove the shaft nut and clean the shaft seat and inspect it for damage. Clean all parts with a toothbrush and faucet brush in a mild bleach or TSP solution. Don’t soak them overnight; the bleach may corrode or pit the metal. Rinse all parts well and reassemble.

Quick Disconnect

This is also a very simple piece, consisting of four parts (see figure 4). These should be cared for the same as the faucet.

Unscrew the retaining screw with a quarter or other non-damaging item (not a screwdriver). Take out the spring and tappet. Clean the same as the faucet.

That’s all there is to it. You now have a user-friendly, beer-friendly kegging system.