I advise brewers to use the "24 hour rule" for cleaning and sanitizing which is;
"Clean a cellar tank of piece of equipment within 24 hours of emptying or using and within 24 hours of filling or using it again. this may be the same cleaning event. Sanitize the clean tank or equipment as the last step but within 4 hours of wort or beer contact."
The 24 hour rule comes from my experience working at a very large commercial brewer and served as a reliable "rule of thumb" which should also apply as a guide for smaller craft brewers. We did not call out different types of valves for this practice. Additionally, packing the line with sanitizer is not recommended as these chemicals can be very hard on valve, pump and piping elastomers, better to pack with pH neutral rinse water. The real key is to achieve the proper CIP flow velocity for good cleaning. Check out Chapter 2, Volume 2 of the Craft Brewer's Guide to Best Practices for additional information on brewery cleaning/sanitizing practices.
Cheers,
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Karl Ockert
Author The Craft Brewer's Guide to Best Practices
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2025 13:32
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Industry Standard on Line Hold Time Post CIP
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Hello all,
I am looking for feedback on industry best practices timelines for the following:
Lines sitting idle after cleaning - when should you target re-CIPing? 24hr?
Does your best practice change depending on the valve type - double block/bleed vs single valve?
Does anyone pack the line with sanitizers to help increase this "timeline to re-CIP"?
Appreciate the insight!
Thanks
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