Ask The Brewmasters

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hello!

Our packaging crew uses an iodine and acid solution called Dyne-O-Might. 

Best of luck!

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi Anonymous, your choice of isopropanol (or ethanol) 70% is the best option since they quickly evaporate. Other no-rinse sanitizer solutions will leave moisture in the keg neck. You really want the neck to be as dry as possible when the plastic dust cap is applied. If you are not using vented keg caps, consider changing - you do not want a tight seal. Any residual moisture or condensation needs to be able to evaporate and dissipate. 

Feel free to call me to discuss further.

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hello all,

The QA team at our brewery recently started doing warehouse audits that include popping keg caps and inspecting the keg valves.  They found that many of our kegs contained a good amount of mold.  After scrubbing keg valve after keg valve to ensure the product in the warehouse was clean, we changed some programming on our keg line to increase the duration of steam sterilization and rinsing on our keg valves before they come off the line.  Additionally, we removed a pressure purge that existed at the end of the run to ensure there is enough pressure in the keg to seat the valve properly and avoid any chances of a leaker.  Since these changes, we haven't seen any mold issues with our kegs, however paranoia has its hold on me.  I've instructed my packaging crew to start spraying a light amount of 70% isopropanol in the keg valves prior to capping.

My question is, would anyone recommend a certain chemical for this?  Obviously the first step was ensuring our sanitation programming is sufficient.  But I'm looking at this as a backup.  70% isopropanol seems like a good choice; however, the high concentration makes it less economical.  We've considered PAA and sanadyne, but those both have their shortcomings (both personnel safety and frequency of mixing chemicals).  If anyone has a recommendation for an economical surface sanitizer for the keg valves that also doesn't hinder foam or flavor, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for your advice!