--- title: "Beer Line Cleaning Checklist" canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/beer-line-cleaning-checklist/" --- > Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/beer-line-cleaning-checklist/ [Checklists](/checklists/) / [Bar & Pub](/checklists/bars-pubs/) / Beer Line Cleaning Cycle # Bar & Pub Beer Line Cleaning Checklist & Cycle Beer lines in a Bar & Pub should be cleaned on a fixed cycle - **every 14 days under the Brewers Association standard, or every 7 days under Cask Marque** - with every line done, signed and dated, and none skipped for being quiet. These 9 checks cover the cadence, the clean itself (full contact time, taps and FOB detectors stripped, rinsed and tasted) and the verification - timing the pour against the pint you actually serve, roughly 8 seconds for a US 16 fl oz pint and 9.6 seconds for an imperial 568 ml pint at the Brewers Association's 2 oz per second - and each is backed by published evidence: a survey of 237 keg beers from 57 outlets found 65% microbiologically damaged at dispense, and Cask Marque found one pint in three served through a line already overdue for cleaning. This is, hour for hour, the job that saves you the most money in the building. [Run this checklist - free](/run/bars-pubs/?list=line-cleaning) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-bars-pubs-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-bars-pubs-checklists.xlsx) The checklist · 9 checks ### Run the cycle and prove it **1\. Clean every line on schedule - 14 days (Brewers Association) or 7 days (Cask Marque). Do not skip a line just because it was quiet.** About one pint in three is poured through a line that is overdue for cleaning. The quiet line is usually the worst one. **2\. Sign and date the cleaning log for each line. Write down who did the cleaning.** A clean with no signature cannot be proven. The log shows which line was missed, and it is what you show a brewer, auditor, or insurer. **3\. If a line is past its replacement date, clean it more often, or replace the tubing.** Biofilm on old tubing grows back within a day of a caustic clean. Old lines need cleaning more often, or need to be replaced. ### Clean it properly, not quickly **4\. Circulate cleaner at the stated strength for the full contact time. Do not just rinse it through.** A rushed clean leaves live biofilm behind. You have spent the beer and the work, and gained nothing. **5\. Take apart, soak, and brush the taps, spouts, nozzles, sparklers, and keg couplers.** The tap and spout are the dirtiest part of the whole system. They are also the last thing the beer touches on its way out. **6\. Clean fob detectors every cycle. Take them fully apart and hand-clean them quarterly.** A dirty fob detector causes foaming in the line. This dumps beer you could have sold into the drip tray every time you change a keg. **7\. Rinse until you cannot detect any cleaner. Pull a pint through and taste it before the line goes back into use.** Leftover cleaner spoils the taste of the first pints. Tasting the beer is the only proof the clean worked. ### Check the system and cost the clean **8\. Time how long it takes to pour a pint. At about 59 ml per second, a US 16 fl oz (473 ml) pint takes about 8 seconds, and an imperial 568 ml pint takes about 9.6 seconds.** If your pour is far from the right rate for your pint size, you have a pressure or blockage problem. That problem later shows up as foam, waste, and short measures. **9\. Write down how much beer each line loses to cleaning. Compare that to what poor quality is costing you.** The beer lost to cleaning is small and easy to measure. The beer lost to poor quality is large and hard to see. Put both numbers on the same page. ## Frequently asked questions **How often should beer lines be cleaned?** The Brewers Association Draught Beer Quality Manual sets routine cleaning every 14 days; Cask Marque in the UK states 7 days, and says a 7-day cycle eliminates fobbing caused by yeast build-up. There is no published head-to-head trial showing that 7 days beats 14 on measured yield, waste or sales - the split appears to be convention rather than evidence - so pick a cadence, log it line by line, and let your own waste and volume data settle it. What is not in doubt is the cost of drifting: Cask Marque found only 72% of beer lines visually perfectly clean, and one in three pints served through lines overdue for cleaning. **Does a dirty beer line really affect the beer?** Yes, and the damage happens in your building rather than at the brewery. A Journal of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling survey of 237 keg beer samples (149 lagers, 88 keg ales) from 57 on-trade outlets found 65% had suffered some microbiological damage as a consequence of dispense - 34.8% rated excellent, 42.2% acceptable, 20.3% poor and 2.7% unacceptable. Laboratory work on the tubing itself shows why cleaning has to be relentless: biofilm on aged line grew back to 3.6 Log10 CFU/cm² within 24 hours of a strong chemical clean (caustic clean) that had knocked it below 2.75. **How much beer do you lose cleaning the lines, and is it worth it?** The Brewers Association puts loss of beer in cleaning at typically 1% or less, based on 80 ft of line at 0.5 oz per foot, and cites line cleaning service at around $8 a line as fairly standard, ranging from $5 to nearly $20 per line. Set that against the quality it protects: Cask Marque estimated UK industry losses from substandard beer quality at £709 million in lost profit - 5.8% of total on-trade beer sales - with the average pub missing about £14,600 a year and clean-line operators gaining roughly £32,000 a year over poor line hygiene. A Wisconsin distributor draught-quality programme reported 4% draught volume growth, still 3%+ after subtracting the beer lost to cleaning. ## More Bar & Pub checklists [Goods-In: Kegs, Spirits & Bar Deliveries](/checklists/bar-delivery-checklist/)[Cellar, Kegs & Gas](/checklists/pub-cellar-checklist/)[Opening & Responsible Service](/checklists/bar-opening-checklist/)[Glassware, Ice & Bar Hygiene](/checklists/bar-glassware-ice-machine-cleaning-checklist/)[Closing - Cash, Stock & Pour Cost](/checklists/bar-closing-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/bar-weekly-checklist/) One free app has all of them: [open the Bar & Pub Checklists app](/run/bars-pubs/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen. ## Sources Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data: - [Journal of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling, 'Draught beer hygiene: a survey of on-trade quality'](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/brewers/PKAlZEHR7aGm3MYzsc5A-draught-beer-hygiene-a-survey-of-on-trade-quality-pdf) - [Cask Marque Beer Quality Report 2017](https://cask-marque.co.uk/quality-report/) - [Brewers Association, Draught Beer Quality Manual](https://f.hubspotusercontent40.net/hubfs/6632597/PDFs/Draft-Beer-Quality-Manual.pdf) - [Cask Marque, 'Beer quality issues'](https://cask-marque.co.uk/beer-quality-issues/) - [Chartered Trading Standards Institute, 'Over two thirds of UK beer and wine is short measured'](https://www.tradingstandards.uk/news-policy-campaigns/news-room/2024/over-two-thirds-of-uk-beer-and-wine-is-short-measured/) - [Cask Marque, 'Scores on the Cellar Doors' launch, citing Quality Report 2016](https://cask-marque.co.uk/cask-marque-launches-scores-cellar-doors/) - [ACFE, Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations](https://www.anchin.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-ACFE-Occupational-Fraud-Report.pdf) - [Toomey et al., 'Can Obviously Intoxicated Patrons Still Easily Buy Alcohol at On-Premise Establishments?'](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/can-obviously-intoxicated-patrons-still-easily-buy-alcohol-at-on-/) - [Toomey et al., 'Alcohol sales to pseudo-intoxicated bar patrons', Public Health Reports](https://scispace.com/pdf/alcohol-sales-to-pseudo-intoxicated-bar-patrons-41guui6gpf.pdf) - [NHTSA, Countermeasures That Work - Alcohol Vendor Compliance Checks](https://www.nhtsa.gov/book/countermeasures-that-work/alcohol-impaired-driving/countermeasures/enforcement/alcohol-vendor) - [Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.4](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-3717-1-04.4) - [FDA Report on the Occurrence of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors](https://www.fda.gov/media/157223/download) - [Journal of Water and Health](https://iwaponline.com/jwh/article/15/3/410/28453/Microbiological-quality-of-ice-and-ice-machines) - [Food Safety Magazine, 'The Sanitation of Ice-Making Equipment', citing NSF/ANSI 12-2012](https://www.food-safety.com/articles/4343-the-sanitation-of-ice-making-equipment) - [Miller, Buckingham-Meyer & Goeres, 'Simulated aging of draught beer line tubing increases biofilm contamination'](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4593278) - [Brewers Association, 'Economics of Draught Quality' November Power Hour Q&A](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/brewersassoc/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Economics-of-Draught-Quality_QA.pdf) - [British Guild of Beer Writers, analysis of Food Standards Agency FHRS data](https://www.beerguild.co.uk/news/average-food-hygiene-rating-for-pubs-bars-and-clubs-revealed-across-the-uk-as-more-than-92-score)