The line is part of the drink.
Cold brew and nitro systems need more than a keg change. Recurring cleaning, sanitation, inspection, and a usable service history keep the dispensing side of the program from becoming the forgotten equipment under the counter.
Clean it on a schedule, not when the pour finally looks wrong.
For draft coffee systems, I use a fixed recurring sanitation and line-cleaning schedule rather than waiting for a keg to empty or a problem to become obvious. A practical baseline is approximately every 60 days, then the actual system and operating conditions can tell us whether that interval needs to change.
The goal is to move cleaning out of the emergency column and into the calendar.
A documented visit can include
- Product-line cleaning and sanitation
- Faucet, coupler, fitting, and accessible connection cleaning
- Kegerator and dispensing-system condition check
- Gas, temperature, flow, and pour-behavior observations where applicable
- Leaks, wear, frozen-line risk, buildup, or developing issues noted
- Work performed and next cleaning date documented
Still draft coffee
Line condition, refrigeration, connections, pressure, and cleanliness all affect what reaches the glass. When something changes, the whole path matters.
Gas is part of the system
Nitro adds another operating variable. Cleaning remains the baseline, while gas supply, pressure, connections, temperature, and pour behavior become useful service observations.
Know when it was actually cleaned
Each visit can become part of the location's equipment record so the next service does not begin with somebody trying to remember when the lines were last done.
Service the equipment. Leave useful information behind.
A recurring cleaning program should make the café easier to operate. I document the work, call out developing issues, and explain anything the staff should know about normal operation, keg changes, basic observations, or when to ask for help.
The intent is not to make routine knowledge mysterious so you have to call me for every little thing. It is to handle the work that belongs on a service schedule and help the people using the system understand what they are looking at.
Good fit for
- Cafés and coffee bars serving cold brew or nitro on draft
- Restaurants, offices, hospitality, and multi-location beverage programs
- Systems that need a repeatable cleaning record
- Locations that want cleaning tied into the rest of their equipment history