Coming clean - Richard Millington and Company Ltd.'s new draught-system line-cleaning technology

A proven line cleaning technology from the U.K. comes to the U.S. market

Richard Millington & Co. Ltd. is a private company with a large factory located in Lancashire, England. Millington has developed draught-system line-cleaning technology that is in use all over the world, but the company's methods have never been adopted in the world's largest beer market--the United States.

Frederick Wilgram is out to change that. Wilgram is now serving as the U.S. representative for the British company, and is attempting to sell the technolog to American retailers and wholesalers.

Wilgram says that the Millington system's great advantage is that it allows a retail establishment to take control of its own line-cleaning regimen. He believes that the Millington system would allow bars and restaurants to quickly and easily clean lines on a weekly basis.

The Millington system is fairly simple: The system installs with caps that mirror the engagement of every beer keg available. Once all the caps are mounted, a connecting 3/8-inch pressure beverage hose is installed. On the last cap in the series, a stop plug is installed. The first cap receives a pressure hose that connects to the outport of a large (up to 75 gallon) soap tank. The tank is similar in design to a 5-gallon Cola syrup can: CO2 port in, fluid port out.

The soap mixture used is a special formula, described by Wilgram as a non-toxic low-alkaline, low caustic compound that eliminates beer stone and yeast build-up. According to Wilgram, the formula is designed to be used weekly, and can stay in the lines all night.

In operation, the Millington system operates something like this: When a retail establishment closes for the evening, a staff member goes to the beer locker, disengages the tavern heads from the kegs, and re-engages them to their respective cap on the wall. The staff member then returns to the bar and places a special cap and hose assembly on the nose port of each of the Milling-ton-design faucets. Each faucet has its own hose that runs to a sink or catch basin.

The Richard Millington faucet is installed in the same mounting orifice as the North American faucets that are to be replaced.

(The Millington fixture has some significant differences from its American counterpart, Wilgram says, which are immediately evident when the mid-section i unscrewed. Most important, he notes that there are no levers or connections tha can come in contact with the beer. According to Wilgram, this prevents residue buildup, and the faucet can be cleaned by simply passing cleaning fluid through The faucet itself is made of stainless steel.)

To operate, cap and hose assemblies are connected, and the staff pulls all the handles forward. The beer in the lines, followed by cleaning fluid, runs off into the sink. When all the lines running to the sink turn blue (due to a tint in the soap), the handles are returned to the off position.

The next morning, a staff member returns to the walk-in and disengages all the tavern heads from the wall mounts and re-engages them to their proper keg. Each line is tagged to prevent error.

The tap handles are them pulled forward, with cap and hose assemblies in place. The soap is pushed out by beer. Once the blue tint is gone, the faucets are closed.

A glass of beer is pulled through each faucet and discarded. At that point, Wilgram says, the lines are cleaned.

Wilgram is busily demonstrating the system to potential clients, and is hopeful about his prospects in the U.S. market.

Editor's Note: For NBWA conventioneers who desire an up-close examination of th Millington line-cleaning system, it is installed at the ITT Sheraton in Boston. Frederick Wilgram will be in attendance at the convention.

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