Over the years, I've wondered how critical it is to sanitize the keg before racking in the finished beer. It's fermented, so what's the risk? To begin with, I'm not one of those types that takes everything apart after each brew. In fact, at best the kegs get a good take apart cleaning every 2,3 maybe 4 or 5 years.
My standard MO is that when a keg kicks, I just disconnect the CO2 and store it full of CO2. When I'm ready to fill, I just release the CO2, rinse and sanitize. Works fine for me.
I recently kegged 10 gallons of Beerfan's SNPA clone into 2 kegs with just a water rinse (no sanitizer). It seems to have worked fine. I did this about a month ago, in preparation for the Oregon Country Fair in Denny's backyard. We killed that keg (plus 2 more) at the Fair and everyone loved it. I just tapped the other keg and, again, it tastes fine. I plan to try and keep this keg around for awhile to see if any off flavors develop, but I don't see it happening.
Anyone else do this? Please share your experiences.
My methods have served me well for many years, so please don't bother telling me how I need to clean everything all the time.