Alkaline Brewery Wash vs Powdered Brewery Wash

flars · May 31, 2018, 12:15pm

Decided to try out Craft Meister Alkaline Brewery Wash in place of cleaning carboys with PBW. Prepping carboys for the last two brews noticed small white streaks in the bottom of the carboys. I store the cleaned and rinsed carboys upside down to drip dry. Suspect the white streaks is PBW that did not rinse out.

I use less than 1 tablespoon of PBW in 2 to 2.5 gallons of water so I don’t think the left over PBW is from a too strong solution for soaking the carboy over night. My cleaning and rinse water for carboys is 75° to 70°. PBW supposedly works best for cleaning when the solution is over 140°. Good temperature for clean in place systems but not for a glass carboy. The poor rinsing could also possibly be a reaction with minerals in our water which has a total hardness 183. Will have a couple of carboys to clean soon. See what happens.

squeegeethree · May 31, 2018, 12:34pm

Let us know what you find out. I’ve never used PBW. Instead I’ve used elbow grease and Starsan. At times when I’m lazy I use Oxiclean, rinse and store with Starsan.
I thought this wash an interesting read on the subject.

flars · May 31, 2018, 1:05pm

Good reading. There is a PBW clone recipe on HBT that uses Seventh Generation powdered dish washer detergent that adds the chelating ingredients.

voltron · May 31, 2018, 1:23pm

I bought some back when our host used to offer the Craft Meister Alkaline Wash. I thought it was great stuff!

hd4mark · May 31, 2018, 1:53pm

Before I ever heard of PBW I used B-Brite. Worked pretty good for less money.

denny · May 31, 2018, 7:10pm

Here’s a comparison we did of both Crafmeister products and PBW…Craftmeister Cleaners - The Picturing - Carboy Test | Experimental Homebrewing

squeegeethree · May 31, 2018, 8:00pm

That was an exciting race for sure. All of those with hot water?

loopie_beer · May 31, 2018, 11:40pm

Denny, in layman’s terms can you explain the difference between their alkaline brewery wash and their oxygen brewery wash?

denny · June 1, 2018, 3:52pm

The oxygen wash is percarbonate based, like PBW. The difference is in the quality of the ingredients Craftmeister uses. PBW sources their percarbonate cleaners from the laundry industry. Craftmeister uses ingredients made specifically for them. The results is that the Craftmeister dissolves and rinses more readily than PBW and does a better job cleaning. The alkaline cleaner works kind of like a caustic wash in the brewery. Sorry I can’t give you the exact chemistry. I’ve found that the alkaline cleans better in cold water than PBW does in hot water. The alkaline used with hot water will clean just about anything.

sneezles61 · June 2, 2018, 1:58am

Now you’ve got to explain… I was under the impression that the PBW, and the Craft Meister belong to the alkaline side of the pH scale… I understand that their are certain “adjuncts” to these cleaners we use that work better on… say, protein as opposed to water deposits left from the boiling process… Lime, calcium… brewing salts…
Did I have too much to sample? Sneezles61

sneezles61 · June 2, 2018, 12:11pm

OK… Did some research… Cryptobrewology, Jan. 12 2012… That explains this to me… If read all the way through it, theres a public announcement the article makes that should get you to smile! Sneezles61

flars · June 30, 2018, 7:48pm

This Chinook IPA was the first brew in a carboy cleaned with Alkaline Brewery Wash. Bottled 6/18 and one day of chilling in the refrigerator. No problem with head retention and that beautiful lacing in the glass. Seems to have been worthwhile to switch from PBW.

First picture the glass and the camera lens are covered with condensate on this hot and humid day.