Blow off tube cleaning

I did a quick search but didn’t see a topic posted. Any body have a trick for cleaning a blow off tube? My tube filled up with foam during fermentation and I’m having trouble cleaning it. I tried flushing it and soaking it in warm water without success.

Warm water alone wont do anything, at least it didn’t help for me. Use PBW and let it soak in that. It will eat all the crud from inside the hose.

My large diameter blow off tube is bent into a “U” and placed in a bucket with both open ends sticking out the top of the bucket. I use a funnel to fill the tube with PBW. I let it soak for a day. Next I take out the tube drain the PBW into the bucket. Flip the tube so the ends that were sticking out of the top of the bucket are now submerged in the PBW. I let that soak for a day. After that I rinse it with fresh water, air dry, then place it in a container. When needed I soak it in Starsan before use. I do the same for my racking tube. Only difference is it is filled with PBW then coiled in the bottom of the bucket and covered with PBW.

I tie a string to a wash cloth and pull it through the tube. :wink:

Search amazon for “sports bottle brush”. That and and an Oxyclean soak works for me.

I bend a coat hanger straight, put a curl in the end, and pull my bottle cleaner thru it with PBW and water. Then sanitize in starsan.

Ron

[quote=“Frenchie”]I bend a coat hanger straight, put a curl in the end, and pull my bottle cleaner thru it with PBW and water. Then sanitize in starsan.

Ron[/quote]
Genius! Thanks!

Stormy brew. I do the same. Works great!

Great ideas. Thanks for the tips.

soak it in oxyclean over night, rinse well and star san before next use. sometimes push the bottle brush in the end that sits in the jar of starsan and gets kind of gunky…

+1. An overnight soak in oxyclean (or PBW) will clean it up. My son’s tiny little brush to clean the small parts of his bottles works good too. Just don’t tell my wife :wink:

Get a 6 1/2G carboy and you never need to deal with blowoffs.

That was my thoughts exactly when I bought my 6.5 gallon carboy. And most brews worked out fine using the airlock. But I have had a few make a real mess in the fermentation freezer. So I just use the blowoff tube with every ale now. But I do have 5.5 gallons in the 6.5 gallon carboy. That could be why I wound up with the mess a few times.

I brew 5.5G as well. While I do think there needs to be some room for krausen, starting and keeping the ferment at proper temps should alleviate blow off concerns. Reduces the formation of fusels and makes better beer too. That said, brewing 5G and fermenting in 5G WILL require a blowoff tube and cost you some beer…

Sure and some people will say control fermentation temperatures and never worry about a blowoff.

I have 5.25 gals of amber ale fermenting in a 6.5 gal carboy right now, in a swamp cooler at 61 degrees. It has a blow off hose in it. Maybe it’s overkill, but why risk it when it’s just as easy as putting on an airlock?

Hose for 3 days, put on an airlock when I take it out of the swamp cooler if I need the blow off hose for the next one.

:cheers:

I fermented in 5G for years dealing with blow off and cleaning and replacing the hose until a dude at the LHBS suggested the 6 1/2G carboy. When he told me I thought it was genius.

Stick what works for you. I find an air lock to be easier to clean or sterilize than a blowoff tube…

This is what I use, along with Oxy-Clean. It’s long enough to get the entire length of tubibg clean.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_i ... cts_id=918