Carboy Cleaning Question

Northern Brewer General
1

I like fermenting in my carboy, but it is really hard to clean. I have that lame angled carboy brush, but I still can’t reach where I need to get to.

Any suggestions on cleaning carboys?

2

Rinse them out thoroughly as soon as they’re empty. Fill with a warm (NOT hot) solution of water and PBW or Oxiclean. Let soak for a few hours and they should be clean.

3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Lwj-Pd ... 6iWDheeJBq

If you want a hands off approach. Otherwise there are tools:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the- ... eaner.html

Use with a drill.

4

The PBW works so well, give it a try.

5

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=107019

see my post above for a home made cleaner. works very well.

cheers.

6

That’s my method only I use generic oxycleaner from the dollar tree.

7

So, heh, is it bad if I just rinsed and brushed really well, then sanitized, and that’s it? It was my first time cleaning, and I was just kinda following the Northern Brewer tutorial vid, and it strongly implied you could either brush or use the PBW solution. The carboy smelled pretty neutral and there was no residue left inside, so I’m hoping it’s OK. Generally I’d prefer to avoid chemicals and soaps as much as possible beyond the sanitizer…

8

icky, i was kinda in the same mindset as you until i said screw it and tried a pbw equiv and man that is sooo much easier. I soaked it 24hrs and boom sparkling clean.

9

Well, the caribou slobber was a pretty easy cleanup, but I’ve seen pictures of carboys that I’d hate to deal with! :wink:

Did you ever just go the brush, rinse, and sanitize route (i.e., no cleaner)? If so, did you feel the flavor of the next beer was affected?

10

I did the brush and rinse with dish soap before and it came clean but took a bit to scrub every last inch to get it clean. I didn’t need chems, but I did need a little bit of elbow grease. I bet there are a few carboys that would make ya cry looking at them.

11

Glass or plastic? I’m using glass and it came off pretty easily.

At any rate, the carboy in question is being used for Chinook IPA…now that I think about, it I doubt there’s much that would cut through that many hop additions + dry hops.

12

5 gallons very warm water

2 ounces of bleach

rinse thoroughly the next morning

clean as crystal…period

13

I use a jet bottle washer to clean the bottom then soak in PBW overnight. Cleans like a dream the next morning.

14

I usually just soak in StarSan, shake it a bunch, and clean with a brush. If you do it right away, there shouldn’t be problems.

15

[quote=“skolvikes”]I use a jet bottle washer to clean the bottom then soak in PBW overnight. Cleans like a dream the next morning.[/quote]Me too and I have 8 of them.

16

Yikes! Star-San isn’t a cleaner. Granted, I’ve seen it help to clean the kitchen counter or stove top, but that was just used in a spray bottle.

If you are really filling up a carboy with starsan and water, you might want to switching to some PBW or even OxyClean. Those are cleaners.

17

Yikes! Star-San isn’t a cleaner. Granted, I’ve seen it help to clean the kitchen counter or stove top, but that was just used in a spray bottle.

If you are really filling up a carboy with starsan and water, you might want to switching to some PBW or even OxyClean. Those are cleaners.[/quote]

The inventor says it is a sanitizer/cleanser. I have never had a problem with it. I resanitize if I do not use it right away.

Discusses the uses starting at ~28 minutes. Directly mentions detergent and that it is a cleanser at 30:55.

http://hw.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/390da96899 ... b3a091be0a

I don’t fill it up all the way, about a gallon works.

18

I’m usually using my carboys right away. I fill it up with about 2 gallons of hot tap water and turn it up side down in the sink so it soaks into the crusty stuff. While I’m cooling a new batch I will then use my carboy brush to clean the gunk off the sides, shake it up real good, dump, rinse, and repeat. As long as you get all of the caked on stuff, you can sanitize with no worries.

19

Good to hear mvsawyer. The Chinook IPA I started in the carboy I cleaned the same way will go to secondary this weekend, so I’ll be able to take a sip and see if anything tastes off. At the end of active fermentation the closet had a real nice bready smell to it, nothing malodorous at all, which I take as a good sign.