Cleaning Fermenter

Northern Brewer General
1

I just got done bottling my first batch beer. I’ve cleaned my fermentor (6 gallon glass carboy) but noticed a few specs here and there mainly at the top of the carboy. I first used the little packet of PBW that came with my starter kit for the first cleaning. Then used oxyclean for the second and third cleaning. I let the fermentor soak for a few hours in the second and third cleaning. The specs still remain.

I think my carboy brush is not strong enough to scrub these specs off. Where on the web can i find a carboy brush with thicker bristles? Also,is there any other cleaning products i can use to help remove these specs? Would it hurt to use boiling water to help loosen these hard deposits?

2

Using boiling water you will certainly shock the glass and break it. DON’T add water that is a big temp swing from the temp of the glass.

You can put a dish rag in the carboy with a little water. .5-1 gallon. Swish this around and the specks/crud should come off.

3

i use pbw and let it set overnight if it doesn’t come clean the first time.

4

Soak it with oxy for a day filled over flowing and it should dissolve or come off with the carboy brush. Sometimes tiny bubbles in the glass can look like residue clinging to the walls, check that too.

5

+3 to all above. The only time I broke a carboy was hot water in cold glass. I haven’t used a brush in years, a good soak in OxyClean will take off a years worth
of crud. Just did it on Saturday. :cheers:

6

[quote=“mrv”]+3 to all above. The only time I broke a carboy was hot water in cold glass. I haven’t used a brush in years, a good soak in OxyClean will take off a years worth
of crud. Just did it on Saturday. :cheers: [/quote]

How much OxyClean do you use per 5 or 6 gallons of water? The reason I’m asking is I use PBW. When I cleaned my cornie keg today, the wife had OxyClean sitting on the washer and I was tempted to try it on the keg but didn’t know how much to add. When I opened the container, there wasn’t a whole lot left in it, so I didn’t mess with it. In the past I used 3 tbl spoons of PBW per gallon of water. I read a thread on this fourm about using less PBW with good results, so I tried it and it worked. I think I used 3 tbl spoons and filled the cornie to the top. I then used a cobweb brush and scrubbed the inside of the keg after soaking for 24 hours, but I really don’t think I needed to do that.

7

I just used PBW at a rate of about 1 1/2 TBSP to 5 gallons water, soaked in a corney keg for a couple hours then transferred it to a nasty crud covered glass carboy. I let the carboy sit over night, rinsed it out and it was spotless. I’ve used the same mix rate and let carboys sit for a couple of hours with the same success. I haven’t really checked out how much I can save with Oxy because I’m happy with PBW and I only have 5 fermenters so I don’t feel like PBW is breaking the bank.

8

+1 and you can re-use it for several fermenters/kegs.