Copper cleaning

I posted a similar post a few months ago but still a little unsure. I made a wort chiller with some copper my father in law had laying in his shop I soaked it in starsan and it shined up real nice. Do I need to clean it anything else like pbw or bar keepers friend because using it? Thanks.

I never scrub my IC. It will look great after dunking it in the boiling wort. After use I rinse it off well and let it dry. About the same before use just to get any dust off of it. The CF is a different story. Not being able to see inside it gets dunked in a bucket of cleaner then a trumpet snake run through. I think that is what they call the small brush on a long wire handle. I run some boiling wort through before turning on the water.

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I always put it in the sink and used a scrub brush to clean dust off, a thorough rinsing, then into the BK about 15 minutes before flame out to allow boiling wort kill what could be lurking on it… When in doubt, spray star san on it before you put in the sink… Sneezles61

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Thanks! I think I’m just over thinking cleaning it since it has been sitting in a shop for a couple of years. I have let it soak in star san for a couple hours when I got it. I will scrub it just to be on the safe sink and Sani it before using it just to be in the safe side

After sitting in the shop for a couple of years you were smart to do an initial scrub. Who knows what could be on it? StarSan every time when immersing it in boiling wort might be overkill but can’t hurt and if it makes you feel better it’s worth it.

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It definitely can hurt. While your wort should have a teeny bit of copper ions in it to help remove sulfur compounds from the beer, too much copper can increase the wort’s potential for oxidizing via a Fenton Reaction. Keeping copper equipment in its dull patina is actually preferred for that reason. Don’t scrub or shine any copper that comes in contact with your wort…unless its caked with deposits.

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For once sloth pays off! I pretty much just rinse it with tap water to remove any hops, etc, then air dry it and call it done. I boil it for a full 20-25 minutes each time so there is no carryover. The other IC which only sits in ice water during the chill gets even less attention.

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