PBW Crystals in Keg

[bistro37]

I made up some PBW in a keg a few weeks ago to clean out a line in my kegerator. After running some through the line, I left the rest in the keg and left the keg sitting in the garage. Today I opened up the keg to finish cleaning it so I could fill it. Inside around the lid and in the bottom, there were crystals. I’m guessing some of the liquid evaporated from the keg and left the PBW behind but I’m really surprised how much was left. The whole keg ring was coated in crystals and about half of the bottom was covered.

So, was it a bad idea to leave the PBW solution in the keg? Was the PBW concentration off and that’s why I go so many crystals? Or was it just evaporation and there really wasn’t anything I could have done about it?

[pupthepup]

Not a bad idea at all to let your keg soak in some PBW.

Just be sure to thoroughly scrub it and rinse it with hot water, which should dissolve those crystals left behind.

PBW needs to be dissolved in hot water with active agitation. Even if you used too much, you can just rinse it off with hot water.

Did I mention hot water yet?

[shadetree]

You can also do an acid rinse to help remove PBW. I often follow a long PBW soak with a quick scrub using Barkeeper’s Friend.

[tom_sawyer]

Percarbonate becomes carbonate over time adn whenever it reacts with orgainc matter, and I think there’s some phosphate in there too. Both could have crystallized. I’ve had buckets get a rough “crust” on them, a little vinegar takes it off as mentioned above.

[bistro37]

Thanks for the responses. I figured it wasn’t a big deal and that I just needed to clean it really well. Also I didn’t know that hot water was a key. Thanks!