Lenny2884

Recipes 

Just went to www.carboycleaner.com and I gotta admit I'm very intrigued by this product. However, I primarily use better bottles as my fermenter. Will this product scratch a better bottle? I hate shaking the better bottles to try and clean them and this looks like a quick and easy alternative. Has anyone out there used this on a better bottle or plastic bucket without any scratching? Thanks guys.

rcrabb22

Recipes 

I ruined 2 better bottles trying to gently use a traditional carboy brush. The BB's scratch easily. I have had great success cleaning my BB's by filling them to the brim with hot water and Sun Oxygen Cleaner (unscented Oxy-Clean) and letting them soak overnight. I have never had residue survive the soak.

FSR402

Recipes 

I do the same thing and it works great. But I too have been thinking this cleaner would be nice if it wont scratch up the BB's. When I clean the fermenters I always have a min of 4 to clean and most of the time it's 8 to 10 of them.
Filling them to the top (6+ gallons) and the oxi-clean waste a lot of hot water and cleaner. My water heater can't keep up so I end up filling a few of them and then coming back and hour later to fill more.

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rcrabb22

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Only thing you can do is give it a try, but maybe just 1 to start

woodstone

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I ordered this item a few months ago in an effort to rid myself of carboy brushes and using gallons of water at a time.

I don't have BBs and use glass but I will say the pads are relatively soft and so unless you have any type of grit in the dirty carboy (spice hulls, etc.), I think it would do a good job. I always give a good rinse, prior to cleaning to get all of the loose stuff out first.

My opinion of the item...works as advertized but the two pads usually go off track and thus the unit vibrates like hell. You have to stop, then start again.

I also routinely reverse my drill...the center of the pads appear to have a plastic insert that will start to stay bent in the direction of the spin...reversing on occasion keeps them mainly straight.

Relatively clean carboys, works like a champ. Relatively dirty carboys, like crusty after 4 to 5 weeks in the primary take a bit more time and patience.

Overall, I like the product, have been saving some time and water, and I am using power tools!!! I think it would work the same for BBs.

Just an opinion.

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Fermenting/Conditioning Simcoe IPA, Cascade IPA, Ginger Saison, Sour Brown
Almost Gone Steam, Midas Touch, Chile Lager, Chablis Mead, Sticky Red Raspberry Mead

renegade

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Does anybody have updated experience with the carboy cleaner when used with Better Bottles?

woodstone

Recipes 

I maintain my comments above...used it yesterday...works as advertised but had to stop a few times, reverse drill, let soak another minute or two, spin, reverse drill, etc.

I like it but you've got to have patience and a technique.

I do worry about shattering a glass carboy with the thing...it gets out of balance VERY quickly (read: technique).

I've not used my brushes since I've bought it and don't miss them...it's just another tool.

__________________
On Deck Nada
Fermenting/Conditioning Simcoe IPA, Cascade IPA, Ginger Saison, Sour Brown
Almost Gone Steam, Midas Touch, Chile Lager, Chablis Mead, Sticky Red Raspberry Mead

jdauria

Recipes 

I usually just use the Oxyclean soak method after getting most of the gunk out of the Better Bottle by using the beer bottle washer attachment on the sink. Have been considering getting this item though.

kcpup

Recipes 

I use Better Bottles exclusively for brewing beer. I wrote the owner of Carboy Cleaners and asked him about Better Bottles and his product. He said he had a commerical user that cleaned 50 Better Bottles a day with his product.

I ordered one and have been pleased. The fiber is non scratching, and the stitching is far back enough that I am confident it is not scratching the inside of the container. However, I check each time and expect that I'll have to retire the Carboy Cleaner pads way before someone with glass carboys would need to - eventually the pads will lose shape and the nylon stitching would touch inside.

80%of the time I can get by with not having to use the Carboy Cleaner on my Better Bottles. It is when I'm using a big krausen type yeast (WLP400 for instance). I leave beer in the primary for about 3 weeks before kegging, typically. The krausen line is too hard to clean by other means.

Here is a link to detailed post I made on cleaning these bottles. I called the Better Bottle manufacturers and got some useful advice. Later last year I bought the carboy cleaner when I could clearly see a remaining ring in my bottle after brewing a wit. [I brew lots of wit - my sweetheart can deal with my brewing hobby so long as there is always wit on tap. ] Like I mentioned, I only need to use the Carboy Cleaner 20% of the time - the remainder I use the techniques in the post successfully.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/better-bottle-fermenter-information-blowoff-tube-pics-cleaning-info-234492/

Cheers