Glass carboy won't dry

I have a 6,5 gallon glass carboy which I've just received from my grandfather, in pretty much perfect condition. Anyway I cleaned it with some PBW just to make sure, and put it upside down in a DIY carboy stand, but after approximately 48 hours it still hadn't dried. There were plenty of small drops inside and what looked like a humid atmosphere because the entire carboy was pretty foggy. I then put it right side up to see if the "fog" at least would disappear but after 10 hours nothing has happened. I have it indoors in 20 degrees celcius (68 fahrenheit). It's autumn in Scandinavia but I had hoped it would dry out anyway, the 2,5 gallon carboy of the same form dried much faster.

Any tips?

Put a gallon of boiling water in it and then swish and pour quickly. Leave upright.

Pouring boiling water into a glass carboy can cause it to crack. If it doesn't crack immediately the stress to the glass may cause it to fail while you are carrying it full of beer.

I store my carboys wet with Starsan. Empty, clean with PBW, and rinse. Add Starsan shake to coat and cap. I rinse before next use and sanitize again.

If you really want it to dry, use the moderate heat from a 40 to 60 watt light bulb.

Why bother? I leave all my containers as-is, and re-sanitize with StatSan just before use. If you wish, you can rinse out the San with boiled or pre-distilled water. The more you handle that 'boy, the sooner you will break it.

Put some vodka in it and swish around. The water will mix with the alcohol and dry very rapidly. Use very cheap vodka and reuse next time. Or, use to make a drink.

I also like the idea of StarSan.. Or even store upside down in the sun. I wouldn't be concerned about it... but, I like the vodka idea.

DEFINITELY NO BOILING WATER IN YOUR CARBOY

Put in 1-2 cups of starsan, shake around, put some plastic wrap (or solid bung) over the top. When you go to use it next, swirl up the starsan and toss out - it's ready for wort/must!

I keep my glass carboys (actually all of my fermenters) partially filled with mild bleach solution and capped. I rinse out with hot tap water before use.

I know people don't like bleach, but it has never caused me a problem, and never had an infected batch in nearly 20 years.

I find that if I fold a paper towel in 4ths, then lightly shove it down into the carboy opening with the ends poking out, this seems to serve as a "wick" to draw moisture out and I usually end up with a dry interior within a day or two.

I've also stored with OxyClean as well as StarSan in them, and a solid rubber bung sealing the opening...

HopSong said:

Put some vodka in it and swish around. The water will mix with the alcohol and dry very rapidly. Use very cheap vodka and reuse next time. Or, use to make a drink.

I also like the idea of StarSan.. Or even store upside down in the sun. I wouldn't be concerned about it... but, I like the vodka idea.

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There is no Star-San in Scandinavia.

There is most definitely no cheap vodka in Scandinavia.

If you're really worried about it, use a blow-dryer (what women use to dry their hair).

I put a paper towel in the neck. Once it's mostly dry, a sachet of silica gel (from a new pair of shoes, etc.) goes in and I leave a wad of tissue in the neck to keep out dust. I sanitise before use. The silica prevents atmospheric changes from causing condensation on the glass.

Thanks for all the tips!

podz said:

There is no Star-San in Scandinavia.

There is most definitely no cheap vodka in Scandinavia.

If you're really worried about it, use a blow-dryer (what women use to dry their hair).

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If you drink it after dehydrating the carboy.. it can be more expensive vodka The carboy is clean.. the vodka comes out clean.. just a tiny bit diluted.. You would never notice.. or at least I wouldn't notice that minuscule amount of water in my drink.

podz said:

There is no Star-San in Scandinavia.

There is most definitely no cheap vodka in Scandinavia.

If you're really worried about it, use a blow-dryer (what women use to dry their hair).

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Actually I bought Star San a week ago. Don't know about cheap vodka though

My last rinsing of the carboy after cleaning is with hot water. Then I lay the carboy on it's side to let the water sheet down to the bottom. I'll get back to it an hour or so later and tip out the water.
Hot water is key to getting the water to sheet down the sides and aids in faster drying.

Sol_Om_On said:

Actually I bought Star San a week ago. Don't know about cheap vodka though

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Cheapest vodka you can get here, anyway, is about 27 EUR (34 USD) per litre. That is not cheap!

I leave mine full of oxyclean as well between brews.

If you use an air pump to aerate your wort (fish tank type pump) just drop the end in there without the stone on it. The airflow will dry it up on a day or less.

I do this to dry out my carboys and hoses, etc.


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I say - don't even worry about getting it dry. Just sanitize before the next use.

Using a no rinse sanitizer then allowing it to dry is just a waste of sanitizer.

flars said:

...

I store my carboys wet with Starsan. Empty, clean with PBW, and rinse. Add Starsan shake to coat and cap. I rinse before next use and sanitize again.

...

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+1 to this. This works great for me as well, except I don't rinse and sanitize again. I leave the StarSan in until brew day, swish it around right before transfer, drain the carboy, dump in the goods and away we go.

I've read about StarSan becoming ineffective over time with exposure to oxygen (which I realize would also be trapped in the carboy), but my thought was that even if it's no longer an effective sanitizer by brew day, the inner surface of the carboy is still sanitary because nothing else has come in contact with it since it was sanitized.

Is there a reason that I'm not thinking of that this wouldn't be a good idea? I hate to use the old excuse that 'it's worked great for me so far', but it's true in this case.