Cleaning beer/yeast gunk

So I had to use a blow off tube for a strong fermentation and now the tube I used has a nice thick layer of beer/yeast gunk in it. I have no real way to get in and clean it and soaking it in water really hasn't helped.

Also this is my first time fermenting in a carboy - usually I used Ale Pales and they were much easier to clean. Any recommendations as to cleaning the ring on the inside?

Thanks!

OxiClean & 24hr soak will do the job

Someone here suggested running fishing line in the tube and pulling a small piece of cloth or paper towel back out.
Worst case, replace the tubing.

Houblon said:

OxiClean & 24hr soak will do the job

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+1 on this, I do this to clean almost all of my brewing gear, including those hard to clean blowoff tubes

Is that white powder sanitizer that comes with most brewing kits a type of OxiClean?

If you have a compresser you can take a string and blow it through to the other side, tie a small piece of cloth with cleaner on it and pull it through. If no compressor, you can attach a fishing weight or something else small and heavy that might be able to be fed through to the other side. I find I have to clean mine every once and a while and this works well.

+1 on oxyclean and a good soak. I have cleaned some nasty stuff out with it. I wasn't sure if you were also asking how to clean the ring around the carboy, but if you were, the best thing I ever bought for this was a carboy brush. It will scrub the gunk out of the carboy.

snipper_cr said:

Is that white powder sanitizer that comes with most brewing kits a type of OxiClean?

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C-Brite is a cleaner and sanitizer, but I've had better luck with OxiClean for jobs like tubing. It's like $10 for a tub - but get the kind with no scent.

I tossed my tube but my Better bottle was pretty caked up from my last blow off. I filled it with oxyclean and the next day GENTLY, GENTLY ran a Carboy brush around to break up the stuck gunk.

rcreveli said:

I tossed my tube but my Better bottle was pretty caked up from my last blow off. I filled it with oxyclean and the next day GENTLY, GENTLY ran a Carboy brush around to break up the stuck gunk.

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I am always afraid of scratching with a bottle brush, I use a new gym sock, and now after the better bottle has had a good soak, I drain most of the cleaner out, toss in the sock and swirl it around to clean any left over bits from the neck area of the bottle.

Do you mean that you push the sock around with the carboy brush, or is just the sock itself enough to clean it?

PBW has dissolved every brewing related mess I have thrown at it. Just make sure you use good hot water and let it soak and it will take care of you.

For my Better Bottles I fill them up with about 1-1.5 gallons of hot water with PBW, put on one of those orange cap seal things with plugs on the openings and flip it upside down over a garbage can. It never leaks and does an excellent job breaking up the crud without wasting a ton of PBW filling up the entire 6 gallon BB.

r_flagg said:

Do you mean that you push the sock around with the carboy brush, or is just the sock itself enough to clean it?

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with the sock in the BB I drain it so that only the soaked sock is remaining, then I whirl it around, not enough pressure to scratch, but enough pressure to remove any last bits still clinging to the bottle. no brush used, just the sock!

Bensiff said:

PBW has dissolved every brewing related mess I have thrown at it. Just make sure you use good hot water and let it soak and it will take care of you.

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+1 for the PBW. Just follow the directions and it'll work like a champ

azscoob said:

with the sock in the BB I drain it so that only the soaked sock is remaining, then I whirl it around, not enough pressure to scratch, but enough pressure to remove any last bits still clinging to the bottle. no brush used, just the sock!

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That is awesome, I'll have to try that! Especially since I found a nasty network of scratches from my last cleaning expedition...