Any carboy cleaning tips out there?

I've just cleaned my carboy after using it for the second time. I spend at least 30-40 minutes cleaning it out before allowing it to dry. Is this pretty typical for most people? I have a carboy brush, which IMO sucks. I clean it with warm water. That's it.

Any tips will be appreciated. I'm close to either going back to buckets full tilt or buying a conical. Thanks.

No, usually just a couple minutes. Soaking overnight with oxyclean helps a lot!

nothing wrong with buckets or conicals but it shouldn't take 30-40 min to clean a carboy. the easiest is to fill it with water and PBW or oxyclean then hit it with the brush the next day.

ong said:

No, usually just a couple minutes. Soaking overnight with oxyclean helps a lot!

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Yeah Oxyclean works way better than PBW for carboys at least.

Do you guys find that Better Bottles scratch easily when using the brush?

Oxy

Brew-Jay said:

Do you guys find that Better Bottles scratch easily when using the brush?

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i use a bottle brush pretty vigorously in my better bottles and they all have swirly scratches inside but it makes no difference since they are nowhere deep enough for the bugs to hide from star san.

+1 for PBW. Stuff is friggin magic!

bethebrew said:

Yeah Oxyclean works way better than PBW for carboys at least.

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Not with my water it doesn't. Doesn't even come close. For me Oxyclean and warm water and a 24 hour soak means I have to spend a few minutes with a carboy brush since the Oxyclean hasn't completely removed the krausen ring. For me, PBW and warm water and an overnight soak means I don't have to do a thing but swirl and rinse. Every single bit of grime is lifted off and sitting in the bottom of the carboy/better bottle. Oxyclean seems to be very dependent on water composition. For some people it works like gangbusters. For others it doesn't work so well. Unfortunately it doesn't work well at all in my water.

Brew-Jay said:

Do you guys find that Better Bottles scratch easily when using the brush?

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Yes, I did find that was the case when I tried to use a brush on my first BB. Since then I have switched to using PBW. Now I don't need a brush. Soak and swirl = DONE!

Sorry everyone, yes, I do know how to multi-quote, but I always forget to use it

OXY and PBW will both work well. The trick (as mentioned above) is to let it soak overnight. Also make sure the krausen build up on the sides is covered by the solution. It should brush of rather easily the next day.

Go back to your buckets.

I secondary in a carboy, but what little solids accumulate, soaking and sloshing with warm water and Oxyclean make short work of. My bottle brush just takes up space in my brewing closet, I haven't had to use it once.

After I transfer my beer I take my carboy out to the hose and fill it with water, brush it, empty it, and rinse with a few more brush uses to get the area that the brush has no bristles. I have never used cleaner and the whole process takes 10min tops. I sanitize it before use next time so I see a need to use cleaner.

To brush the top where the kresun is I just pull up on the brush and turn it around the top a few times.

Oxy and a warm water soak for an hr. Then use the brush. That should do it.

Sure, a carboy cleaner with the appropriate amount of PBW. Also great for cleaning buckets and kegs too.

Invest in a good air compressor and chipping hammer.

I don't use a brush in plastic carboys. For tough areas, I add a little water & soap and stuff a washcloth into the bottle, then swirl it around to clean out the stuck bits.

ong said:

I don't use a brush in plastic carboys. For tough areas, I add a little water & soap and stuff a washcloth into the bottle, then swirl it around to clean out the stuck bits.

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+1 to this your not supposed to use the brushes on the plastic carboys. Soak for 1-3 days in oxy, dump out, fill with a little water and stuff a washcloth in there And just move it up and down the sides by shaking, rinse and empty. Has worked for 20+ batches

Pbw, hot water, over night, no worries

OxiClean Free, hot water, over night, no worries

I do the same as d3track. Carboys are sparkling.

hi guys I'm new to wine making, and I have to ask this dumb question what is PBW and Oxy ?

Powdered Brewery Wash.

Oxy clean is stuff been marketed as an all purpose cleaner on tv for a while, I got some from target in the laundry aisle, the 'free' version has no scents, and it works about as good as PBW for me. Much cheaper than PBW which is specific to the brew store or online brewery suppliers, pretty much.

bethebrew said:

Yeah Oxyclean works way better than PBW for carboys at least.

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Not in my experience. But it usually works good enough. And since it's cheaper, I try Oxyclean first. If it doesn't work, then I bring out the big guns (PBW).

Oxyclean for sure. It's kind of amazing how well it works, fill the carboy dump it in and let it sit over night.

I have two old Arrowhead Water carboys that sat around my place, mostly outside, for years. And they were already pretty crudded up when I bought them at a barn sale....

I filled them with soapy water and bleach, and let them soak for a couple of days. Meanwhile, I slotted one end of a 2 foot chunk of 1/2" hardwood dowel on my table saw, using a thin-kerfed finish blade. I cut a piece of synthetic chamois about 1/2" longer than the inside diameter of the carboys, centered it in the slot, and drove a couple of small brads to hold everything together. Then I cut the chamois into thin strips on either side of the dowel.

I shook the soaked carboys thoroughly, poured out the dirty water, hit them inside with a high-pressure hose nozzle, then added about two inches of fresh, soapy hot water to each one. I chucked the other end of the dowel into a 1/2" drill motor, and went to town. The carboys came out sparkling clean.

I can't take credit for the basic idea, though. I just built a low-tech version of a cleaning tool I found online, because I was in a hurry and didn't want to buy one and wait for it to show up. My home-made knock-off worked well; I would imagine the original works even better. For one thing, they use a plastic rod that fits in a standard 3/8" cordless drill, which is a little easier to handle than my 1/2" beast. Here's their website:

http://www.carboycleaner.com/





It took me a couple of minutes to get the hang of using this. If your drill RPM's are too high or you don't keep it more or less centered, the chamois tends to wrap around the dowel. And sometimes it'll wrap up for no good reason at all. But it's easy to just unwind the strips and go back to work when that happens, and it beats the living **** out of a carboy brush.

Thx for the extremely quick replies guys and for the help

I use a mix of 2/3 Oxi and 1/3 red devil TSP. It's a PBW clone. It works great. Just use 1 scoop to clean a carboy. Add hot water and soak overnight. In the morning rinse. It eats anything organic. No scrubbing required.

I put maybe a gallon of water in my carboys with a scoop (maybe a tablespoon?) of either PBW or oxy, and then shake it up. It gets enough off that a little brushing gets the rest with very little effort, really just wiping it off. One thing with them both; hot water works better.

If you don't like shaking your carboys or don't want to worry about brushing them, yeah, an overnight soak with either cleaner would get them 100% clean.

I have a jar of Craftmeister Oxygen Brewery Wash, that I bought from the Mr. Beer site. Is this basically the same stuff as Oxy-Clean?

Yep

Brew-Jay said:

Do you guys find that Better Bottles scratch easily when using the brush?

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I use BB's & clean w/ B-Brite & hot water. I usually let it sit for an hour then rinse w/ cool water. On occasion I have to use a brush but w/ very little scrubbing.