How to clean hoses...

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cactussam

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So, I've noticed that between my last batch and my current batch, the piece of hose that I use for my blowoff during the first few days of fermentation gets pretty grimy with sediment and what looks like hop particles. I've struggled to find an easy way to get this clean, and up till this point have been just sticking it up to the faucet and trying to create a seal to the tubing with my hand. This usually ends up with water spraying all over the place while I burn my hands with hot water.

Anybody have a better way of doing this?
 
Make a hot solution of Oxyclean or PBW and soak overnight.
 
I attach the hose to my autosiphon, fill a bucket with warm oxyclean water, and pump the oxyclean water through the hose. Rinse the bucket and fill with water, then pump the water through the hose to rinse. I clean everything all at once this way.
 
Clean blow-off tubing? I just toss it. Typically the tubing that i use for blow off has been used at least once for racking. IMO tubing is way too cheap and way to much of a PIA to clean to risk infecting a batch.
 
Along the lines of this, can I ask what you do after you take a gravity reading? I'm going to be brewing my third batch, and after a couple of weeks in the primary when I want to check the gravity, am I supposed to thoroughly clean my wine thief with oxyclean free each and every time? It seems like a waste of oxyclean to make a batch two or three days in a row. Is this stuff comparable to star san in that it can be put in a spray bottle that can be used more than once?
 
cactussam - An overnight soak in Oxyclean does wonders. Make sure you feed the hose slowly down into the bucket of Oxyclean (or whatever you're soaking stuff in) so the liquid fills the hose completely, with no air pockets. That's very important, otherwise any sediment will collect in the air pocket and dry on overnight. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of it. After soaking, I rinse well by putting the garden hose nozzle on the "jet" setting and spraying water through the hose in both directions.

kyle6286 - In my experience, Oxyclean does not have the staying power of StarSan. I usually mix up a bucket at least once a week to soak bottles in, and I use it 2 or 3 times depending on how dirty the bottles were. After about 5-6 days it's not very potent anymore. I'm not sure it would last in a spray bottle. If I have stuff to soak during the week, I'll usually just add it to my bucket of bottles, but I don't really get that much sediment in my wine thief, so I usually just rinse it clean (and sanitize it again before the next time I dip it, of course). If you're not already mixing up Oxyclean for something else, you could always soak the thief in StarSan instead.
 
Along the lines of this, can I ask what you do after you take a gravity reading? I'm going to be brewing my third batch, and after a couple of weeks in the primary when I want to check the gravity, am I supposed to thoroughly clean my wine thief with oxyclean free each and every time? It seems like a waste of oxyclean to make a batch two or three days in a row. Is this stuff comparable to star san in that it can be put in a spray bottle that can be used more than once?

Kyle,
Don't confuse cleaning and sanitizing. The Oxyclean cleans and Star san sanitizes. It is important to do both but if you rinse the thief well enough right after you use it then you don't have to go through the whole process. The Oxyclean is great because it breaks up the caked on malt and hop oils/residue. If you rinse the tube after you use you won't have any of that. Then just hit it with some Star San right before you use it and you should be good to go.
 
I know. I make sure to clean the majority of my equipment and follow with a good sanitization. However, I was unsure on what's required when cleaning out the wine thief. Since I like to take hydrometer readings in two or three consecutive days, I'd like to use the method that provides the least work in between. I've found that as long as I rinse it out right after taking my reading, it only needs to be sanitized.
 
Yup, give it a good soak in oxyclean. Then, run a wire/string through it and pull a square of old tshirt material or rag through a couple of times... Sanitize, & you're done.
 
Awesome, thanks guys :) guess I'm gonna have to stock up on some oxyclean then.

(I can just hear Billy Mays now, lol)
 
If you have an air compressor and a small diameter nozzle, after soaking in oxyclean and rinsing with water, wad up a small piece of paper towel, insert it in the hose and shoot it through the hose using the compressor. Do this a couple of times and it will be dry. Set aside and then sanitize in star san right before you use it again. I do this with all my hoses now and they all stay clean and dry.
 
If you have an air compressor and a small diameter nozzle, after soaking in oxyclean and rinsing with water, wad up a small piece of paper towel, insert it in the hose and shoot it through the hose using the compressor. Do this a couple of times and it will be dry. Set aside and then sanitize in star san right before you use it again. I do this with all my hoses now and they all stay clean and dry.

That's an interesting idea, I'll have to give that a try. The fiance is gonna LOVE me for this one, lol.
 
That's an interesting idea, I'll have to give that a try. The fiance is gonna LOVE me for this one, lol.

i do something similar, outside of course, but i use my garden hose and blow "spitballs" of wadded up paper towels soaked in water through them
 
I have one of these.
20N01-110%20Direct%20Draw%20Brush.JPG


http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_18&products_id=606
 
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