cleaning a better bottle

so i might be missing something here, but i just bought a better bottle to ferment in. i am afraid to use it. how do i clean it? i cant get my hand in there. how do i get the krausen(sp) off of the sudes. its easy with my ale pail, just wipe it off with a sponge.
do you just put some water in there and shake?

I juste let it soak with my cleaning solution, and after a couple minute i give it a good shake. Rinse and shake with water a couple times, and your good to go! You can use a brush if it is really dirty.

Try filling it with some oxyclean first (get the oxyclean "free") if you can, and let the foam do some work. Then, you might look at this technique, which involves baking soda and rice for some gentle abrasion inside: The Cross Street Irregulars Brew Club.

What I also find effective is bending a bottle brush (or you can buy an angled brush for this purpose), and loosening all the crud so it will wash off. Then, I take my garden hose, which has a multi spray attachment, hold the bottle upside down over the sink, and spray up into it for awhile. If you're using oxyclean, you want to be sure to rinse well.

Works for me!

And for this reason, I don't ferment in carboys unless I'm out of buckets, or unless I suspect there is going to be a need for a blowoff tube--like with a saison or similarly vigorously fermenting yeast.

The oxyclean definitely works. I just put a gallon or 2 in the better bottle and stand it up-side-down -- neck down into a small/medium pan full of water/oxyclean solution. The air pressure will keep the oxyclean in the better bottle. It'll take the crud right off.

A good Oxyclean soak and then dump out most of the water. Leave about a gallon then put a washcloth inside the bottle and swirl it around. The soak usually takes care of most of the crud and the washcloth polishes it up.

I was under the impression that you should not use any sort of brush on a BB because it will scratch that special BB coating and make it more likely to get an infection.

I use my 5gal BB as a secondary....I have some damn spices (from my pumpkin ale) stuck in this one spot near the top that I cant get off. I could reach it with a brush...but ive been trying to get at it with some spent sanitizer that I left in there for a few weeks.

BearsWickedBrew said:

I was under the impression that you should not use any sort of brush on a BB because it will scratch that special BB coating and make it more likely to get an infection.

I use my 5gal BB as a secondary....I have some damn spices (from my pumpkin ale) stuck in this one spot near the top that I cant get off. I could reach it with a brush...but ive been trying to get at it with some spent sanitizer that I left in there for a few weeks.

Click to expand...

Sanitizer is not a good cleanser especially for stuck on stuff. It'll sanitize the gunk but it won't get rid of it. +5 for the Oxyclean. It really does do wonders.

Looks like I need add Oxyclean to the list. I have some PBW...but once I realized how much of it you have to use for 5 gallons...I started to cut corners on my "cleaning" process and tried to boost my "sanitizing" process....even tho you can't really sanitize something if nots clean. I need to be more diligent about cleaning before it comes back to bite me in the A$$. Sorry jonp9576...dont mean to hijack the thread.

I've used Oxiclean on both glass and BB carboys.

I put about 1/2 a scoop and fill it with warm water and leave it a few hours. Everything is gone when I pour it out and then I just rinse with fresh water from my kitchen sprayer.

+1 on the oxyclean. That's all I use for my BBs... let them soak for a day or two (or three or four if I'm lazy) and then rinse them out well. Never had a problem with left-over crud.

+2 on the Oxiclean, in fact go to dollar store and grab the imitation stuff there, works just as good.

And never use a brush on the better bottle. It scratches easier than you think.

PWalk said:

+2 on the Oxiclean, in fact go to dollar store and grab the imitation stuff there, works just as good.

And never use a brush on the better bottle. It scratches easier than you think.

Click to expand...

Yep, no brush for me in the Better Bottle although you wrap a rag around the brush and use it that way.

wow, thanks for the info everyone. i'll have to go out and buy some oxyclean

Another good trick. Since the nasty difficult to remove krauesen ring resides at the top of the bottle, I put about a gallon of hot water into the bottle, add my cleaner, usually Oxyclean, then put the closure in the bottle and invert it and leave it in my carboy drying rack. Now you are concentrating the cleaning action where it is really needed and reducing the amount of cleaner used. A lot easier than the rag in the bottle and safer than attempting to "carefully" brush.

For the few times I've used my new BB, I rinse it out with hot water, and give it a good shaking. then dump in about a cup of household bleach and fill it to the brim. Let is soak for a day or two then empty, fill with a little hot water and shake it real good. It comes out almost spotless. I've used a brush (very gently) once for a spot that didn't come off in the soak.

Oh, all right, I won't use that baby-soft brush on my BB anymore (it was only twice). A cloth wrapped around it seems like a good idea.

- Oxyclean it asap after your done using it.

-1/2 scoop
-top it w/warm watar
-wait day or two
-dump it / rinse it
-Done

another vote for oxyclean...
But you can get a cheaper version with same cleaning efficiency at your dollar store... I went to Dollar Tree..

Is this same Oxiclean you buy in grocery store? Is there certain type of Oxiclean?

jonp9576 said:

so i might be missing something here, but i just bought a better bottle to ferment in. i am afraid to use it. how do i clean it? i cant get my hand in there. how do i get the krausen(sp) off of the sudes. its easy with my ale pail, just wipe it off with a sponge.
do you just put some water in there and shake?

Click to expand...

discard it and buy another one. afterall, thats why you didn't get glass right?

I went to Home Depot and got one of those shower hoses that attach over over your sink faucet and removed the shower head. Now I have a small hose to go inside the Carboy and get at the crud in the primary with ease if it's a problem. I can use the hose to fill the carboy as well with water since I have no sink deep enough to otherwise fill it efficiently.