You know what sucks?

The Clean-up......bottled and brewed another batch today

Bottled last night. Cleaning carboys sucks big time.

I was going to make an unkind remark about being a packers fan

But that would be my "Chicago" showing through.




But you are right. The cleanup sucks


What sucks bigger is when you don't get to brew because you forgot something, and so have to wait until tomorrow.

A vacuum cleaner?

I was going to make an unkind remark about being a packers fan

But that would be my "Chicago" showing through.


LOL

Cleaning is easy. Buckets and a shower head on a hose.

A glass carboy could be a problem. Seems you could cut a hole through a milk carton to support the carboy upside down. Never having done it, i can say it is easy.

It's expensive but I love PBW because I can have a nice brew day and then just fill up the brew kettle with it, toss everything in and let it sit overnight while it cleans itself. I still have to put stuff away but it cuts time off the actual brewday. That's been my lazy mans approach to cleaning.

For what it's worth, I've found that oxy, hot water, and a bottle brush work wonders for cleaning my carboys.

Yep, I agree. I very frequently leave my mash tun and kettle full of water until the next day....or the next few days, until I remember to clean them. I just kegged two batches on Thursday and have neglected cleaning the fermenters. Maybe I'll get to it next week. For the record, go Bills. Kyle

I hear ya. I love everything about brewing except clean up. I have two five gallon buckets sitting on the back deck, been there 6 days.

Conan said:

For the record, go Bills.

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Ah, hahahaha!!! That must be rough going for you.

after letting the carboy sit with it full of watter and PBW,,,it was a tad easier.......scrubbing the shoulder area with a bottle brush sucked, especially when the metal part of the brush did all the work,,there has to be an easier way


Oh,The Bears Still Suck!

Dan said:

I hear ya. I love everything about brewing except clean up. I have two five gallon buckets sitting on the back deck, been there 6 days.

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6 days? That's nothing! I currently have two buckets and a glass carboy filled with oxyclean solution sitting in my kitchen...been there for 2-3 weeks (it's been so long, i forget exactly). However, I figure since they're filled with oxyclean I'm actually in the process of cleaning them :fro:

you guys are lucky, if I leave anything outside dirty for more than a day SWMBO assumes its trash and in the big trash bin it goes. So I have been well trained and clean up before she gets home.

dadshomebrewing said:

For what it's worth, I've found that oxy, hot water, and a bottle brush work wonders for cleaning my carboys.

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I only need the first two...never needed the bottle brush

I don't mind cleanup. Gives me a good solid hour to plug the headphones in and listen to some old podcasts from The Brewing Network while reflecting on the brew day. Plus, it feels great to have everything cleaned and put away the same day, instead of seeing it laying around for days on end.

I'm a bit too OCD to leave dirty stuff out, so I've become a master of cleaning as I go...the minute I'm done with the mash tun, its cleaned while my boil is rolling. 49ers FTW!!!

Is there any need to clean carboys and demijohns? You just get some of the grub out and the rest is going to be the yeast that ferments your next lot! Plus you already know it's bacteria free because it's been full of alcohol and dominated by one yeast strand...

metanoia said:

I don't mind cleanup. Gives me a good solid hour to plug the headphones in and listen to some old podcasts from The Brewing Network while reflecting on the brew day. Plus, it feels great to have everything cleaned and put away the same day, instead of seeing it laying around for days on end.

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This.

Also, being a small batch brewer, I find my 8L fermenting barrels a breeze to clean.
Taking the time to reflect on things I can do better next time and keeping the peace in the house with a clean kitchen.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

after letting the carboy sit with it full of watter and PBW,,,it was a tad easier.......scrubbing the shoulder area with a bottle brush sucked, especially when the metal part of the brush did all the work,,there has to be an easier way


Oh,The Bears Still Suck!

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Carboy cleaner hooked to a drill works good and easy.That and fermtech double jet washer after oxy soak work like a charm every time(for me anyway).

nasty_rabbit said:

A vacuum cleaner?

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That answer belongs in the riddle thread.

"Oh,The Bears Still Suck!" Ha!


Cleaning up is a pain - soaking is my usual method, and miraculously there are those days where I enjoy it. When that happens I tend to back away slowly and have a beer.

actually, as a small batch brewer (1 gallons), it's pretty easy for me to clean up, and i time my brew day from when the brew box comes out, until it goes back, and that includes cleanup.

then, after i get done (and clean up the kitchen) i make dinner.

it's part of that 'ensure domestic tranquility' thing

and it still sucks.....bottling on a cool day has it's benifits,,,,,,,,,but all that cold water,,brrrrr
bottled Oatmeal Stout with molasses.got 39 bottles

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

and it still sucks.....bottling on a cool day has it's benifits,,,,,,,,,but all that cold water,,brrrrr
bottled Oatmeal Stout with molasses.got 39 bottles

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What passes for a cool day in California at the end of January?
Just curious, from Chicago.
(Where it's actually warm. Freezing rain? In January?)

metanoia said:

I don't mind cleanup. Gives me a good solid hour to plug the headphones in and listen to some old podcasts from The Brewing Network while reflecting on the brew day. Plus, it feels great to have everything cleaned and put away the same day, instead of seeing it laying around for days on end.

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Yep, put a positive spin on it! I like the feeling that my brewing equipment is clean and ready to go for the next brewday. :rockin:

edit: anyhow, it's bottling that sucks!

bobot said:

What passes for a cool day in California at the end of January?
Just curious, from Chicago.
(Where it's actually warm. Freezing rain? In January?)

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(and it is probably much nicer in southern CA - but they don't have the 49ers...or the Giants)

Brewing= 5% cooking
25% waiting
1350639% cleaning

I finally tried star-san after hearing everyone rave about it's effectiveness as a sanitizer. I'm gonna have to call "BS" on the no-rinse part. My bottles were full of dried bubbles! Anyone else run into that?

I don't mind most of the cleanup.

I don't like disposing of 40lbs of wet spent grain though.

Great thread title. Look at the other threads showing up at the bottom of the page.

Dynachrome said:

I don't mind most of the cleanup.

I don't like disposing of 40lbs of wet spent grain though.

Great thread title. Look at the other threads showing up at the bottom of the page.

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I only do extract brewing, but I always try to save as much of the grain as I can afterwords. Makes great bread and pizza dough! It as a nice sweet flavor, and the fiber is really good for your poo.

PS, I just stayed late at work reading your thread about people's beer screw-ups. Hilarioius!

That's Revvy's thread.

I just liked it enough that I put it in my sig.

...and it is a great thread.

I like to be able to clean things as I go. That means I've done the proper preparation and am not scrambling around to get things in order during the brewing!

And I don't use a carboy often, but when I need to clean it, hot Oxi soak for a couple of hours followed by a wet rage stuffed inside and sloshed around. That wipes up anything that was stubborn enough to stick beyond the Oxi's ability to remove it.