Question for those with Recirculating Systems

How do you go about cleaning after the brew day?
- Lines
- Pumps
- Coils
- Etc.

Do you pump a cleaning solution through the whole system?
Dismantle and clean manually?

What sanitizing product do you use that is safe for hoses, stainless, copper and the pumps?

bring fresh clean water to boil and run it through for 10-15 minutes. This AFTER you clean the vessel. I never use cleaning solution on my brewing equipment. Good old boiling water works very well and I never let a mess sit for long or it will get sticky and nasty. After that I disconnect all my hoses and let them hang to dry. I remove the cover plate from the march pump and let it dry making sure no crud has built up on the propeller. Takes me about 30 minutes to clean everything to my satisfaction. I like to keep the blue paper towels from the auto store on hand for cleaning and drying.

JonesCreek said:

How do you go about cleaning after the brew day?
- Lines
- Pumps
- Coils
- Etc.

Do you pump a cleaning solution through the whole system?
Dismantle and clean manually?

What sanitizing product do you use that is safe for hoses, stainless, copper and the pumps?

Click to expand...

After every brew I run a 150* solution of PBW through each vessel, hose, pump, or devise for 15 minutes. Rinse. Then run a hot solution ( I forget how hot) of Acid #5 through everything as an acid rinse.

Every 10 to 20 brews I replace the acid Rinse with an acid wash.

Every 40 brews I break everything possible down to inspect the crevices for buildup.


There is no need to sanitize a brewery. the heat it generates for itself does that for you.

I just recirulate the pump with strike water as it is heating up and then again just prior to achieving wort boil to sanitize everything during the boil. Then right at the end of the boil, about 10 minutes, I recirculate again to ensure it is sanitary for filling the fermenters.

After brew I recirculate starsan through it for a couple minutes and then disconnect and drain. this is more to rinse everything out of any sugary gunk than to really sanitize. But since I have the sani on hand I use it.

The pump only needs to be sanitary after the boil. Since you are already boiling... why not just capitalize on what you already have going?

I use the runoff from the IC by letting it discharge into the MLT. I add about 5 scoops of Sun oxygen cleaner and recirculate it through the HERMS coil for about 30 minutes then pump it into the BK and repeat. I give all the vessels a good hot water rinse and store upside down. I take my chugger pump apart every 3-4 months and check it for crud. I don't sanitize anything on the brew rig because it gets boiled on brew days.

Clean? Cleaning's for suckas

The minute I am done with my MLT, I get a solution of PBW and water going in that, up to around 150*. I also get more water in my HLT and get that to a boil. I recirc the PBW through pump 1, recirc the boiling water through my plate chiller and pump 2. Once the beer is out of the BK, I pump PBW through pump 2 from the MLT to BK, with the plate chiller hooked up in line. I pump the boiling water through pump 1 from the HLT to MLT. recirc each for 15-20 min. Dump the contents of the BK, transfer boiling water from MLT to BK. At this point pump 1, HLT and MLT are clean and rinsed. Another 15 min and my BK and Plate chiller, along with pump 2 are clean and rinsed.

I just pump water around to get all the sticky bits out. Then wipe down with towels and store. Everything stays relatively clean with this regimen. If I have a very messy brewday or have the time, I do my standard rinse, the circulate hot PBW for 15 minutes. I probably do that every 4 batches.