Cleaning Glass Carboy

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ezboarderz

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I just bottled my first batch and I was wondering a good way to clean the 6.5 glass carboy? The kausen ring seems to be tough to clean. My brush cant seem to get to it because its a tad bit higher than my brush can reach. Are there any techniques that you guys use?
 
fill 1/2 way w/ water. Add 1 scoop of oxyclean and rest the carboy on its side. leave it for a day, then roll it over so the other side is under water. should clean it right off.
 
you can fill it all the way and just wait overnight. PBW will do a slightly better job, but is a bit more expensive.
 
Oxyclean, Oxyclean, Oxyclean. Don't bother with filling half way and rotating it'll take twice as long and oxyclean isn't that expensive. I can't remember the last time I've had to use a carboy brush
 
awesome, im gunna head over to the store to pick some up. Now its time for the hardest part... waiting. Although I have a hefeweizen and edwort's apelwein in their primaries. Once this carboy is freed up I will have to do another brew. This **** is addictive, and if it tastes good, man, my new hobby.
 
Agree just fill with as hot as water as possible, put a a scoop of oxi clean in and let it sit over night.
 
just an update, i picked up some oxiclean free and its in the bathtub sitting out. Should be good by tomorrow. Thanks for your help!
 
+ however many on the Oxyclean. Bleach will also get the job done...before I started using Oxyclean I used about 1/2-3/4 cup of bleach and fill with hot water, after a couple of hours it's clean, without brushing. Either way rinse well before reuse.
 
now i've heard bleaching could have detrimental effects on the taste of the brew? or is glass immune to that?
 
I would only soak with oxyclean for probably 6-12 hours, that should be long enough to get all the gunk out. If you leave it on too long it leaves a film which is hard to get rid of. Make sure to rinse it very well after soaking.
 
now i've heard bleaching could have detrimental effects on the taste of the brew? or is glass immune to that?

That's really only if it doesn't get rinsed out properly. I periodically bleach bomb all of my stuff - plastic, glass and all - without any off flavors.
 
+ however many on the Oxyclean. Bleach will also get the job done...before I started using Oxyclean I used about 1/2-3/4 cup of bleach and fill with hot water, after a couple of hours it's clean, without brushing. Either way rinse well before reuse.


You must be old school... cheap and simple and WORKS EVERTIME. Why did you ever start using OxyC?
 
Last year, we moved and my brewing equipment was stored in a variety of locations, some not so desirable. Right now, I'm nuking all my equipment and bottles with a three step sanitizing process. First, I recycle any bottles that have spots of mold or other smudges that seem resistant. I soak in bleach for a day, then soak in star-san for a day, then in Oxy for a day. If anything survives that onslaught, its stronger than me.
 
Last year, we moved and my brewing equipment was stored in a variety of locations, some not so desirable. Right now, I'm nuking all my equipment and bottles with a three step sanitizing process. First, I recycle any bottles that have spots of mold or other smudges that seem resistant. I soak in bleach for a day, then soak in star-san for a day, then in Oxy for a day. If anything survives that onslaught, its stronger than me.

Why starsan before oxyclean? That seems like you're doing it backwards to me. You want to clean, and then sanitize.
 
I still only use bleach. I actually store all my carboys filled to the brim with a weak bleach/water solution if I am not using them. 2-4 oz of bleach and filled to the top with cold water ---> Let sit for at least 24 hours ---> rinse with HOT water until you can no longer smell any bleach --> Brew ---> Repeat (this is the most important step).
 
Did you try bending you Carboy Brush? Also I like to rinse my carboys out with cheap vodka right before I store them. I've been using the same bottle of McCormicks that I bought for $4.39 for over 8 months (I rinse then dump back into the bottle).
 
I also soak for 1 day in an oxyclean solution--it usually removes all the hard to clean gunk.

Then, I rinse it out good, and store it filled with a star-san solution. On the day I use it, I'll dump the old star-san out and make up a new star san batch to re-wash it out again (just in case the old stuff dilutes out or breaks down or something) and for my other general sanitizing purposes.
 
I just had a batch go bad in my glass carboy. I feel confident the carboy was the issue because this was a 10g batch and the other 5g batch turned out great but this one was a bit cheesey/buttery. Some funk got in there and I'm baffled. I always soak over night with Oxy and then use star San. What do I need to do to nuke this carboy to make sure everything is dead and gone? Iodine, bleach, or something else?

Thanks!
 
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