Glass Carboy Cleaning.. HELP!!!

Hey there! Finally bottled my first homebrew, and can't wait to drink it all up!! I am having an issue though. I can't seem to get the inside of the carboy clean. The problem area is inside, where the head has left a residue. It's hard to reach with the brush at all, but when I do get a brush there, I can't apply enough pressure through the weird angles, to get it clean. I have soaked it for 48 hours and still same issue. Any suggestions? Videos? Pictures? of what I should do?

Are you using an angled carboy brush? I typically put some bleach solution in the carboy and scrub the hell out of it. Oxyclean works well also.

I just dump several scoops of oxyclean in mine with warm water and let it sit overnight..I let the bubbles do my scrubbing for me.

Definitely get some oxi clean and let it soak; you are going to have to rinse thoroughly afterwards, but it should do the trick. If you are not using a carboy brush, buy one and start using it.

I sometimes don't even use the carboy brush anymore. I just throw about 2 gallons of hot water in with oxyclean and tip it over in a bucket/cup whatever and let it soak overnight, come back and the krausen ring is all gone.

Did the oxyclean trick for my last (first) batch as well. It was a 6.5gallon carboy and I just took it out back dumped some oxyclean in and filled it with a garden hose. Swished it around while filling to mix up and let it sit overnight. Next day I poured it out and it was sparkling clean. Just rinsed it out well with the Jet setting on my garden hose and let it dry. I highly recommend this method.

Another vote for Oxiclean.

Scrubbing is for suckers.

Another for oxyclean and hot water and a good soak.

I have yet to clean a carboy with oxyclean but i can tell you that it cleans bottles and removes labels like crazy. It is amazing. I was a bit of a skeptic at first but im onboard now. LOL My only concern is if im rinsing it enough and making sure the oxy is gone, does it leave a film at all that needs be be wiped out, or can you simply rinse with water multiple times to ensure a clean bottle/carboy?

zachatola said:

I have yet to clean a carboy with oxyclean but i can tell you that it cleans bottles and removes labels like crazy. It is amazing. I was a bit of a skeptic at first but im onboard now. LOL My only concern is if im rinsing it enough and making sure the oxy is gone, does it leave a film at all that needs be be wiped out, or can you simply rinse with water multiple times to ensure a clean bottle/carboy?

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I clean everything with oxyclean....carboys, brewpot, bottles....You just have to rinse thoroughly...I usually use at least 3 water changes.

Hot PBW and a carboy brush

Brewsmith said:

Hot PBW and a carboy brush

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I'll second that.

Oxyclean kicks ass.

How much oxiclean are you guys using? I put one scoop in for a 6.5 gfallon carboy then filled all the way up. still had krasuen junk after 48 hours.

How hot is your water man? I can literally see the gunk line going away while filling my carboy up.

Get er hot!

IrregularPulse said:

How much oxiclean are you guys using? I put one scoop in for a 6.5 gfallon carboy then filled all the way up. still had krasuen junk after 48 hours.

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I use about 2/3 of a scoop, and follow it with a gallon or so of hot tap water. Then I shake the hell out of it, which dissolves the oxiclean and helps dislodge the stuck-on crud. Then I fill it the rest of the way with hot water and let the bubbles do the rest. Within a few hours, absolutely everything has gradually flaked away.

zachatola said:

I have yet to clean a carboy with oxyclean but i can tell you that it cleans bottles and removes labels like crazy. It is amazing. I was a bit of a skeptic at first but im onboard now. LOL My only concern is if im rinsing it enough and making sure the oxy is gone, does it leave a film at all that needs be be wiped out, or can you simply rinse with water multiple times to ensure a clean bottle/carboy?

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Sometimes I get a film from the oxiclean over long periods of time. A warm water soak with some distilled white vinegar mixed in will get rid of the film. Then rinse again to get the vinegar out.

I believe the instructions on Oxyclean say to use warm water to mix and then use cool water to rinse. I have done this and I don't get the hazy film I used to get when rinsing with warm or hot water.

I read that a weak vinegar solution will clean the oxyclean haze off of bottles. That probably explains why that pickle bucket I tried cleaning didn't get too clean, I probably should have actually tried washing it out first.

Does anyone else use the dollar store oxyclean? I use the unscented kind and it works great for me.

That's what I use. Unscented "Sun" brand oxy-cleaner from the dollar store.

I turn on the hot water tap and let her fill. Quite hot after filling 6.5 gallons...

I made a carboy washer like this one. http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/CarboyWasher.html

I did make the base wider for more stability, mine fits around the pot not inside it. As soon as I am finished with the carboy I put it on this for 5 minutes and presto its clean. Turn off the water and it will be able to drip dry.

I use warm water and oxyclean right after I've finished racking to the secondary. Here's the steps I take:

-Wash out yeast cake
-Put 1 gal of cold water in the carboy
-Boil 1gal in the kettle
-Put 1/2 scoop of oxyclean in the carboy
-Pour the hot water from the kettle slowly onto the inside lip of the carboy. Magically it seems to always flow down over the entire inside wall of carboy. This warms up and loosens the krausen ring.
-Shove the large carboy brush in and do a light scrub of the bottom and inside walls up to 2/3 of the way up (2mins)
-Now use the small angled carboy brush to get the neck and upper krausen ring (1min)
-Shake the carboy for 15secs and drain the cleaner out
-Rinse 3 times
-Use my always-at-the-ready spray bottle of iodophor and spray about 1/3C inside by spraying all along the inside neck of the carboy
-Swish the iodophor around, making sure to coat the entire inside and let sit for 2 minutes.
-Drain the iodophor out and place some saran wrap over the opening with a rubber band

Now the carboy only needs a quick 2min sanitization on brew day. Total time is probably around 10 minutes from start to finish.

That arboy washer doesn't look very pratical. You have to use it and reuse it like 3 times. I'll just pic up a brush

Bend your brush into the angle that you need to clean the certain part of the carboy. when I clean a carboy, I usually cycle through about 3 or 4 different shapes that I bend the brush into before I am done scrubbing. I bend the actual bristle portion a lot, as well as just the wire part. try that out!

stevecaaster said:

Bend your brush into the angle that you need to clean the certain part of the carboy. when I clean a carboy, I usually cycle through about 3 or 4 different shapes that I bend the brush into before I am done scrubbing. I bend the actual bristle portion a lot, as well as just the wire part. try that out!

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I dunno, this and the carboy washer both seem like far more work than its worth. As others mentioned, just fill the carboy with water and some oxyclean and come back the next day. All the work is done. Then just dump out the water and do a quick rinse (not even really needed if going into storage for a while).

i think my main problem with the carboy currently it that it sat a day or two between trasnferring out of and cleaning. In the past, 2 batches, I've been able just to do oxiclean soak. I've learned my lesson. RINSE immediately.

Yup, that's the #1 rule for avoiding problems. Just rinse it ASAP. Once stuff starts to dry you can have a much tougher time removing gunk. Also just from the contamination standpoint, things are MUCH less likely to grow on clean surfaces.

Rinse and soak asap. I personally use a diluted bleach. Then i scrub with my carboy scrubber.

I agree there is a bit of work involved in the washer initially, however I am the type that enjoys a good project and now all I do is put the carboy on and take it off. No complaints from me!