Simple trick for cleaning krausen residue from better bottles

Now at the risk of discovering I'm the last guy to think of this, I wanted to share this simple trick for cleaning better bottles. The idea popped into my head when I was thinking about how wasteful it is to fill up the entire bottle to the brim with concentrated cleaning solution when only the top part is very dirty (due to dried krausen residue)... Especially when using cleaning products like PBW and UBC, which are a lot more expensive than oxiclean.



It relies on the same principle as an office water cooler to keep the liquid in there. Dump some powder into the carboy, add a gallon or so of water, and upend it quickly over a small/shallow bucket. An empty oxiclean tub is perfect.

I don't think I'd try this with a glass carboy due to the obvious tipping hazard, at least not unless you had a nice, wide, stable container to support it a lot better.

I do this with my better bottles as well. Except I chuck on a carboy cap (with white caps) and invert it and sit it in a spare 1L measuring jug.

Work pretty good but I still find myself sticking a rag in and shaking it about to get the last bit out.

Hmm, I never thought of inverting it. I only have glass, but I'll bet I could fashion a cardboard box extension onto a milk crate to hold it up steady.

Why not just fill it with 5 gallons of water?

Liquidicem said:

Why not just fill it with 5 gallons of water?

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Because water alone won't clean anything. You need the chemical reaction of cleaning agents to clean things, and he don't want to waste the cleaning agent by using more than nesessary.

Liquidicem said:

Why not just fill it with 5 gallons of water?

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I don't know about everyone else, but for me that really adds up to a lot of water.
I usually brew 10G batches and I try to brew 2 batches when I brew. So I have 4 carboys to clean/sanitize and different times. That's 20G of water that i need just to fill carboys.

Additionally, I live in a rural area and I have a well and a septic system. The refill on my water in the well isn't that fast to waste water like that and I usually clean carboys inside, so when i empty them I would be pouring 20G+ into the septic system. That's a lot of "clean" water you don't want going into a septic system.

boo boo said:

Because water alone won't clean anything. You need the chemical reaction of cleaning agents to clean things, and he don't want to waste the cleaning agent by using more than nesessary.

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Actually water alone might not be the most effective cleaning agent but it is the "universal solvent" and dissolves more substances than most other liquids IIRC..science types can chime in a go all post-doctorate on our collective a$$


Personally, I am a fan of swishing around a rag inside an inverted BB to gently scrub off any gunk.

boo boo said:

Because water alone won't clean anything. You need the chemical reaction of cleaning agents to clean things, and he don't want to waste the cleaning agent by using more than nesessary.

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I should have stated that more clearly. Why not just use 5 gallons of water and oxyclean? The stuff is cheap enough to not worry about wasting it and it really doesn't take much even in 5 gallons.

I guess I can see trying not to waste water, especially on a well / septic system. I just dump mine out in the yard. The grass doesn't mind the oxyclean.

I've always filled the BB up to the top with a scoop of "Sun" cleaner in it and watch it bubble away the gunk. But this is a great idea to invert it and use a fraction of the water to clean it.
I'll try this next time.
I've never found the need to put a rag in my BB to clean it. Sun cleaner works just like Oxyclean by bubbling it away.

Liquidicem said:

I should have stated that more clearly. Why not just use 5 gallons of water and oxyclean? The stuff is cheap enough to not worry about wasting it and it really doesn't take much even in 5 gallons.

I guess I can see trying not to waste water, especially on a well / septic system. I just dump mine out in the yard. The grass doesn't mind the oxyclean.

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I can see not wasting water for any number of reasons, not saying I adhere to any of them. I have plenty of water that I'm only charged a yearly municipal fee for ( no meter ) and I do use oxyclean to clean SS with and bleach for everything else. So I rinse with a lot of water.

Liquidicem said:

I should have stated that more clearly. Why not just use 5 gallons of water and oxyclean? The stuff is cheap enough to not worry about wasting it and it really doesn't take much even in 5 gallons.

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As I said, oxiclean is one thing. Since I found it for like 5-6 bucks a tub (down from like 8 at the grocery store), I am indeed a bit more liberal with it. But I'm also trying out UBC (Austin Homebrew's alternative to PBW) and that stuff is $10 for 2 pounds, placing it at about 3 times the price even before shipping cost. I haven't decided yet whether the significant extra cost is worth the benefits, but if I did decide to stick with it, then obviously conservation would be pretty important to me.

Even with the issue of cost aside, conservation is always a good idea IMO, especially when it comes to harsh chemicals. I do feel a bit better about dumping much less oxiclean down the drain each time I brew, plus it's a lot easier to move a carboy with 1 gallon of water in it than one that's filled to the brim (Apartment living - only place I can easily fill a carboy is in the bathtub, and my roommates don't exactly appreciate having to shower with a carboy, so it's got to get moved out of the tub to soak)

And in any case, it's just an alternative. If you've got a hose to easily fill carboys without having to move them around and don't mind using more oxiclean, then by all means, fill them up if you want to

boo boo said:

...and I do use oxyclean to clean SS with and bleach for everything else.

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In case you haven't already seen the other threads, I should point out that oxiclean is really not good for stainless steel either... I've got a SS mixing bowl with holes in the bottom of it that can attest to that fact. As long as you're doing short soaks (30 mins or so) you're probably fine, but don't forget it in there overnight.

I do the same thing. It only takes about a gallon and a half of hot water and a tablespoon of oxy. The problem with filling it with 5 gallons is threefold. It's heavy to heave around, it wastes water, and it wastes oxyclean. It's nice having only small amound of liquid so you can also shake the heck out of it every once in a while.