How to clean the tube

After bottling I cleaned everything pretty thoroughly for storage ... Almost, it seems. I ran a ton of water through the flexi-tube and thought that'd be enough until sanitizing it with my next batch. Well, as I pulled it out today I noticed a bunch of small milky dots scattered along the interior. Sniffing at the tube ending I get slight but distinct beer scent.

Now, since I can't reach in and scrub, it seems I have two options: soaking it in sanitizer and hope for the best or buy a new tube. Given the steep price tag of a buck or two, I think I'll go fot the latter. However, I don't want to replace the tube every time I brew so what's the best way to clean it? Save some sanitizer and fill + soak the tube?

Sanitizer is so cheap compared to ruined batches of beer, that I tend to use quite a lot of it, and yes, the least you should do is wash up with TSP after a session, so you get all the gungies out of tubes and nooks and crannies.

I rinse mine after each use and throw it in the 10 gallon sanitzer bucket that I always prepare. That said you can purchase a tubing brush for cleaning.
http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15977

does that brush scratch teh tubing? buy a new hose, it's two bucks. i rinse mine after each use, soak it in iodopher then let it dry. however, i think hte mileage on siphon hose is limited, being made outta soft plastic, it will eventually break down, suck up too many beers and turn yellow brown, then i buy another to siphon and use the old for blow off tubes

I use a tube brush and haven't had a problem with scratches. Eventually, tubing has to be replaced no matter what you try.

I rinse the fermenter, the bottling bucket, and the tubing immediately after using, and then soak them overnight in an oxi-clean solution. I then rinse again and put them away until the next time I need them.

Before use, I give them all a thorough rinsing in hot water, and then sanitize.


-a.

Everytime after one brew my tube gets those white spots. I clean it everytime , the white spots are just what is left over from the water in the tube evaporating. Soak in sanitizer and use it as normal.

I just rinse with water after using, and soak in iodophor before using. They always have a slight beer smell, but I don't worry about it.

I bought a big roll of tubing from Home Depot for pretty cheap, and I just replace the hoses every three months (that's about every 6-8 batches).

-walker

sause said:

Everytime after one brew my tube gets those white spots. I clean it everytime , the white spots are just what is left over from the water in the tube evaporating. Soak in sanitizer and use it as normal.

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You sure? Cuz I can clearly smell a faint whiff of beer when I put the tube end near my nose... Home depot didn't have 5/16" when I went there today so I thought I'd give the sanitizer soak one last shot ... Still spots and still faint smell.

MrBulldogg said:

You sure? Cuz I can clearly smell a faint whiff of beer when I put the tube end near my nose... Home depot didn't have 5/16" when I went there today so I thought I'd give the sanitizer soak one last shot ... Still spots and still faint smell.

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All of your plastic equipment is going to permanently have a faint (or not so faint) whiff of beer. Relax, don't worry...

I agree it's probably just water spots--like when dishes come out of the dishwasher when the Jet Dry has run out.

In a krausen induced panic, I used my siphon tube for a blowoff tube. My fermentation is about done now, so I sanitized my 3pc airlock and removed the tube. It's now soaking in a small pail of Iodaphor solution - is there any chance of getting it clean? It's pretty gungy in there.

A soak in PBW will clean anything.

Need to pick some of that up. Will TSP work as well? I know we've got some around in powder form...

I have a small brush that's made just for cleaning tubing. It's attached to a 5' length of nylon. I push the line though to the other side and pull the brush through. I repeat the process several times while submerged in sanitizer...but I still get dry water spots.