Beer Clean Glasses: Light at the end of the tunnel

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

For a few years I've been severely struggling with getting my glasses properly beer clean. I've been able to get them to pour and retain head fine, but they've looked bad. I assumed it was probably a combination of hard water and poor cleaning.

Anyway, we recently rearranged our kitchen and doing so I was able to move my PBW and StarSan upstairs. After cleaning my sink today, I had the brilliant idea to just take a stab at cleaning. So I dumped some PBW in the sink filled it with hot water, let some glasses soak and then scrubbed and rinsed and then sprayed with some StarSan. And so far the returns are amazing. Most glasses came totally clean first time. Excited to make a pour in it soon.

Here's hoping this works out. It's the first time I've had success with beer clean glasses since I left NJ and water treatments.

 

[JohnSand]

So, I readily admit that I'm a heathen who cleans beer glasses in the dishwasher with all the other glasses. The glasses are clear, the beer has foam. But I do have a story: We had been slowly replacing our twenty year old kitchen appliances. The dishwasher was one of the last. The first batch in the new dishwasher was a revelation. My wife remarked "We've been eating off dirty dishes for a year".

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I finally put some effort into making "beer clean" glasses after noticing how much more head my homebrew retained at a friend's place. I found a YouTube video showing how to test with salt. I always thought you could not get "beer clean" glasses with standard dish soap, but that does not actually seem to be the case. I did pick up a bottle of a mild dish soap (no dyes, no perfumes, etc.) and I have a dedicated brush and sponge for beer glasses. So I now hand wash my beer glasses and I am much more happy with the head retention I see. It is such a simple thing that I wish I had started this years ago.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

BTW I did pour into one glass, no clinging bubbles on the side, the head stuck around forever. It was glorious.

 

[Lefou]

Once in a while my 12oz mug gets a dash of OneStep followed by a StarSan soak.
The mug is old and has some scoring from being stirred with metal spoons so it always gives a great initial foam during a pour.

 

[three_bags_full]

I just keep them out of the dishwasher, hand wash and let them air dry. Maybe I’ll try a PBW/Starsan soak.

 

[MakeDankBeer]

Great, I didn't even realize this was thing, Thanks. Another thing I need to look into

 

[danielthemaniel]

I've always used a dishwasher to clean mine. I've given the glass a good rinse before every pour and assumed that did the trick. However, now I'm questioning if I'm getting the most out of my glasses. I live in Indiana and we have super hard water from the limestone bedrock. My bicarbonate from the tap is nearly 400 ppm. I'm going to attempt to do a proper cleaning and see if the results vary.

 

[SEndorf]

A new term, "Beer Clean" I've learned today !
Everything is in my garage, so used beer glasses go into the PBW bucket for a while, then the star-san bucket for a good shake.
Then I store the foamed up glasses upside down until the next use.
No washing, rinsing, or drying.

 

[Kirkwooder]

I'm a dishwasher guy. I spent all that money on a machine to clean my dishes, I think I'll let it do just that. Never really noticed a difference with the glasses out in the shop that get the pbw rinse treatment and the ones that come out of the dishwasher. Maybe I'll need to pay a little more attention.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

This was the video I found that seemed useful. Yeah it is from MillerCoors and you probably do not need a 3 stage sink dedicated to your glasses. I shows the basics of testing by sprinkling with salt and signs to look for (bubbles, lacy foam, etc.). My dishwasher sucks but this made a big difference in head retention for my glasses.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

I'm a qualified analytical chemist and part of the training was how to clean glassware to assay levels of clean. It's a fairly simple process, but labour intensive.

First, do a number of clean water rinses to get any solubles out, minimizing the amount of work the detergent has to do. Fill the glass about a third of the way, cover it with your hand and shake violently. Repeat 2 to 3 times until the water appears mostly clear.

Second, fill the glass about one fifth with warm water, add a small amount of liquid dish detergent. I use Sunlight in South Africa. Use a soft sponge, not a scourer or cloth, to clean the inside surface until the glass begins sounding across the inside surface. The term squeaky clean actually applies here. The sound indicates that there is no slippery oils remaining.

Third, rinse the glass again with warm water as many times as necessary to remove all detergent residue. The rinse water will appear frothy with the first couple of rinses and then clear up, indicating removal of the residues.

Lastly, check the cleanliness by observing the water layer inside the glass as you dump the water out. You should see a single, unbroken film that drains away without leaving droplets in the glass. If you see droplets, the glass isn't clean enough.

One final point, never reuse cleaning water. It will carry residues from one glass to the other and the more you reuse, the more residues end up in the later glasses.

 

[SEndorf]

LOL.... Didn't we have enough to worry about with our beer lines and sanitation practices?
Careful! This hobby may turn into a 10 hour per day project.....