Cleaning beer stone from kegs

[pretzelb]

Looking for help on cleaning beer stone from kegs. I've tried PBW and Bar Keepers with a sponge on a stick but I can't get enough power behind my scrubbing to remove the deposits. I have read a few articles but they all seem to be geared towards the professional and don't get into product specifics. For example there is this https://www.beerlab.co.za/blogs/new...VOLycSf36Jxi6QcyJyE5k2Le7cKeMuVBczMQJjkcv7yiE but like others it mainly says "do acid clean, rinse, do alkaline clean". I was hoping for some actual product recommendations.

 

[mongoose33]

Have you tried a soak with PBW and HOT water?

 

[pretzelb]

Have you tried a soak with PBW and HOT water?

That is my normal routine. Depending on what post you read there are those who think PBW is a terrible option and my beer stone may just be from using PBW. If I could get my hand in the keg maybe I could use a thumbnail to remove the deposit but so far no cleaner with a sponge is enough.

 

[mongoose33]

That is my normal routine. Depending on what post you read there are those who think PBW is a terrible option and my beer stone may just be from using PBW. If I could get my hand in the keg maybe I could use a thumbnail to remove the deposit but so far no cleaner with a sponge is enough.

How hot?

 

[pretzelb]

How hot?

Most times 110 which should either be from my kettle or my tap.

 

[mongoose33]

Most times 110 which should either be from my kettle or my tap.

That's what I suspected. Try heating it up to 140 at least, and 160 would be better. I think if you do that with a normal PBW proportion, you'll be amazed.

 

[pretzelb]

That's what I suspected. Try heating it up to 140 at least, and 160 would be better. I think if you do that with a normal PBW proportion, you'll be amazed.

Well, I can easily do that so I will try. Very discouraged by all the articles I read which indicate only solution was boder line dangerous chemical solutions so I'm not optimistic. Might take me a few days to try though. Fingers crossed.

 

[jcav]

There is a beer stone remover that Five Star sells. I called Five Star awhile ago and asked them about beer stone since there is so much contradictory info out there, and not much info and products for home brewers. They advised that the best thing you can do after a hot PBW soak is to then rinse with hot water, around the same temp as the hot PBW. Then after rinsing with hot water you then spray on an acid like Star San and coat the inside and then let it air dry with the Star San coating. This will keep the beer stone at bay. I also learned that if you soak the kegs in PBW that you don't do it for more than 24 hours. If you do, you will get white deposits on the metal. I recirculate hot PBW in my kegs with my home made keg washer (with a pump) and then rinse hot, and then spray some Star San in the kegs and let dry. Works great. This will keep them in great shape and then before kegging my beer I will rinse and recirculate Sani Clean for 15 minutes and then shake it all out and then keg.

For my conical fermentor I soak it in hot PBW and then hot rinse with water and then spray Star San and let dry. This what I do everytime now. No more beer stone build up. If you have some build up you can use the beer stone remover they sell and that should clear it up for you after a PBW hot soak.

Hope this helps......

John

 

[pretzelb]

That's what I suspected. Try heating it up to 140 at least, and 160 would be better. I think if you do that with a normal PBW proportion, you'll be amazed.

I might owe you a beer. I think it worked. I found a PDF file that went all the way up to 6 oz per gallon for heavy cleaning. Instead I did 3 oz per gallon and heated the water to 140 and put 4 gallons in each keg and let that sit overnight. Then I did a 140 degree 4 gallon plain water soak overnight. The spots seem to be gone! I hate to use that much water but I might stick with this routine.

 

[pretzelb]

There is a beer stone remover that Five Star sells. I called Five Star awhile ago and asked them about beer stone since there is so much contradictory info out there, and not much info and products for home brewers. They advised that the best thing you can do after a hot PBW soak is to then rinse with hot water, around the same temp as the hot PBW. Then after rinsing with hot water you then spray on an acid like Star San and coat the inside and then let it air dry with the Star San coating. This will keep the beer stone at bay. I also learned that if you soak the kegs in PBW that you don't do it for more than 24 hours. If you do, you will get white deposits on the metal. I recirculate hot PBW in my kegs with my home made keg washer (with a pump) and then rinse hot, and then spray some Star San in the kegs and let dry. Works great. This will keep them in great shape and then before kegging my beer I will rinse and recirculate Sani Clean for 15 minutes and then shake it all out and then keg.

For my conical fermentor I soak it in hot PBW and then hot rinse with water and then spray Star San and let dry. This what I do everytime now. No more beer stone build up. If you have some build up you can use the beer stone remover they sell and that should clear it up for you after a PBW hot soak.

Hope this helps......

John

I failed to do the Star San step this time but I will do that next time.

 

[day_trippr]

Eff the Star San, hot (150°F) PBW alone will cut beerstone just fine on its own...

Cheers!