Couple of good finds tonight!

[Wables]

I had a couple of really good finds tonight!

While building my new wort chiller, I was soaking new bottles to get the labels and glue off. Up until now, my procedure has been to put 12 bottles into a 5 gallon bucket, and fill up to just above the necks with 1/4 cup of bleach and hot water. After an hour, I peel off the labels and scrub the glue off with a plastic scrubbie. Tonight, I used 1/4 cup of Oxy-clean instead of bleach, but the rest of the procedure remained the same.. I pulled the first bottle out of the bucket, and there was no label and no glue. I pulled the second bottle out, and had to look into my half empty case to make sure I wasn't cleaning pre-processed bottles! Oxy-clean and hot water stripped off everything in under an hour! Just rinse and dry!

Second find of the evening - I am building an immersion chiller for my 32 quart "Turkey Fryer" pot. I wanted the top of the coils at the 4 gallon mark in case I overboil the wart. I put 4 gallons of water into the pot, but it didn't fill half full! I continued to add water, and it topped out at 40 quarts even. Here I have been wondering why people are having trouble doing 5 gallon batches in a 30 quart pot when I have no problems with my 32. I have been sweating my pot size as I am moving into AG brewing. Shouldn't be a problem for a while.

 

[JoeRags]

Nice find on the Oxyclean!!!

I'll have to give it a whirl.

 

[disaffected]

Welcome to the Oxyclean Fan Club!

There are many of us here who have experienced beer bottle label-removing nirvana through the transcendent enlightenment of the Oxyclean way. I personally have saved countless hours and several pints of elbow grease since my similar discovery just two months ago!

I use it to clean my glass fermenters and conditioning carboys, too. Oxyclean is amazing stuff.

 

[Orfy]

Welcome to the Oxyclean Fan Club!

There are many of us here who have experienced beer bottle label-removing nirvana through the transcendent enlightenment of the Oxyclean way. I personally have saved countless hours and several pints of elbow grease since my similar discovery just two months ago!

I use it to clean my glass fermenters and conditioning carboys, too. Oxyclean is amazing stuff.

Amen.

I've just started trying Soda Crystals at a quarter of the price. Similar stuff.

 

[JnJ]

I tryed oxyclean first. Glad I did.

 

[scottmc]

Is Oxyclean good for plastic carboys?

 

[Boston]

Oxyclean is the cat's a$$. I use it for cleaning bottles, carboys, cornies, etc. Add my name to the fan club list.

 

[zoebisch01]

Hrm interesting. Some glues I have noticed (like the stuff Stoudt's uses) is really hard to get off, while some just seem to fall off with hot water. I have a trash bin with bleach solution that I drop the used (new) bottles into to soak. But the oxyclean would be nice. If I see some cheap imma grab it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[troybinso]

On the pot size point - I have noticed that the actual size of the pots is different than the listed size. On mine, it is supposed to be 30 qts., it actually fits 32. There is a little lip about 2 inches below the top that is 30qts.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I believe I have the same Turkey Fryer as Wables.

Two thoughts occured to me about the pot: First, maybe the 32 quarts is a safety measure to make sure idiots don't put too much oil into the pot, then drop in the bird, and cause an overflow fire. Seems to me, a numbskull could drop a FULL 32 quarts of oil into the fryer, and still dip a turkey or two without overflowing. I'd bet that is why the size is what it is. However, this goes against standard practice of advertising the actual size of the pot. Why would they go against this practice that works for every other company in the world? This leads me to thought number two:

Maybe the aluminum is too thin to hold that much weight and it will start to deform. Or maybe the handles won't hold that much weight and they will break, spilling hot wort all over you.


I doubt that is the case, but hey, it's a little something extra to worry about.
(Yeah, I have the same fryer...)

 

[jmalex]

What's a good concentration of OxyClean to use? I've had some come off no problem with it (Dogfish Head) and some that have been a real PITA (Yards, Magic Hat). This is using 1 scoop for 2 gallons (or thereabouts).

 

[disaffected]

I use three scoops in a 48 quart ice chest that I fill with as many bottles as I can fit. The ice chest is almost completely full of bottles and water. Three scoops seems to do the trick nicely, but it may be that two scoops would do it. I haven't tried.

I use 1 heaping scoop in my carboys and let soak for a couple hours before brushing and rinsing.

 

[justbrewit]

personally, i don't even worry about taking the labels off. doesn't matter to me, all that matters is whats in the bottle!!!!! but good find anyway!! :rockin: