Anyone use Powdered Brewery Wash??

I head them talking about it on brew strong

any comments on this cleaner?

 

I use it, I love it... it is cheap, effective... what is there to know?

 

I agree, I use it and its very good!!!

 

I use Star San and PBW for everything... effective and user friendly. I do a PBW wash on my HERMS while the boil is going. Then rinse with clean water.

 

Thanks - I was just wondering if this guy wash pushing it for other reasons

Really though, I don't like starsan - I know you guys say "don't fear the foam"

but I just can't bring myself to rack my beer into a vessel that is full of foam

 

PBW is a cleaner, not a sanitizer. Get over your foam fears, or switch to a non-foaming no-rinse sanitizer like IO-Star or Iodophor.

I use PBW, and I love it, but it's a cleaning agent. You can't sanitize with what is effectively soap.

 

Yeah I knew that

I'm currently using oxiclean and this guys says PBW is much better

 

Meh, I have and use both Oxiclean and PBW. I wouldn't say that either one works better than the other, except that Oxiclean is better for label removal. I'd say use whichever one is cheaper, they both seem to work equally well for cleaning.

 

I started using PBW when the One-Step that came with my kit ran out. It's a great cleaner. For sanitizing, I switched from acidified bleach to Star San and never looked back. The foam is not an issue; while I was a bit apprehensive at the amount at first, it has no effect on the finished beer.

 

Here is my take on oxiclean/PBW choice:

Oxiclean is cheaper and works well for 90% of my applications, except...

If you live somewhere with hard water, you will notice that oxiclean leaves a residue that requires an acid rinse to get off, PBW will not leave that.

PBW is also safe on aluminum and copper. Oxiclean should be used with caution on these metals.

PBW will also be more effective on that black-burnt-on crap that is left when you burn something. Say if you burn your starter to charcoal on one of SWMBO's nice pots, an overnight soak in PBW will get that off.

Do not use PBW on Teflon coated items.

In general if I can't get it clean with oxiclean, then I turn to PBW.

 

I do an Oxy wash after each use on my brewery. But about every 3rd batch I will do a complete system PBW wash and I am freeken amazed how much more stuff comes out of the system after a PBW wash.

 

Yeah thats what they were saying on the podcast

I might give it a try

 

+1 for the PBW StarSan combo

Buy in bulk and save yourself some money. I bought the 4lb tub last time and I'm already wishing I had gone ahead with the 8lb.

PBW makes short work of carboy nastiness. I used it once in my aluminum kettle and it left a very noticeable "stain". The area that was submerged in PBW is now a much darker gray color. Sounds like it should be safe though.

 

I've never used PBW...only Oxyclean, but I was under the impression (according to "How to Brew") that any polycarbonate based cleaner will leave the residue with extended soaks in hard water. I have pretty friggin' hard water and hate how closely I have to watch how long I soak my gear to keep the residue from forming.

Has anyone gotten that residue from PBW?

If no one has then my next purchase will include the biggest tub of PBW that I can get.

 

Polycarbonate = hard plastic.
Perchlorate = cleaning chemical

 

I have been using Oxyclean since the beginning of my brewing days. I thought I would give PBW a shot after listening to that Brew Strong podcast. In short it's exponentially more expensive and I didn't notice it doing any better of a job. If you have hard water there probably would be a difference, but I have a water softener and Oxyclean works incredibly well and just as fast if not faster than PBW.

 

I wouldn't say PBW is cheaper but, that didn't stop me from buying a 50 pound pail of the stuff. I have hard water and it's about the only thing that really works for me but, I still have to acid rinse for scale deposits.

 

Actually....I think we are both wrong. I just looked up what I read in "How to Brew" and he classifies them as "Percarbonate" I'm just proud of the fact that I came close

 

I don't know about your source, but for mine there is a huge price break from going from 1 to 4 lbs, but only a few percent going to 8 lbs. Made the choice easy.

 

I get the deposits when I use Oxi-Clean.....well water, very hard. PBW leaves no deposits. Therefore the difference in price is something I'm willing to pay. Got the 1 lb. the first time, 4 lbs. now.

 

For dried krausen and tubing and most general cleaning, the PBW works much better for me. YMMV

 

My mileage does in fact vary. But like I said, I have a water softener which helps out oxyclean a bunch. PBW has softeners in it that help it be more effective in hard water.

 

I just use Sun Oxygen Cleaner, the stuff is incredibly cheap. I do, however, always rinse everything down with a StarSan solution when I'm done to get any hard water residues off.

 

Just for giggles I gave Oxyclean a try last night on a 6.5 glass carboy.

I am not impressed. First of all it creates a soapy foam that made filling the carboy to the top a hassle (for me anyway, I have to use the spray nozzle to fill because carboy wont fit under faucet). After 30min soak and rinse I still had krausen on the sides.

It may be more expensive, but I'll stick with PBW.

 

I hadn't realized I could use it on aluminum.

I have this enormous aluminum lobster pot with a tap on the side for drainage. PBW doesn't damage the oxidized layer of the aluminum?

 

This may be a silly question but how do you measure it out?

 

I leave a shot glass in my PBW container. Off the top of my head I think it's 1 or 2 oz per 5 gallons.

 

I have a scale. And brewery use measuring cups and spoons.