Beer stone in dip tubes

[stever1000]

The outside of my dip tubes were coated in beer stone (also the inside of the kegs). I assume there is some buildup INSIDE the dip tubes as well. Since I can't easily scrub the inside of the dip tubes with a pad and elbow grease, does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean them? I had success soaking the interior of the kegs in starsan, but still had to use a stainless scrubber to remove the buildup.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

 

[microbusbrewery]

PBW soak and a tubing brush.

 

[stever1000]

I tried this and I can't apply enough pressure with the tubing brush to work the everyone free
I'm worried its trapped half way down the tube and will effect the taste of the beer after sitting for a while

 

[microbusbrewery]

Hmmmm...is that using Oxyclean or genuine PBW. If it's using Oxy, I'd give genuine PBW a try and make sure you're mixing it at about 2 ounces per gallon of 150F water, then let it soak overnight. I use Oxy for routine cleaning but I've found genuine PBW works better on some stuff (could be that I'm paying more attention to ratios when using PBW). When mixed properly, it'll loosen beer stone to the point that just rubbing your finger across it will break it free.

 

[stever1000]

Ok I will go buy some PBW and try that too

 

[Natdavis777]

I was under the impression that PBW wasnt ideal for removing beer stone due to being caustic instead of acidic. My BK (keggle) was pretty bad and even with the PBW soak and scrub, it didnt improve much. I did an acid soak though (used phosphoric acid mix) and it did a much better job.

 

[microbusbrewery]

It's always worked on my stuff, but looking at some pro-brewer discussions on the subject, it looks like an acid wash like you described would work. How did you go about mixing it?

 

[Natdavis777]

I honestly had no method of mixing. I just heated a a few gal of water in my BK (it was mostly on the bottom) and poured in a few oz of 85% phosphoric acid, and scrubbed it with a green scotch brite pad a few hours later.

I followed up with some Barkeepers Friend and had the inside of the keg like new. It has stayed like that for about a year (about 20 brews).

Before:View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456197275.282667.jpg

After:View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456197324.766665.jpg

 

[zefbrew]

looking good!