Cleaning in prep for an all grain batch, and found this.

[Brewster42]

Hey guys, I hope this was posted in the right spot. If it wasn’t apologize in advance.

I got a weird question for you all. I’ve always brewed all grain beer from the get-go. I ran some PBW through my robobrew tonight for a cleaning in prep for tomorrow, and lo and behold I see this in the bottom of the kettle after a 25 min wash cycle. Does anyone know what this is? I know what it looks like to me, but I’m really hoping I’m wrong. Lol. (Worms??)

back story on it- it’s always cleaned with boiling water after a run, always sanitized (even though I know brew kettles technically don’t need it) with starSan. It’s stored in the original box and kept in a closet when not in use. Thanks for any help/guidance in advance!

 

[day_trippr]

lol! Ok, that's admittedly one of the weirdest things I've ever seen on HBT, but I don't think there's any wildlife involved.
Something was in solution and when it dried it left those rings (if you look they are definitely the perimeters of dried droplets).
Maybe rust combined with whatever you last cleaned with?

I'd use some BKF with a sponge to rather gently polish that stuff off...

Cheers!

 

[Brewster42]

Right! I almost threw the whole thing in the trash. Lol. I never thought of that. They floated though, and they were so circular I couldn’t believe it could of been a worm though. It came out of the water pump arm on the robobrew I’m guessing. I had a video but I couldn’t figure out how to post it.

thanks again for calming those fears

cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Whoa - wait - you're saying you saw whatever that is "floating" - as in "definitely not dried deposits" - which I thought I was looking at?
If that's the case I have no idea what you're looking at...

Cheers! (And, "yikes!")

 

[Brewster42]

Correct. Ran a few more runs of PBW through it with no issues. Heated the water to 175 for 35 mins and it was spotless. No idea. Only thing I can think of it is it “peeled” the residue from the sparge arm. Same color and it’s a circle so... who knows. Would you scrap the thing?

 

[day_trippr]

Ah (whew!) that would definitely explain those fragments in a non-alien-life-form manner.
Let's go with that!

Cheers!

 

[Brewski_59]

back story on it- it’s always cleaned with boiling water after a run, always sanitized (even though I know brew kettles technically don’t need it) with starSan. ...

When you say cleaned with boiling water, do you add PBW or something as a cleaning agent, or just water? Wort can be pretty sticky, so just boiling water may not be getting it all off the inside of the SS tubing. Just a guess. I normally have to give my kettle a good scrub to get the stainless clean after a brew.

 

[Brewster42]

When you say cleaned with boiling water, do you add PBW or something as a cleaning agent, or just water? Wort can be pretty sticky, so just boiling water may not be getting it all off the inside of the SS tubing. Just a guess. I normally have to give my kettle a good scrub to get the stainless clean after a brew.

Ah. Not with the robobrew I haven’t been. I just heated it to boil and turned the pump on and let it circulate for about 25-30 mins. I’m leaning on the most likely residue side. But I wasn’t sure if there was some insane way that something grew in the little tubing. I’ll definitely run PBW through it as soon as it’s done from now on. I’m a little hesitant to use it though. The old kettle and propane didn’t have these issues

 

[Brewski_59]

I hear ya. I still use the old kettle and propane. Fairly easy cleanup. But since I use a counter flow chiller, that gets a PBW solution circulated through it for however long it takes me to clean other gear, and get water boiling for the rinse. Then a boiling water rinse cycle.

 

[Brewster42]

I hear ya. I still use the old kettle and propane. Fairly easy cleanup. But since I use a counter flow chiller, that gets a PBW solution circulated through it for however long it takes me to clean other gear, and get water boiling for the rinse. Then a boiling water rinse cycle.

I’ll give that a go on this one each time from now on. I just finished the 3rd PBW run, hot water run, and starsan soak for a little bit, then hot water flush again. It should be safe to use I’d imagine now right? Thanks for your input also I appreciate it

 

[FromZwolle]

what do they taste like?

 

[day_trippr]

^Eeew?^

The color of those "things" does remind me of congealed wort and I agree relying simply on recirculating hot water is unlikely to break them down in situ effectively. I recirculate ~150°F PBW for all that...

Cheers!

 

[FromZwolle]

^Eeew?^

The color of those "things" does remind me of congealed wort and I agree relying simply on recirculating hot water is unlikely to break them down in situ effectively. I recirculate ~150°F PBW for all that...

Cheers!

heh.

looks a lot like congealed bubble rings. kinda gross, but nothing overly concerning.

 

[Brewster42]

what do they taste like?

hahaha. I’ll mail it to you for Christmas and you let me know.

I appreciate it guys. I’ll probably clean it another several times in the morning just in case. I need to find something small enough and long enough that can scrub down that small SS tube. Might have to rig something up I guess. I do appreciate all of your answers/humor.

 

[DarrellQ]

Ah. Not with the robobrew I haven’t been. I just heated it to boil and turned the pump on and let it circulate for about 25-30 mins. I’m leaning on the most likely residue side. But I wasn’t sure if there was some insane way that something grew in the little tubing. I’ll definitely run PBW through it as soon as it’s done from now on. I’m a little hesitant to use it though. The old kettle and propane didn’t have these issues

So, does it hurt to circulate boiling water through the pump? I have an Anvil and was always wondering if I could do that?

 

[UncleD]

I think the only answer is that you're not brewing enough!

But yes, it looks like some sort of rust or residue from sitting.

 

[Snuffy]

I think your Robo has reached puberty.

 

[Brewster42]

So, does it hurt to circulate boiling water through the pump? I have an Anvil and was always wondering if I could do that?

well I can tell you I just finished a Christmas ale and did as day trip and brewski said and there’s a huge difference doing the PBW right after for 30 mins followed by hot water/boil rinse. So I’d recommend following that for sure.

 

[Brewster42]

I think the only answer is that you're not brewing enough!

But yes, it looks like some sort of rust or residue from sitting.

I think your Robo has reached puberty.

Lol!