Cleaning the Grainfather (Counter Flow Chiller) CFC after a long hiatus

[Brew2Be]

Hi all!

I have had a grainfather for a while now but have had a brewing hiatus. I find it hard to fully drain the CFC free of water. I picked up the CFC yesteday and realized that it had not drained completely, meaning that there has been water inside it or two or three months. My normal ater-use cleaning cycle is to run PBW at the recommended temperature for the recommended time (I don't remember it off the top of my head - something like recirculating for 15 minutes with 55 C PBW solution) and then pumping water through the CFC to clear the PBW and wort out. So to my question: I don't know what the insides of the CFC are made of (or rather, whether copper comes into direct contact with wort) and I am worried about nasties / verdigris. I am thinking of brewing this weekend and wanted to know whether the CFC is safe to use after doing the following:

1. Run a PBW cleaning cycle
2. Run boiling water through


Or do i need to do something more elaborate?




Thanks in advance. I am a bit worried - especially about verdigris.

 

[processhead]

1. Run a PBW cleaning cycle
2. Run boiling water through

I think your cleaning program will do everything required. Adequate flushing with clean hot water after the PBW cycle should address any verdigris concerns.

Prior to next use, a quick starsan flush or flush with post-boil hot wort will sanitize the CFC.

 

[Brew2Be]

OK thanks a lot for the feedback. I always clean wort out of the CFC with hot, clean water after a brew.

 

[k-os]

Similarly when I use my plate chiller I circulate my boil through it the last 15 minutes, then after the brew is done I circulate my cleaner through it for around 45 minutes, flush with hot water, and then try to drain it as well as I can. I haven't had any issues with infection in the 5 batches I've done.

 

[tdp]

Brew2Be - I just found myself in the exact same situation... was wondering if you’d done what had been suggested and what the outcome was??