How do you clean/sanitize your carboys?

[aeonderdonk]

I feel like I'm going a little overkill with this and was wondering how other people do it. Here's what I do:

Add about a liter of warm water to carboy, add a little dish soap, scrub with brush to clean it.

Rinse carboy with cool water.

Fill carboy halfway with water, add a little bleach (couple capfuls), and top off with water.

Let sit for 30 mins.

Drain into big trash can to use bleach water to sanitize everything else (tubing, caps, funnel, etc...)

Rinse.


This takes a long time and a lot of water. My bottle cleaning/sanitizing process is very similar (and I hate it). How do you guys do it?

 

[sundowner]

Clean with PBW and sanitize with StarSan.

 

[SavageSteve]

Clean with PBW and sanitize with StarSan.

YES!

These products are awesome-- they will save you a ton of time, especially StarSan because you can save it and reuse it for a while. It's also no-rinse.

PBW is a set it and forget it product-- it cleans all the gunk out of the fermenter with little to no work.

-Steve

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

DO NOT USE DISH SOAP. That may be an urban myth, but I agree with it. It can leave films/residues that are not desirable. Leading to off flavors and pour head retention.

I soak my carboys in oxyclean for 24hours, dump, rinse a few times, dry upside down for another 12 hours then store covered with plastic wrap.

I currently use iodophor to sanitize.

 

[Rick500]

I fill them with warm water, add a tablespoon or so of Oxiclean Free (or generic equivalent), and leave them alone overnight. Then dump them, rinse several times, and when ready to use, pour in a gallon of StarSan solution, coat the insides, and put foil on top. Then they're ready to go as soon as the StarSan is poured out.

 

[Paraops]

I rinse right after I rack beer out of the carboy. Refill to half full with tap water, add about a teaspoon of dishwashing soap and brush. I rinse until clear and dry upside down. On brewday, I'll rinse once more then siphon about a gal of star san from my sani-bucket, and let sit until right before I transfer the wort. I shake the carboy to get a good foam going, dump the star san back into the sani-bucket and proceed with wort transfer. Never an issue with head retention using soap btw.

 

[schweaty]

OxyClean Free and 5-Star StarSan

 

[944play]

+1 for OxiClean Free (ok, I use generic...) and StarSan. I usually have to break out the carboy brush, but only on the kraeusen ring.

I keep bleach far away from my brew gear, unless I have something I KNOW is infected, then that gets bleach-bombed.

 

[Hammy71]

OxyClean Free and 5-Star StarSan

Same here....leave the carboy on its side long enough and Oxyclean will erase anything.... I usually use the brush to make a quick swipe..... Put in a gallon of Starsan mixture in the carboy and shake away...dump.... all done...

 

[ChshreCat]

Oxyclean free and no scrubbing needed.

I keep my starsan in a spray bottle. Just a few shots and the (Better Bottle) carboy is sanitized with only a few ounces of the stuff.

 

[Tonedef131]

OxyClean Free and 5-Star StarSan

word to this

 

[passedpawn]

I fill with a cup of bleach and the rest water right after I empty one. It sits like this for weeks until I need it. Then, dump, add about 1/4 cup of starsan, spray some water in there, shake like crazy so it is filled with foam, drain, fill with wort.

 

[aeonderdonk]

Looks like I need to step up to Oxiclean and Starsan. Thanks everyone!!

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've never used soap on any of my equipment...

 

[bob1852]

why are people soaking in oxyclean for 24-hrs? that stuff usually takes off any grime in 20 minutes...

 

[Rick500]

I just tend to rack out of primaries in the evening so I just leave it to soak until the next day. There's one in the sink right now actually.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I also use PBW and Starsan but sometimes I'll use Iodofor. I will try Oxiclean Free once I use up all this PBW...PBW is kind of expensive.

I reuse PBW though. I usually use the PBW to clean out a keg or bottles (which leaves the PBW totally clear) then reuse it to 'scrub' the inside of the carboy, then it gets dumped. I never dump clean/clear PBW solution because I know I'll have a gunked up carboy to clean soon enough. I just put a non-drilled stopper in the bung and invert the carboy in a bucket and let it sit...sometimes for 2 days just because I'm lazy. No scrubbing any krausen ring.

I also let the Starsan sit in the carboy several hours or overnight before brewday. Why? So all the foam can settle and I can pour it out without having a mountain of foam inside (pour slowly to prevent gurgling/bubbling).

 

[Iechyd Da]

I save my carboys and kegs up until I have 6 or 7 and then put them on the washer filled with a PBW solution. About 10 minutes and they sparkle.

 

[Pimp Juice]

warm water, oxyclean, and one of these

then rinse a few times w/warm water to get the suds out.
Stopped sanitizing about 20 batches ago.

 

[Homercidal]

I have used detergent for most of my carboy cleaning, but with oxyclean/PBW I probably wont' need to anymore.

I also gave up on the brush. Seemed a hassle. Now I just drop a washcloth into the carboy and shake it all around. The washcloth will wipe away the stuck stuff.

But I rarely use a carboy anymore either. I just use bucket and washcloth to clean it. No soap, just a bit of hot water.

 

[missing link]

I save my carboys and kegs up until I have 6 or 7 and then put them on the washer filled with a PBW solution. About 10 minutes and they sparkle.

I also use this method. I like this the best for kegs and carboys. I just keep switching them out every 15 minutes on brew day. I call this the no shake method!! I have a valve and corny connections to blast cleaner through the in and out poppets as well.