How do you CLEAN your glass carboys?

[shortyjacobs]

Trisodium Phosphate. I might try oxyclean but I bought TSP in bulk. It might be a while before I run out.

I actually mix TSP-PF + Oxyclean FREE in a 1:3 ratio, which seems to work well.

 

[mikebiewer]

I'm with the low tech. I fill my carboy up with oxyclean and warm water. Let it sit for an hour then scrub and rinse it. It seems ok for me!

 

[Homercidal]

Hot water and Oxy overnight, then drain almost empty and shove a washcloth in there. Swirl the cloth around until it's wiped all surfaces. Then remove cloth and drain completely and rinse and sanitize.

It's a bit of work, but I rarely use my carboy anymore.

 

[Jawbox0]

Water rinse immediately after transfer, then Oxyclean overnight. I rinse it the next day and it's good to go after a quick sanitize.

 

[permo]

after brewing I use a bleach water solution and then rinse it with water...there aren't many spots for yukies to hide on the smooth glass interior.

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

i prefer gypsy tears solution...

10 drops per 5 gallons

very nice

 

[billc68]

I never "clean" my carboys, ever.

Within a few minutes of emptying them or after bottling is complete. I rinse, rinse, rinse. If they have any visible solids that won't come out I might soak with chlorine sanitizer or bleach and water.

Then I put them away and rinse and sanitize and rinse again before using. The way I see it, it was already sanitized before I rinsed it, just had some beer and yeast in it. Need to get that all out.

For bottles, if they are my own homebrew bottles, I rinse 3 times immediately after emptying them and then sanitize on bottling day. For "new" empty commercial bottles, I soak them for a day or two in a cooler with warm water and oyclean, peel off any labels that haven't already come off, look for crap in the bottom. Any that don't look crystal clean go back to the recycling depot, the rest get sanitized and used. I should also mention, I always look for fresh bottles when buying them, having two alcoholic neighbors helps too, a few cigarette butts sure beats old dried up mold in the bottle.

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM YET

I am a little concerned about my second kegging attempt, I have an off flavor but I made a few other mistakes in that process, so we'll see.

 

[yeastbound]

i prefer gypsy tears solution...

10 drops per 5 gallons

very nice

high five!

 

[Bobby_M]

I love a little overkill now and then but this is pretty easy stuff. A little (1 gallon) warm/hot water and PBW with a carboy brush, then a good rinse. It's now clearn. Another gallon of room temp water with .2 fl.oz. of starsan sloshed around in the carboy a couple times. Dump. It's now sanitary.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

My carboys always have that brown gunk caked on the top conical portion and neck area (by design). I usually have some previously used PBW solution around so I put a couple gallons of that in there and then invert it in a bucket and let soak until the gunk comes off. Rinse well and that's my 'preclean'. Then before I use it I PBW it again (and this PBW solution can be reused), rinse well and then Starsan it (I mix SS with Distilled and reuse for weeks). Every now and again I'll go newkular on it and bleach it, especially just before a new yeast strain that I intend to wash. I haven't needed/used a brush or anything else in there since I started using PBW.

It might be overkill but I always clean with PBW and rinse well before sanitizing, even if I cleaned it a week earlier with PBW. For whatever reason I don't feel comfortable just sanitizing something I cleaned days/weeks earlier.

 

[buyaka]

By far the easiest way I've found to clean bottles is by putting them in my dishwasher. 2 hours before I want to bottle I put 50 bottles face down in my dishwasher with NO DETERGENT (nothing). Then it just runs with hot water for 60-75 minutes. I don't open the door until I'm ready to bottle. In the 15 or so brews I've done this way, zero have been infected. It cuts all that washing time down to the amount of time it takes to load and unload the dishwasher. Plus I bottle right next to my dishwasher so I just take them out 1 at a time while I bottle.

 

[Brew-boy]

I soak my carboys in PBW or B brite for a week or two. Simple and it works very well.

 

[billc68]

By far the easiest way I've found to clean bottles is by putting them in my dishwasher. 2 hours before I want to bottle I put 50 bottles face down in my dishwasher with NO DETERGENT (nothing). Then it just runs with hot water for 60-75 minutes. I don't open the door until I'm ready to bottle. In the 15 or so brews I've done this way, zero have been infected. It cuts all that washing time down to the amount of time it takes to load and unload the dishwasher. Plus I bottle right next to my dishwasher so I just take them out 1 at a time while I bottle.

I haven't had much luck with the dishwasher, but I do use the dishwasher. I open it and place my bottle on the door, the bucket sits on top and any spills go straight into the dishwasher, great way to save on clean up time after wards.