PBW supply

[pvpeacock]

The Brewery Detergent works out to $ 0.31 cents per gallon of water based on using 1 oz per gallon of water which is cheaper than even the powdered PBW at $ 0.34 cents per gallon.

 

[MaxStout]

Although I doubt it helps McMullan, for other readers, I'll second this stuff. It's cost-effective and it works well.

Might have to consider that. Ounce for ounce, it's the same as the PBW refills from RiteBrew. But Amazon has free shipping on the Brewery Detergent, so that's a big tie-breaker.

 

[McMullan]

The instructions on the bottle actually say 1-2 oz. of liquid PBW per gallon of water and the instructions on the tub say 3/4 of an oz. of powder per gallon of water.

Reads like you might have cherry picked a lower dose for the powder, based on cleaning a lightly soiled item. In order to make legitimate comparisons, we first need to standardise to make them comparable. Otherwise bias invalidates the comparison.

 

[pvpeacock]

Sorry. It was not intentional. Upon closer reading of the label on the powder, it recommends 3/4 oz. per gallon for fermenters, kegs, tanks and other equipment, but 1-2 oz. per gallon for kettles. At $29 for 4 lbs. (64 oz.) that equals:
$ 0.34 per gallon at 3/4 oz.
$ 0.45 cents per gallon at 1 oz.
$0.90 cents per gallon at 2 oz.

 

[Yooper]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/homemade-pbw-recipe.467655/

I've been doing this for years- but they are ingredients I tend to have around anyway.

 

[AmarikinBrew]

I thought I'd use your post as an excuse to look up the components of PBW. Humm, in the UK (on EBay) the main component (Sodium Percarbonate) is creeping up in price ... 20Kg (can't even get 25Kg sacks no more) is £50 (small bottles of it are a ridiculous price).

What follows will be a bit below your understanding, but I'm writing here for anyone. (And perhaps anyone to correct me for anything dumb I've said!).

As this stuff gives off oxygen if it gets damp, it is potentially a fire risk (it will help sustain fire, not burst into flames itself) so there could be reluctance of governments to let you have it, store it, transport it, etc.

The (only) other active component is sodium metasilicate (30% suggested by some), a degreaser, and substitute for trisodium phosphate which is an ecological disaster (which you can still get it in the UK, but it should have been banned ages ago). I don't bother with it, percarbonate will deal with any organic grime and I'm not in a habit of spraying WD40 over my brewing kit.

So, +1 for using just sodium percarbonate to replace PBW ... if you can get it! Bulk buy (20-25Kg) or get ripped off with smaller amounts (it does come in handy for other jobs BTW!).


This is a bit more about the stuff (commercial chatter ... or lies?): https://stppgroup.com/understanding-sodium-percarbonate-a-powerful-cleaning-agent/

Now, the other bit that I've wanted to look up for ages ... it's "kill" ability! (Just microbes, I'm sure it'll evict any rats in your fermenter, or perhaps turn their fur white so it's easier to aim half-bricks).

Found this: https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=87407.0

So, 1g made up to 100ml creates a 0.325% w/v hydrogen peroxide solution? That's the same as the 10g per litre concentration I use mostly (at 40-60°C). Not really enough? From what I've seen you need x10 for that (3%) to be an effective killer? 100g in one litre, that'll strip paint! (Not kidding, it does strip paint!). Maybe 10g/L for general cleaner, 100g/L (but fraction of volume) as a cleaned surface wash as killer? Do rinse off ... don't need to be as meticulous as with a chlorine cleaner, but it will make a bad flavour (using it as "no-rinse" as some suggest is a dumb move as I see it).

You could kill a whole colony of ants with that