Tiny Black Dots in Empty Carboy

[Bier_lovingdude76]

Hello fellow homebrew enthusiasts,

I have a 5 gallon glass carboy that wasn’t completely cleaned properly after it’s last use (let a friend borrow it) and was left sitting in a garage for some time. It had a lot of caked on gunk left over from the kräusen/yeast sediment/etc. I read that oxyclean and PBW are both good for stuff like that but I couldn’t get my hands on either of them in time for my next batch so I scrubbed it out with dish soap and a carboy brush which got most of the residue out. Still smelled like sweet malt so I scrubbed it with cleaning vinegar.

Well now it’s completely clean except for 5 or so tiny black specks that absolutely won’t come off for anything. Don’t know what they are or where they came from but it almost looks like the brush isn’t even making contact with them as if they’re stuck inside the glass or something. Don’t want to ruin my batch by contaminating it with these black things left in the carboy, don’t know what to do now...help? lol

 

[Pugnacious Brewing]

Hi there Bier-LD76, I saw your post and looked into things. I found Ammonia mixed 1 cup to 5 Gallons of water and left to soak may work on stains and such. Also saw that Lye used as directed to soak, should kill and clean off any organic material. I would think of using the Lye in your situation perhaps, if you can get your hands on some. Best of luck, I hope this info helps you out.

 

[Edward waldner]

Hi there Bier-LD76, I saw your post and looked into things. I found Ammonia mixed 1 cup to 5 Gallons of water and left to soak may work on stains and such. Also saw that Lye used as directed to soak, should kill and clean off any organic material. I would think of using the Lye in your situation perhaps, if you can get your hands on some. Best of luck, I hope this info helps you out.

Well i used some bleach. I let it sit for a couple days than I rinsed it twice .that worked for me on some caked on stuff it might work for that

 

[DeanRIowa]

I personally have had great luck soaking with Oxyclean Versatile Stain Remover(Chlorine-free,No dyes or perfumes), a light scrub, then rinse well(3 to 4 times).

Dean

 

[Bier_lovingdude76]

Sorry for some reason I just saw everyone’s replies. Thanks for the advice. I ended up soaking it in an oxygen based cleaner (basically generic oxyclean) and they still wouldn’t budge but what I noticed is that the bubbles and brush bristles weren’t even contacting the marks and there is a gap between the inside surface of the carboy and the black spots so I guess they’re just marks inside the glass somehow idk. Oh well

 

[kh54s10]

Be extremely careful if those are flaws in the glass. We don't want to hear about a trip to the ER.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium.376523/

 

[Bier_lovingdude76]

Be extremely careful if those are flaws in the glass. We don't want to hear about a trip to the ER.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium.376523/

Well that’s slightly terrifying, never realized they were that dangerous...

 

[kh54s10]

The risk you are comfortable with is personal. A lot of people swear by glass carboys. I will never own one. Or, if I did it would go in a milk crate be set in a place where I could clean it without moving it and it would stay there forever.

 

[augiedoggy]

I stopped using glass carboys when an airlock got plugged on a stout I was making and it exploded... went to plastic and eventually stainless after that. many of the glass carboys are very old and have many bubbles and imperfections in the glass.

 

[kh54s10]

I stopped using glass carboys when an airlock got plugged on a stout I was making and it exploded... went to plastic and eventually stainless after that. many of the glass carboys are very old and have many bubbles and imperfections in the glass.

But the really old (30-40 years) ones seem to have been a lot better.

 

[augiedoggy]

But the really old (30-40 years) ones seem to have been a lot better.

The one that exploded on me was from the 30s so... very old.

 

[kh54s10]

The one that exploded on me was from the 30s so... very old.

It happens! Hopefully not in a way that gets a post on the Horror compendium.

 

[day_trippr]

Carboys die from physical mishandling or thermal abuse. Wrt the latter, just putting room temperature water in a carboy that was cold-crashed and racked off is a huge thermal shock and a recipe for eventually having the entire bottom fall off. Then you have folks that pour hot wort in glass, or use their hottest tap water for cleaning, etc, etc.

I treat glass like the humongous grenade that it is. I have six 6.5g italian carboys that are between 15 and 13 years in use.
And I wouldn't purchase a used carboy on a dare...

Cheers!