A few questions.....

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

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Fraoch
Double IPA
Double IPA
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri May 18, 2001 5:36 am

A few questions.....

Post by Fraoch »

Most of you brewers use glass carboys yes???I can see the benefits of using these and am tempted to start using them myself.Ive got my eye on a 10gal carboy with tap at the bottom or 2 x 5 gals.Apart from breakage (ouch,-$$$$$'s)how the hell do you get those things clean????Not like you can stick your arm in and give it a good scrub, i would also like to avoid using extreme temperatures with glass - obvious reasons.
Ive also noticed that the name "Starsan" crops up quite a bit.I cant get hold of it here but we may have the same thing under a different name, so what exactly is it as i might be able to track down its non-generic cousin.Sounds like good stuff to me.

Thanks all,

Fraoch
Monkey Man
Light Lager
Light Lager
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Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2001 1:46 pm
Location: Lincoln, NE, US

Carboy scrub

Post by Monkey Man »

I know of two ways to clean a carboy, assuming you still want it intact. The first is with a carboy brush. This is like a long bottle brush with an L- shaped bristle head. You cram that sucker through the mouth and go to town. The other way is with a nozzle that fits on the faucet of your sink. I have found that like everything else, carboys are relatively easy to clean, if you clean them IMMEDIATELY after you empty them.
Nate
jayhawk
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 472
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2001 12:05 am
Location: Vancouver, BC, CA

A few answers...

Post by jayhawk »

I bought a second carboy a while back and now use them for both primary and secondary. If I am doing two batches I will use my plastic buckets, but I try not to leave it in there to long. I have seen carboy brushes at HBSs that have long flexible handle. I have a homemade contraption made from a coat hanger with a piece of sponge attached to the end. I can bend the wire to any shape and reach all areas of the carboy. I find that a good warm water rinse gets most of the crap out. I put in maybe a litre of water and then shake like crazy and repeat a couple of times. I then only have to scrub the ring of trub near the top off.

My sanitizer is called "Diversol". This is the only stuff I have used and it works well. I have never had a spoiled batch that was caused by my siphon or fermenters. It requires rinsing, but I just boil the kettle and after two rinses it is gone. It a pink powder, similar to bleach, but I think it contains more sodium. It works on contact when diluted to 1 tsp per litre.
Freon12
Strong Ale
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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2001 8:27 pm
Location: WHITELAND, IN, US

6.5 and 5

Post by Freon12 »

I use a 6.5gal and a 5gal carboy. I recommend the "L" shaped brush in case you clean the next day. I have no problem getting them clean.

I use Starsan and it is some type of pesticide, no rinse on top of that!
You can buy it from morebeer.com or elsewhere.

You might also make a stand for drying them upsidedown and safe from yukkies.

Although I am unafraid of plastic buckets, it seems cleaner with glass.

Here's to ya Fraoch.(Gulp).

Steve
Brewer2001
Double IPA
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Posts: 170
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2001 1:56 am

Carboy cleaning.

Post by Brewer2001 »

Fraoch,

I would buy the two 5 gallon carboys. They are easier to handle and you can have two batches in the secondary at one time.

Cleaning is easy if you perform it right after it is emptied. You should get a long brush, a bottle & carboy washer($10.00 US) and adaptor to fit ($2.95 US)your faucet and some cleaning supplies.

The Five Star line of cleaners are replacements for the cleaners traditionally used in the trade.
I use PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) for cleaning. This is a refined formulation TSP (trisodium phosphate) and replaces caustic soda for cleaning. You can also use 'Dip-It' that is use to clean coffee brewing equipment. A 4 LB. container of PBW costs $19.95 US.

StarSan is a food grade phosphoric acid sanitizer. Phosphoric acid is used in breweries to remove the beerstone from the kettle (that's a real fun job....no) and food grade is used in soda making. The good thing is that StarSan is low foam and no rinse. I don't like Iodophor, if you use in high concentrations it imparts a flavor and odor to the beer.

Five Star Chemical Company
Denver, Colorado (303)287-0186
www.fivestarchemicals.com

or

Beer, Beer and More Beer
975 Detroit Ave. Unit D
Concord, Ca. 94518
1-800-600-0033 (925) 939-BEER
www.morebeer.com
(I stopped by while on a business trip to San Fran.....great place)

Good brewing

Tom
Fraoch
Double IPA
Double IPA
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri May 18, 2001 5:36 am

thanks all...

Post by Fraoch »

Cheers for the info guys. Still haventy got the carboys yet, y'know how it is, bills and then more!!Ill probably go the 2x5gals as me 10 gal batches are hard enough to manouvre as it is, now then, fridge space.....
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