How do you clean your equipment after? I've been reading some info that suggests dish soap is not good for your brew equipment. I'd like to keep my demijohns and bottles clean when not using them but I am curious how everyone cleans and maintains their equipment after brewing.
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Cleaning equipment after
- Thread starter Billiamos
- Start date
Look up a product called Starsan. https://morewinemaking.com/products/star-san-sanitizer.html
And this,,,,,https://morewinemaking.com/products/powdered-brewery-wash-pbw-cleaner.html
And this,,,,,https://morewinemaking.com/products/powdered-brewery-wash-pbw-cleaner.html
I use a pink chlorine cleasner and an assortment of bottle nad carboy brushes to clean my equipment and then an acidified sulphite solution to sanitize it. My biggest concern with my basement setup is stuff not getting peroperly dried and developing mold in any leftover liquid , or dust or spiders getting into empty carboys that I can't reasonably store upside-down so I'll often sanitize and close (lid or airlock) my cleaned equipment if it's something like a carboy that I can't easily drain and confirm dry. I run cleanser and sanitizer through my hoses and tubing and racking canes and then hang them so they drain and dry, generally if you clean them right away you don't need to worry about stuff sticking to the insides, but if you ever do wind up with scunge in a hose, a spoonful of dry rice in with the cleanser can help scrub parts you can't otherwise reach, though it's going to require some agitation to make sure you get the right spot scrubbed. I'll leave a foot of air in the tube then put my thumbs over the ends and shake it around and lift one end to get the rice to the right spot, shake it some more, repeat till it's clean... then rinse really well and don't clog the drain with the rice.
I've never heard that dish soap can actively harm equipment but because of the suds, depending on your water it may not rinse out well (even a small degree of hardness in your water can leave soap scum deposits), and you really want your equipment as clean as you can get it.
My only caution with the pink cleanser is it can make the outside of things very slippery, not at all what you want when handling a 5 gallon glass carboy! I suspect the alkaline PBW that Squatchy linked may have similar issues, if yo've ever used baking soda or washing soda you'll understand... I try to keep it limited to the inside of the carboy I'm cleaning.
Another thing that helps with rinsing the cleanser out is a bottle washer faucet attachment, I use it when I rinse carboys and wine bottles. Mine looks like this https://www.kegland.com.au/products/faucet-jet-carboy-and-beer-bottle-washer, most brew places carry something similar.
I've never heard that dish soap can actively harm equipment but because of the suds, depending on your water it may not rinse out well (even a small degree of hardness in your water can leave soap scum deposits), and you really want your equipment as clean as you can get it.
My only caution with the pink cleanser is it can make the outside of things very slippery, not at all what you want when handling a 5 gallon glass carboy! I suspect the alkaline PBW that Squatchy linked may have similar issues, if yo've ever used baking soda or washing soda you'll understand... I try to keep it limited to the inside of the carboy I'm cleaning.
Another thing that helps with rinsing the cleanser out is a bottle washer faucet attachment, I use it when I rinse carboys and wine bottles. Mine looks like this https://www.kegland.com.au/products/faucet-jet-carboy-and-beer-bottle-washer, most brew places carry something similar.
Hi everyone! I'm new to the brewing scene, and I'm finding all the advice here super helpful. I haven't tried using specialized cleaning products yet—I've mostly just been using hot water and a bit of dish soap, but now I see that might not be the best choice. I’ll definitely look into Starsan and PBW as suggested.
Does anyone have tips on cleaning hoses or hard-to-reach areas? I noticed some residue in my tubing after my last batch, and I'm worried it might affect the next one. Thanks for all the insights so far!"
Does anyone have tips on cleaning hoses or hard-to-reach areas? I noticed some residue in my tubing after my last batch, and I'm worried it might affect the next one. Thanks for all the insights so far!"
My best advice for tubing is to rinse it out and hang it immediately after use... however if one does not immediately develop such habits and finds some scunge in their tubing, then funnel maybe a teaspoonful of dry uncooked rice or barley or small lentils into the tubing and chase it with enough water to fill a couple inches to a foot of the tubing, then thumbs over both ends and do the shakey shakey dance with it, adjusting where the scrubbing happens by adjusting the height of your hands and shaking till the mildly abrasive grains have scrubbed off your scunge. It looks utterly ridiculous but it works better than a soak in the pink cleanser does. Oh and when you empty it out, rinse well and be careful not to clog your drain with the grains, might want to catch them in a seive and compost them, or flush down the toilet or something rather than risking them getting stuck in the sink P-trap for a nasty surprise later.
