Clean In Place?

[backyard brewer]

Does anyone here do CIP? Dan, I seem to remember your system was pretty well hard piped, do you CIP?

My real question is: how to you get the last bit of water out of each vessel so you can be sure there is no residual cleaner?

[dhempy]

No .. no CIP here ... I do empty out the vessels until they're mostly empty and then dump 'em manually. But my Mashtun is still totally manual ... aside from running off at the mouth and pushing my luck .. that is the only exercise I'm getting these days!

Dan

[spkrtoy]

I have CIP on my brew tree.

I admit I still have to use an autosiphon to get all the water out and a towel to dry it when I'm done. Since I'm boiling, I'm not sanitizing anything just making sure it's clean.

[backyard brewer]

I have CIP on my brew tree.

I admit I still have to use an autosiphon to get all the water out and a towel to dry it when I'm done. Since I'm boiling, I'm not sanitizing anything just making sure it's clean.

I'm mostly concerned with completely rinsing all the cleaners. I'm considering CIP when I finally build a new system, but I don't want to be stuck with residual PBW in the vessels, nor do I want to have to spend 30 minutes rinsing the cleaners out.

[maltbarley]

Does anyone here do CIP? Dan, I seem to remember your system was pretty well hard piped, do you CIP?

My real question is: how to you get the last bit of water out of each vessel so you can be sure there is no residual cleaner?

Maybe I'm missing something but why would there be residual cleaner if you do a rinse cycle?

I CIP on mine but that involves a 20-30 minute circulation of hot PBW solution followed by hot rinse with clear water (from the chiller).

[backyard brewer]

Maybe I'm missing something but why would there be residual cleaner if you do a rinse cycle?

I CIP on mine but that involves a 20-30 minute circulation of hot PBW solution followed by hot rinse with clear water (from the chiller).

I'm speculating since I don't CIP. My kettles will only drain to within like 2" of the bottom. So if I had several gallons of PBW solution in there, then drained the best I could without moving the kettle I'd still have ~2" of cleaner. Then to rinse I'd be continuously diluting the cleaner to remove it. At some point, I'm sure I'd rinse it all, but still be left with a few inches of water (hopefully only water).

Do your kettles drain completely?

[maltbarley]

Do your kettles drain completely?

Yes. They (all three...no I don't know why the HLT has it) have a dip tube that goes below the false botom and sits about an eighth of an inch from the bottom. Very little solution is left in there so when I rinse it with 15 gallons of clear water, I'm not worried. With 2" of liquid (sounds like more than a gallon), I see your point.

[spkrtoy]

Derrin, what kind of pickup do you have? I think Tim's and mine have some copper coming from the outlet port and 90'ing some way until it's just above the very bottom of the kettle. I think it's suction once things start that keep the liquid flowing even though the outlet's higher than the very bottom. It has to be airtight or it won't all flow out (that's my problem with my HLT) once started.

Photo's??? anyone, photos? of what you've got would help. (I can't get to mine easily)

[backyard brewer]

No, I don't have pickup tubes in the B3 kettles, the Blichmann pot has a great pickup tube.

Basically, for a CIP to work well, you'll need to be able to drain the vessel almost completely. That's not a problem.