Cleaning for real

[BrewMasterBrad]

I, like many of you, have been using an oxygen cleaner instead of PBW for a while now to save some money. I also know that many of us do not use the proper amount of cleaning and sanitizing chemicals. I have recently had some great conversations with a representative from Five Star Chemicals that have been pretty eye opening. I expressed to her that many home brewers are like myself and we are cheap and don't necessarily follow directions very well. She explained to me why the products are formulated the way they are and that using more than the recommended amount of any chemical is not beneficial. In addition, Five Star just recently introduced a new beer stone remover for home brewers cleverly called BS Remover. The representative was kind enough to send me some samples of PBW and BS Remover so I could see for myself what a difference proper use of these products could do.

I had to do some renovations on my keggles so I could use the BS Remover since it is too acidic to use on copper. I swapped out my homemade copper dip tubes in my boil kettle and hot liquor tank with compression fittings and stainless tubing from Brewers Hardware. I also took the opportunity to swap out my old economy ball valves with quick clean ball valves. See the gross inside of one of the old ball valves.

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Now that my kettles were copper free, I cleaned them using PBW on my Mark's Keg Washer and a CIP ball. Did you know that you only need 3/4 oz. of PBW per gallon of water? That's not much. The keg washer basin holds 1.75 gallons of water, so I measured out the proper amount of PBW. The keggles had already been cleaned using oxygen cleaner after my last brew day, but the PBW still removed a bunch of soil. After rinsing the keggles with hot water, I was ready to try out the BS Remover at a rate of 1/2 oz. per gallon. The BS Remover helps remove that stubborn beer stone and re-passivates the stainless steel when you allow the surface to air dry after use. You can see the before and after pictures below as well as the amount of beer stone that was left in the bottom of the keg washer basin.

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So, what did I learn from all this? First, it pays to be nice to the Five Star rep. Second, I will never be cheap again when it comes to my cleaning regimen.

[DrDually]

Nice write up Brad...I also agree with not being cheap
PBW does a great job when used as directed
Especially when used with hot water and CIP
Did rep say when BS Remover will be available?

[BrewMasterBrad]

Nice write up Brad...I also agree with not being cheap
PBW does a great job when used as directed
Especially when used with hot water and CIP
Did rep say when BS Remover will be available?

It's available now, just depends on when the resellers start stocking it. Ask for it if your local homebrew shop doesn't have it in stock.

[Megastout]

Good Job Brad. Made a Festbier I would like your feedback on; I know you made one for the festival that was good.
I have been using PBW from my start and seem to have good luck. I clean right after the brewing process since it seems to be more beneficial than waiting for a period of time.
I follow the instructions on the container which states:
"Run solution for 25 to 35 minutes, at temperatures between 100 and 160 degrees F. Rinse with potable water immediately after CIP at the same temperature as the wash temperature."
My water out of the tap runs around 120 degrees, so it works well. I find it works well for used bottles too.
DT
Nice looking ball valve!

[floyd]

I bought the various ingredients from ebay/amazon and made a batch of home made pbw. I have a home depot bucket full of the stuff now.
Roughly used these ratios:
Sodium Percarbonate 35%
Sodium Carbonate 20%
Trisodium Phosphate 28%
7th Generation dish powder 17%

[BrewMasterBrad]

I bought the various ingredients from ebay/amazon and made a batch of home made pbw. I have a home depot bucket full of the stuff now.
Roughly used these ratios:
Sodium Percarbonate 35%
Sodium Carbonate 20%
Trisodium Phosphate 28%
7th Generation dish powder 17%

I have heard of people making their own version of PBW. I think basically that is oxy clean plus TSP. I believe the TSP acts as a surfactant which is really makes PBW better than oxy clean. That looks like what you have put together. Still won't remove beer stone though.

[lexuschris]

Considering how many award winning beers you've made with that ball-valve, do you have any concern about losing your lucky baum stick? Your lucky organism's that made your beer great?

Looking forward to getting some BS remover .. might be useful my next ADP meeting!
--LexusChris

[jward]

Let me ask a dumb question. Are you weighing 3/4 oz on something like a hop scale or using a dry ingredient measuring cup?

[BrewMasterBrad]

Let me ask a dumb question. Are you weighing 3/4 oz on something like a hop scale or using a dry ingredient measuring cup?

I actually used my hop scale initially to get the approximately 1.3 oz. I needed for 1.75 gallons of water. That weight was almost exactly two tablespoons plus one teaspoon by volume, so now I just use that volume every time.

[BrewMasterBrad]

If the homebrew shops are not carrying this, I can probably get us a case of 12 bottles. It comes in the familiar little 8 oz. Five Star bottles.

Let me know if you want one. If there is enough interest, I will place the order.

They also introduced a new Phosphoric Acid 10% product in the 8 oz. bottles. I have one, but I have not used it yet. I plan on using it next time I brew to adjust my mash pH.

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[brahn]

I'd like to give the BS remover a shot. I'd be in for a group buy.

[JonW]

I'd be in for a bottle of BS remover as well.

[SamIam]

I'm in. I wonder if it works at work?

[gromitdj]

Thanks for the info. (I'm amazed by some of the responses on your HBT post)

The Five Star website says that it is coming soon, so it may not be available to shops yet. I'd be interested in a bottle, if it's not available locally.

[BrewMasterBrad]

Thanks for the info. (I'm amazed by some of the responses on your HBT post)

The Five Star website says that it is coming soon, so it may not be available to shops yet. I'd be interested in a bottle, if it's not available locally.

Yeah, there are some trolls on HBT. They probably make bad beer too.

It's available to shops, I just don't think Five Star has done a very good job of getting the word out to them.

I will order a case since it looks like it will be very easy to get rid of 12 bottles.