Question Re: Cleaning Carboy

[zyx345]

I'm about to bottle my Cooper Lager in four - five days. At that point the wort will have been in the carboy for approx 14 days.

 

Once bottled, I will need to clean the carboy of course. I planned on using a soft, non-abrasive sponge + dishwashing soap to remove the yeast crust on the top.

 

I read that dishwashing soap can leave a residue that is not the best for your beer. Has anyone used this method?

 

Also is there any other recommended methods to clean the carboy?

 

Please note that my question is towards cleaning and not sanitizing, as I use Star San for that. I have also read the Coopers FAQ as well:

 

http://coopers.com.au/media/61084/brewing_faqs.pdf

 

To clean:

\u2022 Soak equipment in water until caked on residue is softened.

\u2022 Remove residue with a soft cloth and rinse thoroughly.

\u2022 Pay attention to \u2018hard to get at\u2019 areas.

\u2022 Remove and clean the tap, particularly the threads.

NOTE: Do not use any cleaning aid that may scratch the plastic.

[Muddy Waters]

You can use a bit of bleach diluted with water - I'd avoid dish soap personally.

 

My method of the moment is to use unperfumed Napisan (The one for sensitive skin) but I'm not sure if you have that in the US. It is a powdered soap for soaking nappies with the active ingredient being sodium percarbonate

[Luke]

Also a good soak with powdered automatic dishwasher detergent is good too... (unscented Aldi brand)

Then a tidy-up with the bleach solution.

[SeanP2]

I just hose down the inside of the carboy. This gets most of the crud off. Anything left behind usually can be removed with a wet rag. Once the inside looks clean I soak in sodium percarbonate solution for a day or two with all the equipment I will use for my next brew inside. On brew day make up 5L of no rinse sanitiser such as starsan or idophor and slosh around the inside of the carboy. Run solution through the tap and into an atomiser spray bottle. Spray all screw threads and the lid.

[PB2]

Are we talking about a carboy (normally a glass vessel with a narrow neck) or the plastic fermenting tub with a screw on lid?

 

If it's a carboy you will probably need a specialist cleaning brush for scrubbing off the crusty bits.

[zyx345]

Are we talking about a carboy (normally a glass vessel with a narrow neck) or the plastic fermenting tub with a screw on lid?

 

If it's a carboy you will probably need a specialist cleaning brush for scrubbing off the crusty bits.

 

Thanks. I am referring to the plastic fermenting tub with lid that comes with the Coopers Microbrew Kit.

 

Also thanks to all for all of the replies. Any additional are always welcome.

 

[Martyn]

Heres my two cents worth.

 

After bottling, run some water in and mix with the yeast cake and empty. Give it a good wipe to get rid of the crud and other yeasty bits then run some water in it and swill and wipe out a few times until you can't see any more cruddy bits, then remove tap and, dare I say it sediment reducer, clean them separately in a small container with bleach solution in as the threads are a pain to clean. You wont get rid of the pong in the fv, leave to dry (or dry it with a tea towel) and put back in box until next needed.

When needed I slosh in some unscented bleach and hot water put in go my utensils and a brand new cloth and give the fv a good wipe around, place lid on top and leave for a while. Give everything a good wiping over after its been soaking, swill bleachy water around the fv, then give it a good rinse to get rid of the bleach odour and away I go.

Jobs a good'un.

 

Martyn.

[zyx345]

Thanks to all for all of the replies. I ended up rinsing out the yeast sediment and any debris on the sides with cool water and a soft non-abrasive sponge. I then filled the fermenting vessel with cold water and put in a little bleach < 1/4 cup and let it sit for a few hours with some of the other equipment inside.

 

I rinsed literally ten times and I still can faintly smell bleach but its not bad. I have to stick my head in the FV to actually smell it, so I'm hoping that the remnant bleach smell is normal.

 

For my next brew and clean aftewards I'm going to try Oxyclean Free.