Lawrence Brewers Guild

I've got a REALLY dirty blow off tube and am trying to clean it... Any ideas? I know that a brush is no-no. I've tried rinsing (first), and oxy-clean (second), and an extended soaking (third)... Still a lot of sentiment that I can't shake loose.

Dude - if it is that dirty, throw it away. I'm not going to name names, but awhile back there was a person that kept bringing bad beers to the club. They were told by several people that the beers were spoiled. Came down to that this person would not throw out a uncleanable blow off hose. If it is to dirty to clean easily, pitch it and get a new one.

That's what I thought the answer might be. Maybe it's time too that I look for a larger fermenter... Seems Like I brew a lot of stuff that has a lot of krausen...

BourbonDrinker wrote:That's what I thought the answer might be. Maybe it's time too that I look for a larger fermenter... Seems Like I brew a lot of stuff that has a lot of krausen...

If you build a carboy/keg washer like the one I did a seminar on, you have a built-in blow off hose cleaner (and all sorts of other brewery parts for that matter...) I have used the same hose for a dozen or so batches. Hook it up and run it with PBW pulsating through it's vein for ten minutes-- and she'll be whisper clean!

Rob Martin wrote:Dude - if it is that dirty, throw it away. I'm not going to name names, but awhile back there was a person that kept bringing bad beers to the club. They were told by several people that the beers were spoiled. Came down to that this person would not throw out a uncleanable blow off hose. If it is to dirty to clean easily, pitch it and get a new one.

I'm with Rob on this. Tubing is cheap to replace and easy to get. Especially blow off tubing.

It's not worth risking your time and effort to have a beer go bad because of a tube.

I am with Rob and Sean (but Jeff has cool toys).

A batch of beer = $30-40
Price of 2 feet of tube = $2

That is simple math in my book...

I try to have 5-10 feet on hand. Stuff comes in very handy for lots of stuff

Just my $0.02

Jason.

you guys change your racking hoses too every time? I certainly hope so. I go about a year on a racking hose-- that is quite a few batches... The biggest thing about blow off hoses is that you only need it for a few days. After initial blow-off-- foil, or an airlock, if you are one of those guys, is all you need. yeast do not like a lot of head pressure. The lesser they see the happier they are. Cleaning is a lot easier if you don't let the hose get all cruddy and crusty. It is this train of thought that will lead to recycling and rain barrels!

Rob Martin wrote:Dude - if it is that dirty, throw it away. I'm not going to name names, but awhile back there was a person that kept bringing bad beers to the club. They were told by several people that the beers were spoiled. Came down to that this person would not throw out a uncleanable blow off hose. If it is to dirty to clean easily, pitch it and get a new one.

okay...

Rob Martin wrote:Today I got around to working on this cracked lid. It is a plastic lid for the rice wine / sanke that some use for fermeters. Basically I used held a piece of sheet metal to the lid and torched it with a propane soldering torch. It melted the crack shut. I don't think it will have a lot of structural strength and probably would crack again if the lid was cranked on hard, but with a gentle turn, I'm satisfied enough to start using it again for the primary where there is enough CO2 positive pressure being created.

Wow a lot of work for a piece of plastic that comes into contact with your wort. All I am saying is a little effort (like you put into the lid) with the blow off, and your tight ass could save even more money.

Blow off hoses are too easy to replace. Next time you come across a spare lid, let me know.

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