Caustic Cleaning The Brewery

[sav]

I am going to do a caustic soda brewery once over, How long does it take to start to hook in and how much do you use .What about copper and brass is it safe and my plate chiller thanks.

Hope screwy reads on hes a soda man.

sav

 

[InCider]

 

[Bribie G]

Haha

If your local wholesaler stocks this stuff (I got mine from Northern Cleaning Supplies at Morayfield, twenty bucks for five litres) then it's 20% caustic soda, saves you blinding yourself mixing up the powder although that's good for dissolving bodies in drums h34r:

Directions are "85ml per 5L water for neglected pipes". I just got it for cleaning lines as I don't have brewery plumbing as such. Don't know how it would go with brass etc. - others would know. Rinse well B)

 

[roller997]

I believe that caustic soda is perfect for stainless steel as it passivates the stainless - I leave it in my fermenter overnight and the solution I use would be a touch stronger than what BribieG is using. I do rinse throroughly with water and sanitize with a no rinse solution before using the fermenter.
In terms of using it on brass and copper - It would not be a good idea as caustic soda reacts with those metals. It is perfect if you are using it on stainless parts but I would not let it touch anything that is copper / brass.

Cheers

Roller

 

[Thirsty Boy]

And for Christ's sake wear eye protection... That stuff rips into the fats in your eyeballs like a bull terrier into a kitten. If you don't have safety glasses...and proper ones too - get some before you start to play. One errant splash and it could easily be goodbye eyesight.

It works better hot, say 75-80C, and get whatever it is as clean as you can before using the caustic,, so rinse off anything that will rinse off, then the caustic can get to the tough soil.

 

[fraser_john]

Keep a spray bottle with a citric acid mix in it near by, use it as a neutralizer if it does get on your skin!!! I wear safety glasses and a long sleeve shirt whenever I use the stuff.

I use caustic all the time, alternating with nappi san (sod.percarbonate). Usually about 2 tablespoons in 8 litres of water does a good job.

 

[drsmurto]

And for Christ's sake wear eye protection... That stuff rips into the fats in your eyeballs like a bull terrier into a kitten. If you don't have safety glasses...and proper ones too - get some before you start to play. One errant splash and it could easily be goodbye eyesight.

It works better hot, say 75-80C, and get whatever it is as clean as you can before using the caustic,, so rinse off anything that will rinse off, then the caustic can get to the tough soil.

Agree 100% with what TB has said re safety but I'll add one extra precaution.

Dissolve solid NaOH (caustic soda) in cold water and once dissolved then heat it. The dissolution of NaOH in H2O is highly exothermic and adding it to hot water is a recipe for boiling/bumping caustic solutions.

 

[sav]

Sound pretty dangerous **** to honest thanks for the replies
sav

 

[davo4772]

Sorry, had to post it.







Dave

 

[Kingy]

Does anybody still give there brewery a caustic soak. Sounds like a really good thing to give the brewery a once a year soak with. But can't really find a proper mixing rate anywhere.
I use sodium perc after each brew but a caustic clean sounds like a good idea as long as extreme safety precautions.
Would caustic do a better job than pbw?

 

[billygoat]

I got the idea of a caustic clean from Tidal Pete.
I use a 3% caustic solution once every 6 or so brews.
Gets out a lot more gunk than just using PBW.
I usually use 30 grams of powdered caustic to each litre of water and heat the water up to around 70C. Then pump it through the brewery for 30 mins. Then rinse with 70C water.
Bought the caustic in a 5 Kg bucket from a local cleaning supply shop but it can be bought at Bunnings.
Be careful with it though as it's quite dangerous even at that low strength.

Edited- typo

 

[jimmy86]

Caustic is ideal at a 2% solution at 65degC. So with a 30% solution dilute 1L to 15L water.

 

[jimmy86]

Caustic is ideal at a 2% solution at 65degC. So with a 30% solution dilute 1L to 15L water.




A response so nice I said it twice.

 

[malt junkie]

Did one recently, my kit is all SS so no issues with copper or brass. Follow the above safety precautions. Definitely add powered caustic to cold water and then heat.

when I did mine I also did my kegs, I rigged up a recirc through both posts and sprayer up the guts (keg inverted). Did a nice job, however I still needed to strip ball valves to get them spot less. and that was after 4 hours of recir (30 minutes a keg).

I used about 30L water and around 2 cups of caustic (thumb)

Be careful.

cheers

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Oxalic acid from Bunnings $30 for 2 kilo (Diggers Rust and Stain remover) cleans up just about anything, don't have to worry about any effects on s/s.

 

[TheWiggman]

Is that a typo billygoat? I bought some powdered caustic from a hardware store and the mixing ratio is 60g/l - http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/index.php?/topic/92009-my-score-yesterday/page__view__findpost__p__1397853
As for whether it does a better job than PBW, it does a better job than anything. Completely worth doing every year or so on the brewing gear, not so much required for fermentation equipment unless you're running into troubles.

 

[Kingy]

What do you guys do with the liquid after a soak,I'm guessing it's bad for the grass and it's better off down the drain?

 

[TheWiggman]

If you work at a water treatment plant you wouldn't agree that it's better down the drain but yes it will kill grass and little else. Tip it somewhere that isn't visible or if you're a city slicker, down the ol' drain to clean the pipes.

 

[malt junkie]

Great concrete cleaner, I did the driveway last time.

 

[wobbly]

Oxalic acid from Bunnings $30 for 2 kilo (Diggers Rust and Stain remover) cleans up just about anything, don't have to worry about any effects on s/s.

At what strength and at what temperature

Wobbly