Cleaning Brew Kettle - How Often?

[MattC]

I am in the process of scrubbing my aluminium brew kettle as it has become quite stained of late.

How often do people clean (Scrub until shiny) their brew kettle and what are the issues if any of not scrubbing regularly??

Cheers

 

[Fourstar]

I am in the process of scrubbing my aluminium brew kettle as it has become quite stained of late.

How often do people clean (Scrub until shiny) their brew kettle and what are the issues if any of not scrubbing regularly??

Cheers

never, especially with aluminium as the haze is actually is oxidation that protects the metal. i would only remove hop debris etc with a soft scourer. As for my new stainless kettle, i'll probabaly only remove beerstone when it effects kettle performance and flavour. or it just looks utterly gunky. the soft scourer after brewing seems to do the job.

 

[mxd]

I generally take my keggle down to the car wash and use the high pressure hose to "clean" it but don't actually scrub it. Once I filled it with water and let it soak with pbw for a couple of days.

 

[felten]

I use a soft cloth to wipe my ali kettle out after every brew, I guess that's not exactly cleaning it but you never want your aluminum shiny bright anyway.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Have yet to ever scrub mine till "shiny" i clean it back to "no visible soil" every brew, and every now and again go at it a bit harder with some PBW and a plastic bristled brush to knock down any staining a bit.

No real effect of letting a bit of stain build up over time - if it starts to get excessive it can affect the efficiency of heat transfer from your burner and perhaps cause film boiling in your kettle.... But thats not really a biggie.

Maybe if you let it get actually crusty or the stains get 3 dimensional, they could conceivably be a place for bugs to hide and infect your wort if you cool in the kettle... But that would be a pretty severely dirty kettle.

 

[donburke]

Maybe if you let it get actually crusty or the stains get 3 dimensional, they could conceviably be aplace for bugs to hide and infect your worwt if you cool in the kettle... But that would be a pretty severely dirty kettle.

and survive a 60 minute boil ?

 

[MeLoveBeer]

I clean the visible "chunks" everytime I brew, use pbw every 3 brews and then get rid of the beer stone using starsan every 6 or so brews.

 

[raven19]

Have yet to ever scrub mine till "shiny" i clean it back to "no visible soil" every brew, and every now and again go at it a bit harder with some PBW and a plastic bristled brush to knock down any staining a bit.

+1, its part of my cleaning regime at the end of each brew, recirc PBW through the plate chiller, RIMS, pump and kettle.

A quick squirt with the hose usually gets the hop/break scum from around the sides of my SS kettle though.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

and survive a 60 minute boil ?

Probably not, but better safe than sorry.

 

[donburke]

Probably not, but better safe than sorry.

phew, and point taken

 

[WarmBeer]

...get rid of the beer stone using starsan every 6 or so brews.

Is Starsan suitable for getting beerstone out of kegs, too?

About to move to kegs, so good to know.

Edit: Oh yeah, on topic - I just give my kettle a wipe out with some warm soapy water and a cloth. Then a good rinse.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Is Starsan suitable for getting beerstone out of kegs, too?

About to move to kegs, so good to know.

Haven't tried it in kegs specifically, but it seems to do the trick in everything else... beerstone can be removed using any acid cleaner (so starsan is perfect). I just let it sit overnight and then it wipe out using a cloth (starsan just loosens it, so it can be easily removed).

 

[bear09]

Hi All.

Slightly :icon_offtopic: but that PBW used on a Keg is awesome.

I used it to clean all 4 of my kegs recently and they came up shiny new - very happy.

 

[JestersDarts]

Hi All.

Slightly :icon_offtopic: but that PBW used on a Keg is awesome.

I used it to clean all 4 of my kegs recently and they came up shiny new - very happy.

what sort of concentration of PBW do you use for it to just sit in kegs?

 

[Fourstar]

Is Starsan suitable for getting beerstone out of kegs, too?

About to move to kegs, so good to know.

Edit: Oh yeah, on topic - I just give my kettle a wipe out with some warm soapy water and a cloth. Then a good rinse.

tsp of pbw or nappisan + 1 kettle full of hot water, shake, pressurise and run through the mosts typically does the trick with no gunk left afterwards. then its a simple rinse twice, fill with around 4 L, pressurise again and run clean water through all of the posts (also dont forget the PRV.) Ive never seen beerstone in my kegs, only yeast and hop debris in the bottom. Thats even after leaving them empty (but sealed) for a couple of months.

Then i simply air dry until im ready to fill+sanitise*

*i used to sanitise and seal it with iodophor but due to the short contact time required for starsan i will add 1L of it, shake and run through posts then drip most of it out upside down whilst i prep my filter, lines etc.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

what sort of concentration of PBW do you use for it to just sit in kegs?

I tend to use a heaped quarter cup of PBW and hot water from the tap (left for 1 hour plus).

 

[JestersDarts]

I tend to use a heaped quarter cup of PBW and hot water from the tap (left for 1 hour plus).

Is that reccommended amounts? That seems like a lot - I bought a 500g tub of it.. not cheap.
Using it like that would get me about 5 or 6 goes until its empty!
I'll have a bit of a read hey for the best way to use it.
Cheers - JD

 

[Tim]

A soak in Pink stain remover and hot water cleans aluminium up when it starts to look a little grungy. Give it a good rinse afterwards and leave it a week to passivate before using it again. i do this once a year with my kettle.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Is that reccommended amounts? That seems like a lot - I bought a 500g tub of it.. not cheap.
Using it like that would get me about 5 or 6 goes until its empty!
I'll have a bit of a read hey for the best way to use it.
Cheers - JD

From memory, I think that the recommended dosage is higher than that, but I could be wrong (I know that the recommended dosage is a lot). Always consult the pack because there is a very good reason with this stuff that the recommended amount is the recommended amount.

 

[warra48]

All I ever do with my aluminum kettle is to remove visible gunk.
I don't bother about the staining I have. It seems to have reached its own level, and is not increasing any further.

I figure I just leave well enough alone.

Now, my fermenter is a different issue. Recently, it got to the stage where i just had to do something about the build up of beerstone. A spray with bleach, leaving it overnight, repeat one more night, a quick scrub with a plastic scrubby, and she's as good as new.