Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Seems to work pretty darn well for pennies comparatively. 13.5 pounds of cleaner for ~$2/pound compared to $6-12/pound for PBW depending on quantities under 50#

Stole the recipe from here
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.ph ... stcount=11

Measure out the Oxi and Seventh Gen and dump in the entire 4# bag and from what the internet beer geeks have determine this is super close. A 2 gallon bucket is the perfect size. I use 2oz per gallon of warm water. Soaked all of my removable bits on my brewery (TCs, valves, seals, etc) overnight and it cleaned them up very nicely. 8 kegs yesterday with the DIY keg washer and it seemed to do a great job as well.

Oxiclean Free 96oz (~$11) https://www.amazon.com/OxiClean-Versati ... s=oxiclean
RedDevil TSP/90 4# bag, (I could not find this locally) (~$16) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015 ... UTF8&psc=1
Seventh Generation Powder Laundry Concentrated, Free and Clear 40oz (~$16) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K ... UTF8&psc=1

This does not work as well with hard water as there is no chelating agent.

Also thinking TSP substitute is more common? https://www.menards.com/main/paint-stai ... 207124.htm

You may be correct, I am no chemist by any stretch but the link from HBT has chelate listed in the DIY ratios.

With CR water it seems to work rather well and far better then my cleaning efforts in the past.

I have been refurbishing those SS Brew Buckets; do a complete teardown and replacing all of the gaskets.

From SS, with regard to cleaning their Brew Buckets:

Cleaning and Sanitizing: As part of a regular cleaning regimen both pre
and post-fermentation, wash the interior surfaces of your Brew Bucket
with an alkali cleaner such as PBW at a ratio of 0.75 ounce per gallon.
Then sanitize with Star San or another acid based sanitizer per the
manufacturer’s recommendations.

NEVER USE THE FOLLOWING:
• Chlorine bleach or chlorine based products. Chlorine can cause
pitting of stainless steel, or pin holes through the surface which
cannot be repaired.
• OxiClean or other peroxide cleaners in combination with hard
water. These can cause calcium carbonate to precipitate onto the
surface. If this happens re-passivate your Brew Bucket.


I think the same would hold for stainless steel kegs.

I picked up a ton of PBW two or three years ago in one of our grain buys, so I am good to go for a long, long time.

Nothing a little barkeepers friend can't remedy to re-passivate.

I read through that, then just paid a few more cents-per-lb and split a 50lb bucket from the last club bulk buy.
I won't have to worry about running out for several years.

When bulk buys aren't an option, this will do the trick for years as well

I didn't know that PBW was something we could buy as part of the annual grain buy. Will have to remember that next spring.

I didn't either. I'm in for splitting a 50-lb. bucket.

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Unfortunately, PBW is likely 65-70% Sodium Percarbonate and 30% Sodium Metasilicate (which is even more reactive and is for sure according to the MSDS). I think your brew bucket guys must be in bed with Five Star. PBW is so not special it's not even funny. There is a surfactant in the mix as well (likely Sodium stearate)l, but the active ingredient in PBW is the same as in OxyClean Free (or equivalent). It's been tested chemically more than once. You can find it if you Google enough.

IN FACT, if you are the raging Libertarian that I am, I will tell you what. The TSP Substitute in it is actually considered to be slightly hazardous. And in Iowa, you can legally buy Tri Sodium Phospate still. I will claim and you guys can rag on me, that a 80%/20% mix of Sodium Percarbonate to TSP actually works better than PBW and is safer.

SO yes! What I am saying is if you can't use OxiClean on that bucket, you can't also use PBW!

Now, does it ruin stainless? Hey has anyone had any problem with using PBW in their kegs? Nope. None that I have heard of. Including you guys who let the stuff sit in it (which I wouldn't do). Unless that Brew Bucket is a crap grade like 200 then I can see how you wouldn't want to use ANYTHING that is reactive on them.

Repassivating any grade of stainless is really easily done with oxalic acid, better known as Bar Keeper's Friend. That is how you should be cleaning your stainless anyway. It instantly will repassivate.

Any weak acid should also repassivate. A spray down with StarSan should do it, actually. The BKF is about the ideal chemical for it, however.

So.. I'd not panic over using either on stainless. Rinse it out. Spray it with sanitizer. You should anyway. Then you've cleaned, rinsed and then repassivated anyway...

Fred

I don't do PBW or Oxiclean on my stainless kettles. I find Star San works well and love Bar Keepers Friend too. I do use both on my kegs, plastics and glass. I buy Oxiclean but still have PBW from a gift years ago. I will use it until it is gone.

I'm probably an outlier here too. Since I also have plastic parts to clean, I can't use PBW, OC or the like. I use an unscented laundry detergent such as 7th Generation. I also use Finish Powerballs for deep cleaning my Z as that's what Pico recommends. One of the reasons I like SS parts so much is that it's so easy to clean.

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same for me on the finish powereballs, I use them in my Pico c

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Finish powerballs rock. Honestly in my dishwasher I've tried them side by side with just about everything else and there is no comparison.

The suggestion of 7th generation laundry detergent is good, their unscented dish washing detergent is good too. (Though Dawn clear is out now and that is even better). In both of those cases it's vital you rinse the crap out of anything they touch as they are known to kill your head retention in even microscopic quantities.

Normally I try to just spray out with a hose and get inside the kegs with a 3M "green" pad with BKF on it for the stubborn stuff. I have fat arms so I also get in there with a bottle brush and BKF, sometime covered with a microfiber rag to get what I can't reach. The kettles.. I rinse out, scrub with the 3M pad/BKF (since I can get at everything) rinse again and then cover up the kettle/keg... every time...

Fred

carrisr wrote:I'm probably an outlier here too. Since I also have plastic parts to clean, I can't use PBW, OC or the like. I use an unscented laundry detergent such as 7th Generation. I also use Finish Powerballs for deep cleaning my Z as that's what Pico recommends. One of the reasons I like SS parts so much is that it's so easy to clean.

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So, can PBW be used on plastic fermentation buckets? I have been using it, but I have not seen any side effects resulting from using it.