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mjpeisher
Joined: 07 Feb 2015 Posts: 26 Location: South Carolina
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Link Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:46 pm Post subject: The Clean Up - Maybe I need a How-To? |
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Kal,
I would like to see a couple of additional videos posted on your website:
1 - a video, it can be in speed motion, of your entire brew day operation, start to finish. I would like to see how you do certain things versus how I am doing. You are obviously very experienced in your brew setup, and I bet a few of us could learn a few pointers just from watching it
2 - And this one is the real winner, I would like to see a video of you doing a clean-up session after brewing. It seems that this is a tremendous issue when brewing at my house, and I have to think that you have a better method for brewing than I do, because it feels like this is way harder than it should be.
think that is something you would be willing to share?
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:03 am Post subject: |
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Check out the BREW DAY STEP BY STEP article for some some hints to your question (1).
I clean up as I'm brewing. The HLT doesn't need cleaning at all (only had water in it) and the HERMS coil is automatically cleaned during sparging because I sparge through it (See my BREW DAY STEP BY STEP article for complete details). The little bit of water that's left in the HLT (less than half a cup) is wiped up with a sponge.
When sparge is done and the boil is underway, grain is scooped out of the MLT, false bottom removed and sprayed in the sink. About 2 minutes. MLT then gets moved to the left of the sink and tilted 90 degrees into the sink and sprayed with my commercial spray arm. 5-6 mins. No soap is used - just water. A picture/video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BNcV1wtA_1D/?taken-by=theelectricbrewery
When the boil is done and fermenters filled, I tilt the boil kettle into the sink the same way (no wires disconnected) as the MLT but in its current location. Hop Stopper's removed and sprayed - some bits may get left behind inside but it's not a big deal (1-2 mins). The element gets cleaned with soft blue sponge, the whole kettle gets sprayed with the arm. About 5-10 mins. No soap is used usually, just water, but feel free to use OxiClean or PBW.
Wort pump and chiller get some hot water from the sink faucet pushed through. I hook up a hose from the faucet, run hot water for 30 seconds and it goes down the drain. If I feel like it, I squirt some oxiclean into the hose before hooking it up to the faucet, push the water through and let it sit for a few mins while I clean the boil kettle, and then it's rinsed with water. The water pump doesn't need cleaning as it only ever had water in it.
Standing water in the pumps, CFC, HERMS coil, valves, the MLT hose, and sight glasses are blown out with the compact shop vac (in blow mode): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/compact-shop-vac
No need to get 100% of the water. It'll all dry (I brew indoors).
Hoses are hung up to drip dry.
I could make videos of this but I think it would be pretty boring? What part of cleaning are you finding to be the most difficult/time consuming? What's your layout like? Having a good layout with the sink in the middle makes it easier. No requiring any tools to disassemble the Hop Stopper from the Blichmann kettle makes it easy too. The Blichmann sight glasses have a nut on top that comes out in 2 seconds so I that I can use the included brush - I keep the allen key nearby.
Kal
_________________ Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
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Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
Last edited by kal on Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:20 am; edited 7 times in total
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SD Endorf
Joined: 24 Apr 2015 Posts: 88
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Link Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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For those of us unfortunate to not have a sink next to the kettles, it seems to be slightly more work. I've only one batch under my belt but here's what I did:
After scooping the mash tun and removing as much grain as possible, dumped in 5 gallons of hot PBW and circulated it through the wort pump. Scrubbed it well with a soft nylon scrubbie. Transferred to the boil kettle and did the same. Drained through the chiller into bucket.
Then added 5 gallons of starsan to the mash tun and circulated through both kettles, wort pump and chiller the same way. Starsan is a bit of overkill but what the heck...the PBW needed to be rinsed.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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A good sink in a good location is definitely key - it's the first item that I planned for. It's the most used piece of equipment in the brewery.
FWIW I rarely use any soap/Oxiclean/PBW in the kettles. Just water. Once a year I heat a scoop of oxiclean in ~9-10 gallons of water in the boil kettle to 170F and recirculate for 30-45 mins through the boil kettle/MLT/CFC/wort pump/HERMS/all hoses to remove any built-up grunge, and then all is rinsed. This is not really required but it makes me feel better to have everything shiny again. Why's it not required? It's because everything is on the hot side of the brewing process so it all gets boiled anyway, and it's not like the grain and stuff we put in the mash tun and boil kettle are sanitary anyway.
HLT and water pump don't need this cleaning as they only ever touch water. The HERMS coil probably doesn't need it either as in my brew day process I flush it with the sparge water so it's already "auto cleaned".
Kal
_________________ Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
Last edited by kal on Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:39 pm; edited 2 times in total
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SD Endorf
Joined: 24 Apr 2015 Posts: 88
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Link Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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Well... Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi started in their garage.
As soon as I get some money I'll plumb the garage and add a floor drain.... LOL
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mjpeisher
Joined: 07 Feb 2015 Posts: 26 Location: South Carolina
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Link Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:29 pm Post subject: |
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I think the biggest difference then (based on your pictures) is the convenience of layout. I piped in a home depot sink in my garage, and ran PVC to the garage door so it drains to the street, so I can do rinses, but the sink is in a corner with no counter on the other side. So it is just difficult due to lack of layout convenience.
But on the upside, at least I have a sink, just not in a great place.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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Having lots of counter space around the sink certainly helps. I had my sink in the corner in my first setup beside the boil kettle:
Because of this, I couldn't (easily) wash my MLT until after the boil was completely done and I had moved it out of the way. Washing big 20 gallon kettles directly *in* the sink doesn't work. they're too big, and you can't really rinse - all your doing is filling them. You also can't really lift them if there's any water in them at all. The best way to clean the kettles I've found is to have them 90 degrees sideways and spray them such that water runs out, so having two tables to either side of the kettle was something I really needed to be able to wash the MLT while the boil was going. I did try holding the kettle a few times in front of the sink (leaning it on the edge) and while that worked, it was awkward.
So when I redesigned my brewery in the new (now current) house I made sure to leave table space on either side of the sink:
This way I still wash the boil kettle like before, but this leaves me room to wash the MLT while boiling using the table on the left.
Good luck!
Kal
_________________ Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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huhwha
Joined: 10 May 2013 Posts: 70
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Link Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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This is why, in my temporary setup, I have triclover fittings on my elements. I can easily unhook everything from the BK and get it over to my less than optimally placed sink for cleaning. Like Kal, when I build my new house next year, I will be sure to have an optimal setup. Can't wait!
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Josh
Joined: 02 Jan 2014 Posts: 26 Location: Centennial, CO
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Link Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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Kal,
I am trying to figure how to do CFC, BK, MLT, wort pump and HERMS with just the one pump. I keep coming up with needing 2 pumps and 6 hoses.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Josh
Joined: 02 Jan 2014 Posts: 26 Location: Centennial, CO
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Link Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Kal for the quick response.
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jphussey
Joined: 17 Oct 2012 Posts: 171
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Link Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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I know cleaning seems trivial, but I find this to be very useful! Good stuff here!
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Joebrewing
Joined: 19 Jan 2014 Posts: 41
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Link Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:00 pm Post subject: Pump cleaning |
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One time I didn't rinse the wort pump well enough and when I turned it on the next brew session, it just made this awful noise. I assume it was jammed. I used the water pump to pump hot water through it for a few minutes and it was fine. Scared me so much when it happened.
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JayBo
Joined: 23 Oct 2016 Posts: 35
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Link Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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When I start boiling, I empty my mash tun, bring it to the sink and clean with soap and water. When I chill, I collect the waste water back into my HLT and will use that with PBW to clean the kettle, pump and finally the chiller. I follow this up with the remaining hot water.
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ParadiseBrew
Joined: 09 Dec 2014 Posts: 83 Location: paradise, ca
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David_H
Joined: 13 Nov 2013 Posts: 139 Location: Savannah, GA
Drinking: Dry Irish Stout, Electric Pale Ale, American Amber Ale, Irish Red Ale
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Link Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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I brew in the Garage and I don't have access to a sink. I used to carry the kettles outside to clean. A major pain, those 20 gallon kettles are heavy. I just "built" a dust collector (actually a trub / grain / water collector) for the shop vac. I used a 5 gallon bucket and plumb the vacuum hose in and out at the top. This way the water, grain, trub etc are collected in the 5 gallon bucket and NOT in the vacuum.
It worked like a charm. I sucked out most of the grain into 5 gallon buckets, then rise down the inside of the MLT, draining into 5 gallon bucket and then suck out the remaining water. A little scrubbing on the inside and wipe dry.
Did the same with the BK. Never had to lift a pot. I am very happy with the new cleaning process.
I'm thinking about adding a fitting in the lid to add a "sprinkler head" to spray the inside with PBW for a true CIP option.
_________________ David
Kal Clone Controller
20 gallon Spike Brewing 3-Kettle System
SS Brewtech 14 gallon fermenter w/ gycol chiller
4 tap keezer with Nitro Tap
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jimboh
Joined: 25 Mar 2017 Posts: 69 Location: Halifax NS
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Link Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't used my electric brewery yet but am now considering installing it in my garage. I do have access to cold water as there is an "outside tap" installed inside the garage unfortunately on the opposite wall to where I want to place the brewery.
I was thinking of building a mobile sink. Basically a utility room/laundry sink on casters and either rigging up a tap on the sink with quick connect to the outside tap, or just using a spray adapter on the hose.
Like mjpeisher I will have to run a long drain hose so I can dump waste water out the garage.
I am really keen on a CIP solution though and the shop vac/modified bucket idea sounds like a winner, especially if the vac can also be used as blow drier.
I have a large air compressor in my garage, I could also use that for drying.
@David_H can you post some pics of your vac setup?+
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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ParadiseBrew
Joined: 09 Dec 2014 Posts: 83 Location: paradise, ca
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Link Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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Kal, as most of us will agree cleaning is the least enjoyable part of brewing. As I said above I clean and I go and then spend another hour or more cleaning the with PBW/Starsan. So... my question is that on your normal brew days you just rinse with water and call it good and then every few months / year do the big PBW run? i am liking the sound of this... but what about all the little hop particles that are left everywhere (pump, CFC, etc). thanks for the advice, i wish i had a 21yr old Swedish girl to do the cleanup while i drank... hehe...
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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ParadiseBrew wrote: | So... my question is that on your normal brew days you just rinse with water and call it good and then every few months / year do the big PBW run? |
Pretty much.
HLT never gets cleaned, ever, as it only ever has water in it.
Mash Tun gets a quick rinse/scrub with a sponge or brush while I'm boiling. Rarely use anything but water, Oxiclean sometimes. Same with the boil kettle after the boil.
Quote: | but what about all the little hop particles that are left everywhere (pump, CFC, etc). |
They all come out when I flush. Some bits may get left behind here and there, especially in the Hop Stopper but who cares? It doesn't do anything. This is the hot side of the brewery. We don't need to sanitize.
Kal
_________________ Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
Last edited by kal on Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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