As the admin of the Winemaking for Beginners group, I have read many questions from our members about how to clean their carboys. In particular, when you buy a carboy or after the fermentation stops, homebrew cleanup!
Those rings of debris cling to the walls, and it seems like they're never going to get out of there, no matter how hard you try. It's exhausting!
When you search the internet for how to clean a glass carboy, you'll find countless tips and chemicals that seem anything but safe. Be very careful with these products. Many of them contain chlorine, such as bleach, and these products cannot be used to clean wine-making containers.
There is no magic product that works as a carboy cleaner; but in this post, I am going to recommend a 5 simple steps process as the best way to clean a carboy.
Steps to clean a carboy
Materials:
- Oxiclean: this cleaner is a homemade PBW alternative and a very effective material. PBW cleaners are way too expensive. They both clean using oxygen. In addition, avoid using dish soap; it leaves soapy flavors.
- Carboy brush: it can be an L-shaped brush. You can buy a simple brush and bend it, that will be your "carboy washing brush".
Procedure:
- Fill half of the carboy with warm water and therefore, add one scoop of Oxiclean. Shake the carboy gently to begin the sanitization.
- Finish the filling of the carboy with warm water, and sit overnight. Sometimes 1 hour is enough, you must check by yourself.
- Insert the brush and twist the walls to remove the solids that were adhering to the walls. It’s not a good idea to rub hard in plastic carboys because they’ll scratch. Be careful in that case.
- Drain the carboy liquid and rinse with clean water several times. Watch the carboy to check if the inner wall is free of residues.
- Invert the carboy and place it on a stand. Then, allow it to dry with fresh air. That's all!
This is the safest way to clean and sanitize a carboy. You can use it in the case of beer carboys or wine carboys. The application of this method is easier in small carboys. However, there are no limitations.
How much OxiClean per gallon of water?
As mentioned previously, one scoop of OxiClean is all you need. One pack can last one year. In general, one scoop of 4 oz. can clean a 6-gallon carboy. That dose is equivalent to 0.5 % by weight concentration, recommended by the Better Bottle Co.
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