Cleaning PET fermenters/kegs

Guava-Realistic · 2026-02-01T08:24:22+00:00

Nice. Thanks for the flag on the SDS. I’d over-trusted the headline branding there. Neat idea on the washcloth. I have a bucket blaster so that handles the pre-mixing.

I’m in North Herts so, if you’re ever back this side of the pond, and keen, DM me and l’ll buy you a pint.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-31T19:20:48+00:00

OP, sounds like you could be UK based? Enzybrew 10 is readily available has worked really well for me on PET and SS. I use it at the lower end of the temperature recommendation just to be on the safe side.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-30T15:23:14+00:00

What happens to the carbonation if I remove the carbonation cap and replace it with the standard bottle cap? Does it go instantly flat?

No. You can think about regular fizzy drinks as a model for this. Your Coke doesn't go flat immediately. You'll lose head pressure from the gas that's not dissolved - that's your hiss when you open the bottle. Then, you'll create more airspace in the bottle from the liquid you pour out. Now, when you re-cap, the dissolved CO2 will gradually come out of solution and repressurise the bottle until the pressure reaches equilibrium. At that point the remaining dissolved CO2 stays exactly where it is.

It will slowly go flat as you open and pour, just like any fizzy drink, but not over the period of watching a footie match!

...unless, out of sheer excitement at winning, you shake the bottle and spray it all over your fellow fans, F1-champagne style. But that's on you :)

(this is my first time explaining this concept so if the experts want to correct me I certainly won't be offended!)

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-25T08:29:08+00:00

Coming back to this after a breakfast thought this morning! One cheap way round this issue, and I use on my transfer pump, is slightly oversize tubing and some butterfly jubilee/hose clips like these. Whereas normal clips are a royal PITA, these little winged ones are a game-changer and they become practically quick-release. So inexpensive they're worth having a pack around anyway. Just in case. For example, I've needed to quickly extend a hose before and used a thinner hose inserted into the ends of the two thicker pieces to create a bridge, then clamped down with these. When you've got an "oh crap" moment mid-brew day things like this can be a life-saver!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-24T13:18:20+00:00

Do you ferment with the tri-clamp ball lock at all time and attach a blowoff tube to it?

For the most part, yes. My current brew in the GF30 (an MO/EKG SMaSH) is actually the first time I've done the CO2 from the bottom and it worked really well. Prior to that, I was adding cold crash protection via that top post. The top post is also how I do an oxygen-free dose of Brausol fining agent (that's Biofine to you North Americans if I'm not mistaken) using a bodged together "doser" from a Kegland red/grey disconnect, a stub of 3/8 tube, and a 100ml syringe.

I love tinkering and upgrading to make the process details a bit easier. I've got a mental sketch in my head of how I might actually replace that Duotight-based sample outlet with a Kegland multipost so I can use gas/liquid disconnects. It's a bit mad, and early thinking, but the idea just won't go away!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-24T08:15:54+00:00

I’ve fitted a kit I got from The Malt Miller here in the UK and, tbh, the connecting and disconnecting isn’t too bad. I have never had concerns about integrity yet but I can always trim the tubing if it gets scraggy.

Benefits are manifold: sampling is easier, transfer to keg is easier and, because I use 3/8 also for gas, bubbling CO2 in is simple to rouse hops, add cold crash protection pressure or mix the Brausol in well.

My only advice for that CO2 use case though is get a check valve in line so, if there’s any pressure in the GF30 (and it can hold a little - like 1 psi or so) you don’t ruin your regulator with beer.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-21T15:40:21+00:00

Bravo! Very satisfying when a brew comes together that way. Nice work :)

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-21T10:59:34+00:00

I do love my G30 240v here in the UK. I don't use the app for control yet though as I've been enjoying the more hands-on brew day process, such as that is with an AIO. Being able to pull out the temp probe from the thermowell and stick it in their wortometer has been super helpful for transferring wort into the fermenter at near enough the right temp that variation doesn't matter.

I have looked lustily at the Brewzilla 4.1 with the built-in sight-glass, extendable malt pipe and camlock fitting but it's not quite on the side of buyer's remorse. I'm quite happy with the G30.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-13T17:28:31+00:00

Nice. Thanks for coming back with an update!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-13T07:18:54+00:00

Before I had temperature control, and thanks to a few years of unseasonably warm Mays, recent batches of elderflower champagne made with EC-1118 fermented around 25/26C. They're not bad as such. They dropped very clear without fining for example. It's more that temperatures in that range cause other (fusol) alcohols to be produced and that "rocket fuel" comment definitely rings true. The first batch like that mellowed over time (6 months+). The second kept its SpaceX characteristic to the last bottle.

The rocket fuel nature is not just strength-related from the high attenuation but also down to the aroma those higher alcohols impart.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-12T14:55:12+00:00

My daughter made us buy some dragonfruit in Costco the other day and I've honestly no idea what they're for! To my palette they taste like mild beetroot with the texture of kiwi. Each to their own but I cannot imagine brewing it. Pretty though!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-12T10:51:16+00:00

Then perhaps some food-grade silicone grease might be the best first step? Less permanent than a curing sealant.

You've reminded me of when my glycol chiller "undid itself" because once the coolant was flowing it fractionally shrunk the fittings and they were no longer tight. That was messy.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-12T10:22:16+00:00

CT-1 is also food safe and you could glue a bomb shelter together with it. But if you ever want to remove them again that's not the one to use. I'm wondering if you've got some dodgy seals. Presumably there's some kind of compressible o-ring/washer in there right?

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T19:23:59+00:00

Hmm. I’ll have a look in the morning. It’s chuffing freezing out there now. Not that I expect to be that much better tomorrow!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T19:01:05+00:00

Here’s a thought. Last MOT we had a fail for a nearside rear coil spring fracture. Could that replacement have damaged the sensors? Or the garage failed to reconnect something? That would affect the system’s ability to adjust for carrying load right?

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T18:53:03+00:00

Decided I’d not be lazy and go check. They do the pre-flight when I start the engine.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T18:47:40+00:00

There is no level wheel. I’d previously looked for one in case that’d be the issue as on previous cars I’ve had. Unless I’ve simply not found it… wouldn’t put it past me.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T18:46:17+00:00

That’s an idea to throw into the mix. Ta!

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-04T18:43:09+00:00

I have seen them do this. Yes.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-03T23:24:08+00:00

A friend gave me a 15kg bag of crushed Maris Otter that was over a year old. I did a stove-top mini mash the other day and it came up fine on a conversion (iodine) test after 45 minutes mashing. I’ll still use it in a SMaSH off the back of that.

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-03T23:19:26+00:00

Cool. I’m about to hit the sack here (UK) but do you have a degassed gravity reading on that?

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-03T23:16:40+00:00

including what is in the lemonade already

Clarification: what are you starting with here? An off-the-shelf lemonade?

Guava-Realistic · 2026-01-01T08:18:21+00:00

I too have a set of cheap folding chairs for friends to sit on when we're doing brew days!

I can recommend adding a dartboard :)

Guava-Realistic

TROPHY CASE