Kettle stains

[YeastFeast]

Hi,
Just purchase a new stainless steel 10 gal BrewBuilt kettle. This is the first time I've ever owned a stainless kettle. I cleaned it with a no rinse power cleaner and then mixed up a gallon or so of star san and wiped it down with that.

When I got done with all this, I noticed approximately a 1" by 12" brown stain ring near the bottom of the kettle.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Any way to remove this? I'm sure it's going to get dirty at some point but it's still brand new and I don't know what I did to it already!

Any ideas?

 

[oujens]

I recently had some discoloration after first use with my SS Brewtech kettle, similar to what you show in your pictures. I put some barkeepers friend on it and it shined right back up. You should try that.

 

[kh54s10]

I was thinking Barkeepers Friend also. I was also wondering why you used Starsan. That did nothing for you but waste some Starsan. Starsan is not a cleaner, it is a sanitizer. It is only effective while still wet.

 

[YeastFeast]

I was also wondering why you used Starsan. That did nothing for you but waste some Starsan. Starsan is not a cleaner, it is a sanitizer. It is only effective while still wet.

It was suggested where I purchased the kettle. Guess I should have done my own research before I went at it.

 

[YeastFeast]

@oujens & @kh54s10 Appreciate the suggestion. I'll go find some Barkeepers Friend tomorrow.

 

[schematix]

I was thinking Barkeepers Friend also. I was also wondering why you used Starsan. That did nothing for you but waste some Starsan. Starsan is not a cleaner, it is a sanitizer. It is only effective while still wet.

Starsan is a reasonably strong acid. Acids can be effective cleaners (proteins, minerals), but they don't clean everything.

After a PBW soak (a base - cleans fats and oils well) and scrub on my kettle i'll spray a little starsan on whatever remains and most of the time it melts gunk right off.

BKF is great stuff though. Can't really go wrong with it on stainless. At a very minimum it'll make it look like brand new!

 

[kh54s10]

I guess the acid can do something. However it is not at all strong when diluted to standard use ratios. I have never heard anything about using it for cleaning stainless steel before first use. I have not seen it clean anything in my 5+ years of brewing.

 

[oujens]

It was suggested where I purchased the kettle. Guess I should have done my own research before I went at it.

Like my kettle, I assume it was recommended to make a stronger solution to passivate. There is some conflicting info out there on whether or not you need to do this. Barkeepers friend will passivate your kettle as well.

 

[schematix]

It's not terribly effective at the strength mixed for sanitizing. It's extremely effective against the stated offenders either undiluted or in a strong solution... i usually mix it up into a 32oz spray bottle at 2-3x strength.

 

[YeastFeast]

Like my kettle, I assume it was recommended to make a stronger solution to passivate. There is some conflicting info out there on whether or not you need to do this. Barkeepers friend will passivate your kettle as well.

I believe that was the idea from the shop. Strip something off with the no-rinse cleaner, put something back with the StarSan.

 

[augiedoggy]

Bar keepers friend can remove etched markings and advertisements from the distributor (like the company logo on an ss brewing or Bru gear conical) This is likely the REAL reason many of the companies that have their products etched recommend not using bar keepers friend.
But in my opinion its still the best solution for maintaining stainless brewing equipment.... You just have to ask yourself.. did you buy it to brew beer with or stare at... and even then just avoid using it on the etched areas and you'll be ok..

 

[YeastFeast]

Bar keepers friend can remove etched markings and advertisements from the distributor (like the company logo on an ss brewing or Bru gear conical) This is likely the REAL reason many of the companies that have their products etched recommend not using bar keepers friend.
But in my opinion its still the best solution for maintaining stainless brewing equipment.... You just have to ask yourself.. did you buy it to brew beer with or stare at... and even then just avoid using it on the etched areas and you'll be ok..

Thanks for this reminder.

 

[YeastFeast]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Used Bar Keepers Friend and it totally cleaned off the stains! Amazing how easy it was with this product. I was surprised how black the paper towel got after wiping my "clean" kettle down. Guess it wasn't so clean!