Firing Back Up

[robertus]

Due to some unforeseen circumstances and technical difficulties, I took a break from homebrewing to the tune of about 9 months off. Had a chat with the wife, who suggested I get back on the horse. She, as they say, must be obeyed.

Anyway, my gear's been sitting in the crawlspace under the stairs lo these many months, so it needs a cleaning. Just wanted to post the game plan here, make sure I'm not forgetting anything:

Brew Kettle
Take off the valve and soak it overnight (or thereabouts) in Oxy or PBW
Wash the kettle itself with Oxy or PBW, maybe hit it with a bit of Barkeeper's Friend
Hit the valve and connector with some sanitizer, just in case

Kegerator
Soak the faucets and shanks overnight (or thereabouts) in Oxy or PBW
Replace the lines
Scrub out the interior with soap and water because damn

Kegs
Break 'em down
Soak the posts overnight (or thereabouts) in Oxy or PBW
Replace all the o-rings
Run sanitizer through 'em (and through the lines, shanks, and faucets)

Buckets
Toss 'em, get new

Wort Chiller
Scrub dat mess

I also need to do a thorough Leak Test on my regulator and kegs (the aforementioned technical difficulties).

Missing anything?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Missing anything?

Don't forget to have fun!

 

[GPP33]

Next time I’d suggest cleaning it before you put it away. Just a thought.....welcome back.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Who puts their gear away dirty?

 

[mongoose33]

I don't think you need to do the overnight thing. Hot water--say 140 degrees or more--with PBW or equivalent will get your stuff clean in an hour. Rinse well, dunk in Star-San, and you're good to go.

Not sure what the kettle deal is. If you cleaned it when you put it away--you DID clean it when you put it away, didn't you?--then it needs little more than a wipe-down. You'll sanitize it when boiling the wort. Maybe the valve needs some cleaning, but unless you have a hop ring around the top, it should be fine.

The wort chiller is a different deal. Sounds like you didn't clean it. I'd not scrub it--I'd probably submerse it in the kettle with HOT water and PBW, and let it work its magic. BTW, when I use my immersion chiller, when I remove it from the kettle, I cover the kettle so nasties can't fly in, and immediately take that chiller to the sink and spray it off with hot water. A little wipe around the part where hop residue sticks, and it's ready for next time--and I haven't had all that stuff stick on there which makes it 5 times harder to remove, and it takes longer.

Kegerator. If you have any signs of mold or possible mold, use a bleach solution to wipe it out.

 

[SEndorf]

Probably don't need to replace the beer lines. (Please tell me you didn't store with beer shmutz in them.)
No need to replace the keg O-rings unless they're visibly damaged. Get some keg lube for the rings.
Everything else - what Mongoose said.
Except my preference is near boiling water with PBW and I do like an overnight soak, but I probably overdo it...

 

[Jayjay1976]

Put all disassembled metal bits plus chiller in your kettle, fill it with hot water and PBW and simmer for a while. Then drain it, rinse it, and repeat with a shorter time in 180f StarSan. Your chiller will sparkle like its brand new.

 

[robertus]

I didn’t stash em away dirty, they’ve just been sitting in the crawlspace with god knows what else since January or so [emoji3].

 

[GPP33]

I didn’t stash em away dirty, they’ve just been sitting in the crawlspace with god knows what else since January or so [emoji3].

Then don't stress it. Give everything a rinse and hit the stuff that'll touch the cold side with some starsan just like you normally would. Unless they are covered in mouse poop/piss, then PBW, but if everything is clean PBW isn't going to do anything besides give you peace of mind.

 

[SEndorf]

Dust? ....We're talkin a little dust? ....LOL
Your first post sounded like your equipment was wallowing in the swine pen.
Why replace perfectly good buckets.
Rinse everything off. StarSan the keg parts and be done with it.
Fire up that re-entry into brew day and post back the results..... !!

 

[Jayjay1976]

no no, spiders live in crawl spaces. Give it the full work-down then brew a great beer.

 

[robertus]

no no, spiders live in crawl spaces. Give it the full work-down then brew a great beer.

Camel Crickets, to be precise.

Plus the wife is a germophobe.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Camel Crickets, to be precise.

Plus the wife is a germophobe.

Yeah I totally agree. Anything that has more than 2 crotches freaks me the f@ck out.

 

[robertus]

For what it's worth, I wound up soaking everything in PBW and then Starsan. Replaced one beer line. Broke down my kegs, soaked and cleaned them, put 'em back together and charged them up. Wound up replacing a gas post in one keg and a couple poppets. The regulator and gas-out lines held a charge, so there's no leak there.

I took one keg and filled it with water. Charged that up so we'll have fizzy water in a couple days.

Homebrew comes next

 

[SEndorf]

Homebrew store gross of the month.....

 

[Jayjay1976]

Homebrew store gross of the month.....

I don't quite know why but I derive extreme pleasure in purchasing a new 55lb sack of grain. It's like the combined mirth of all the glorious brew days to come and all the luscious nights of drinking my own beers just wells up in my chest filling me with joy, and my wife captures the moment with a photo of me and my new sack of malt. My base malt bin is empty right now; I'll be filling it back up with a sack of German Vienna in just a few days. I cannot wait!

 

[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

I hate those camel crickets. Sounds like you are doing the right thing. A good cleaning then it is off to the races so to speak.

Welcome back

 

[robertus]

Okay, so maybe I'm not as rock solid on the leak as I'd hoped. I put the gas on the water keg for a day or two, then turned the gas off and let it sit. To my mind, and maybe I'm way wrong here, the system should have maintained pressure. Here's what the meter read that night:

and then here's what it read the next morning:

The keg didn't have any charge on it this afternoon when I got home, nor did the water seem at all carbonated.

Am I mad, or does that indicate that I've got a leak either in the keg or somewhere between the distribution bar and the keg?

addendum: Or both, both is totally possible.