PBW, Bottles, and Hard Water

[truvr]

I've been struggling with bottle cleaning. My typical method is pour and triple rinse with hot water, then dry top down (fast rack). This generally works well. But some bottles need something more.
So I tried PBW. I have hard water so from what I've read, PBW should work better than oxy. My problem with PBW is that the bottles are left with an extremely hard white-ish film. Sometimes inside, sometimes outside. It is impenetrable to almost anything I've tried. The only thing that kind of works is a soak in straight white vinegar. But even that doesn't always get it all. I'm pretty frustrated at this point. Any tips or ideas? Thanks!

 

[corkybstewart]

When I bottled I had the same problem-our water chemistry out here meant that if I left bottles soaking too long in bleach or PBW a fairly hard thick film would form. I finally started an overnight soak in vinegar, then using a bottle brush and vinegar to clean the stubborn ones. OTOH, I don't think it ever affected the beer to have a little of that stuff left in the bottle.

 

[truvr]

Ok, thanks for the reply. So is it just a matter of how long the bottles soak? Maybe a short soak would be enough to clean but short enough to avoid the hard residue... I'm pretty sure I have bottled a few that had the residue. I didn't notice any effect, but I worry it will give bugs a place to hide.

 

[truvr]

However, if you're still having problems with hard water scale build up, I suggest trying a non oxygen based cleaner such as Craft Meister Alkaline Brewery Wash. There is no active oxygen related chemistry there, only alkaline/caustic agents, thus it's very friendly for hard water applications. Hope this helps.

Hmmm, this sounds very interesting. Thanks for the info! It's the first I have heard of this product. Would it take off the existing hard water scale, or would I need to do an acid soak first?

Anyone else have any experience with Craft Meister Alkaline Brewery Wash?