>> How to choose the best brewing kettle (hint: go big)

"You're gonna need a bigger boat"

That was the classic line Brody uttered in Jaws once he saw how large the shark was.

All grain brewing itself is a bit of a giant shark but instead of a boat, you're gonna need a bigger brewing kettle. Of course, malts kit brewings with specialty grains benefit from a kettle too!

Things to consider when buying a brew kettle

• There are several benefits to having a brew kettle (or brew pot) that's large in size. The obvious one is that you can brew more beer! There's also less risk of a boilover or overflow occurring.
• If you want to do small batches of beer, you obviously don't need a massive 15 gallon kettle. However, once you get the taste for brewing, you may just find that 5 gallons just doesn't do it for you anymore, and you want to make 12 gallons - so you'll need that bigger kettle. You can always fry a turkey in it for Thanksgiving too!
• You may want to consider having a built-in thermometer as that can save you some hassle. 
• A ball valve is almost essential. Stainless steel ball valves are used on your kettle to allow you to control the flow of your liquids during transfers. If you have the budget for it, we strongly recommend you get a brew pot that features the valve. They give you so much control and are easy to strip down and clean. 
• A 'sight glass' which allows you to check the level of wort in your kettle. As the wort evaporates due to the boil, it's handy to keep your eye on the level without having to take the lid off the kettle. If you do not have a sight glass, fear not. Crafty brewers have many tricks up their sleeves and having a wooden rod or spoon with marks for the desired wort levels is one of them.



Dip Tube

• Some kettles come with a dip tube or pick up tube as they are known. These devices are used to extract the wort that lies below the ball valve, which makes for a more efficient collection of wort. These are often used with a hops screen which is used to filter out lumps and bumps from the wort.

And with that said, here's a selection of the best brewing kettles that we think cut the mustard that will do you really good service on brewing day.

Kettle Name	Key Features	Capacity	Special Attributes
Bayou Classic 800-416	Tri-ply bottom, domed lid, stainless spigot with ball valve, side-mount thermometer, stainless false bottom, tube-shaped filter screen.	16 Gallons	Excellent for serious all-grain brewers, versatile for large batches and even frying turkeys.
Tall Boy Home Brewing Kettle	4mm thick tri-clad bottom, optimized height to diameter ratio, made specifically for home brewing.	8 Gallons	Budget-friendly, ideal for 5-6 gallons of wort, can be used for deep-frying.
Northern Brewer's MegaPot 1.2	Silicone handles, 4mm tri-clad bottom, graduated volume markings, weld-less ball valve assembly, weld-less thermometer.	10 Gallons	Durable construction, designed for even heat distribution, multiple sizes available.
Blichmann Gas Boilermaker G2	Heavy gauge stainless steel, G2 linear flow valve, high-impact glass-filled nylon handles, exclusive snap-in dip tube.	7.5, 10, 15, 20 Gallons	High-end features, ergonomic design, suitable for both amateur and professional brewers.

Bayou Classic 800-416 16 Gallon Stainless Steel 6 Piece Brew Kettle

The Bayou Classic gas burner is one of Amazon's most popular sellers and that's because it is one of the best on the market. 

This is the same reason Bayou's gas burner is a big seller.

This unit is designed for the serious all-grain home brewer. The kettle features a tri-ply bottom and includes a domed lid, stainless spigot with Ball Valve, side-mount 3-inch Brew Thermometer ranging 60-220 degrees, stainless false bottom that sets 3.25 Inch above the bottom of the pot, and a tube shaped filter screen.

The bulkhead fittings enable easy attachment of thermometer and spigot for a water-tight seal. Side calibration measuring in gallon and quart that read from the inside of the kettle, enabling more accurate water level setting. 

The try-ply bottom promotes even heating and helps prevent against scorching, while the all stainless construction has no interaction with wort or acids. 

The narrow diameter and high side walls reduce the chance of boil overs, and the false bottom fits tightly on the low side indention to reduce particles and grain from entering the spigot chamber.

Here's some reviews from actual users of the Bayou:

"Kettle is very nice. Polished and huge. It's hard to imagine how large a 16gal kettle is until you get it. It's a monster. The included accessories make this a very versatile kettle. I am using mine as a boil kettle right now but plan on buying another in the future to use as an upgrade to my Mash Ton from a cooler."

"This is a quality kettle, and a decent price. I use it in tandem with a standard size keggle for my HLT, and can brew up to 15 gallons at a time if I feel incredibly strong and dedicated (15 gallons of wort weighs a lot). The thermometer works well, and has clear markings for various mash stages, if you do more than a single-step infusion."

"Great brew kettle. Very large with a tri-ply bottom. Have used it twice for brewing in a bag, thus far. Will hold a large grain bill - 16 lbs for me on my last brew. Screen will clog up, but not so much to not allow me to drain into the fermenter. Temp gauge required no calibration upon cross measuring. I did leave the kettle outside for a few days by accident and was pleased to see no signs of rust."

"The kettle held my mash at temp for the full hour, was easy to clean up and easy to transfer the wort to the boil kettle."

Check out the price on Amazon

Tall Boy Home Brewing Kettle Stainless Steel Stock Pot

If you are looking for something with a more modest budget or lower value, you'll need to dispense with the thrills and spills of the Blichman and for your stock standard steel pot, And the 8 gallon Tall Boy does just that. 

This means you will be limited to a 5 gallon brew, which to be fair, is a pretty standard brew. 

• Made specifically for home brewing
• Height to diameter ratio of 1.2:1 optimizes boil performance
• Reduces evaporative losses
• 4mm thick tri-clad bottom designed to stop bullets and prevent scorching by encouraging heat dispersion.
• Perfect for boiling 5 to 6 gallons of wort
• Made by the reputable Northern Brewer company (check out their wort chillers).
• Can use it to deep-fry turkey!

Here's what some genuine users of the Tall Boy have said in their Amazon reviews.

"BUILT FORD TOUGH! Seriously though, this thing is made like a tank everywhere and I love it, well worth the money!"

"Awesome. Thick bottom. Used to deep fry my 25 pound Thanksgiving turkey. Heated great no burnt crud on the bottom and easy clean up because nothing burned."

"Really good quality! Nice riveted and welded handles, extra thick bottom, strong sides, and is just the right size for a 5 gallon brew. If you're doing a full 5 gal, be careful during the hot break, as the wort level is pretty close to the top. Stand guard at the gas valve! Excellent product, cleans well, and can also do a turkey or a beach boil. Get it!"

"I've brewed with it a few times now and it works great. I think it would be better if it had some volume markings."

Check out the price of the Tall Boy on Amazon - it comes with free shipping.

Northern Brewer's MegaPot 1.2 - its a handy beer maker

Northernbrewer brag that their MegaPot 1.2 "is a masterpiece, not just another steel pot.".

Apparently crafted of stainless steel for ease of cleaning. The unit features silicone handles on the kettle and lid serves to limit scorching.

The handles are riveted in place to aid in lifting a hot liquid-filled pot.  Northern Brewer claims that there will be no weld failures.

The heart of the kettle is a 4mm thick Tri-Clad bottom- made specifically for even heat distribution.

The 1.2 proportion of MegaPot has been scientifically designed to promote a vigorous boil and reduce off-flavors.

• 10 Gallon (40 quarts / 37.8 liters) capacity
• 4mm Tri-Clad Bottom. All Stainless Steel Construction
• Graduated Volume Markings inside the kettle
• Silicone Covered Handles for Safety
• Weld-less Ball Valve Assembly and Weld-less Thermometer
• 14.1 Inches in Diameter and 16.3 Inches in Height
• Available in 8, 10, 15, 20, and 30 gallon sizes, with or without ball valve and thermometer.

Here's what some geezers who have actually made wort with the kettle had to say about its performance:

"This pot has performed well during both batches I've made so far. The bottom of the pot is as solid as they say, about 4mm thick. No issues on a glass stove. The thermometer and spigot need to be assembled, but again, it wasn't hard to do and it hasn't leaked at all. It's nice to have a good sturdy pot for brewing."

"This kettle is everything I hoped it would be, and much more. The construction feels rock-solid, and all the elements of the pot, including the accessories that came with it (ball valve and thermometer), are first class. This is a pot meant to last a lifetime, and I feel it was money well spent for the long haul. After running my first batch with this pot over yesterday, it passed all my quality tests, and I am delighted with my purchase."

"This thing is very heavy duty, has a thick clad bottom for heat distribution, thick walls and also has very useful gallon markings on the inside of the pot where you can easily look at the liquid level and know your volume. Nice heavy lid, rubber grips, and heavy-duty ball valve included. This is a very high quality product."

What are you waiting for? With free shipping, you should check out the price on Amazon.

Blichmann Gas Boilermaker G2 Brew Kettle

This beast from Blichmann Engineering almost makes boiling up a wort too easy!

The BoilerMaker™G2 brew kettles have been completely redesigned from the ground up with world-class American engineering and quality US manufacturing! 

Bare bones kettles might lure you in with attractive prices but by the time you add extra equipment you need or want – all standard in the BoilerMaker G2 comes into its own.

All models carry a limited lifetime warranty and are available in Celsius or Fahrenheit models. 

Blichmann Engineering boasts that this fresh design reflects the passion they have for quality, ergonomics, aesthetics, performance, and simplicity.

The boilermaker features:

• Heavy gauge, 304 single piece, deep drawn, weld-free American made construction
• Made in America from high-quality US stainless steel, single-piece seamless construction, and 100% US labor.
• Patent pending G2 linear flow valve allows you to easily fine tune your flow rate
• A sleek brush finish to hide finger-prints and water stains
• High-impact glass-filled nylon handles are extremely durable, high temperature resistant, comfortable, and cool to the touch.
• Exclusive snap-in dip tube design installs without tools and drains to within 3/8” of the bottom of the kettle!
• Includes adjustable viewing angle BrewMometer with unique, patented, brewing dial face 
• Comes in 7.5, 10, 15 or 20 gallon size.

Don't take Blichman's word about there product alone, check out what actual reviewers on Amazon have said about the kettle:

"The design of the kettle is fantastic. Great lids, handles, and I love the sight glass. Makes it really easy to clean it.

"Only con is if you plan on using this on gas. My use is electric. The bottom doesn't have a nice thick plate in it, it is just as thick as the sides. This will cause it to heat up more slowly on gas. For the price I would expect it to be included but for me on electric it is actually a plus as it makes it easier to move the kettles around."

"I think my old 15G kettle is heavier than this 20G Blichmann one."

Check out the price on Amazon - these units have free shipping! Pair it with Blichmann's propane gas burner and you'll have your wort boiled in no time.

Should you buy Aluminium or steel brewing kettles? 

Brew kettles come in both metal forms, each having its own benefit.

Aluminum is lighter for example but is less durable than steel kettles.

They also need to be maintained well due to ensure that the oxide layer that forms is not broken. This is because the layer prevents the aluminum from passing off-flavours into the wort or mash.

While aluminum kettles will transfer heat faster than steal, if you have a really good gas burner, this shouldn't really be a concern with your buying decision.

In our realm, we recommend you go for the steel kettle - the only drawback is they are more expensive than aluminum units.

Stainless steel is also fairly easy to clean. The choice is yours, Captain!

What is the best way to clean a brew kettle?

The gunk that is left at the bottom of the kettle is called the trub and it's usually quite manageable to get off. Many brewers like to soak the trub in water with Powdered Brewery Wash (AKA PBW).

Do not use steel wool or anything sharp to clean the unit, use something soft like a non-abrasive sponge or a soft plastic brush. You are trying to avoid putting scratches in the steel! 

A bit of elbow grease is all you really need!

It's also good to clean your kettle as soon as you can after brewing - this will give the trub less time to harden and should ensure a straightforward cleaning job.

If you have an aluminium kettle, you'll want to avoid anything caustic and stick with ordinary washing detergent.

I personally dispose of the trub on my vegetable garden!

Finally, once you have chosen your kettle and brewed with it, you'll need to keep an eye out for beerstone, which is a calcium based build up which can harbor microorganisms that will ruin your beer.

Brew day safety tips

Once that wort has been boiled, you've now got to cool it down so you can pitch the yeast - but what you've done is heated many gallons of water so hot it can give you a terrible scalding. So be careful!

Ensure your setup is sturdy. Your burner needs to be flat and properly assembled. Your kettle should have handles (ones coated with silicon are perfect) to assist with moving. Even so, you may want to consider using an oven mitt and a waterproof apron.

This is especially so if you are deep frying a Thanksgiving day turkey with oil.

And shoes, wear shoes!

And finally, be wary of any children around your setup. Frankly, we recommend you let the kids stay inside and watch Star Wars while you have the gas going!

Leave a Comment ball valve, kettle, mash tun, pot, review, site glass, spigot, turkey

How Bar Keeper's Friend really works on brewing equipment!

We often talk about how imperative it is that your brewing equipment is kept clean and sanitized, we've recently discovered the wonders of Bar Keepers Friend, a wonderful cleaning product that will clean your brewing kettles and keep them bright and shiny!

The beauty of Bar Keepers Friend is that while its name may refer to its use in keeping a bar clean (it began as a polish for brass rails in turn of the century taverns), it's an all-purpose product that is used to clean all kinds of stainless steel products such as pots and pans, acrylics like bathtubs and counters and cooktops.

It will literally clean the shit stains out of toilets and it can fix those bathroom tiles so they look good as new.

Barkeeper's friend users the original 1882 formula to deliver cleaning power for any stain on any non-porous surface. It's a bleach-free product that easily removes rust, tarnish, mineral deposits, and tough stains.

It's used by homeowners, hobbyists, musicians (such as drum cymbals), and professional cleaners worldwide and of course, bar keepers whose bars need their brass shined!

For beer brewing, you can use it to clean all your stainless steel gear like taps but its major use comes from cleaning your brewing kettles. 

Check out this before and after picture when used in a kettle:

Looks like this cleaner is the real deal eh?

Here's some Amazon reviews from actual users of this wonder cleaner:

"This stuff is amazing! It removes shower/faucet/commode scale and deposits like nothing else I have ever used. If used for the right cleaning jobs, this is a product that will surpass your expectations and have you thinking of new applications, such as cleaning tools and equipment that have gained a little rust. It restored luster to old faucets that I had given up on ever looking decent again.

As a retired PhD chemist, I am always interested in great home cleaning products and how they work. One active ingredient in Bar Keepers Friend is oxalic acid, an extremely strong chelating agent that I am familiar with from the laboratory. Without getting too technical, a chelating agent binds super strongly to metals (magnesium, calcium, iron, etc.). Since the bathroom scale is mainly magnesium carbonate with some calcium carbonate, oxalic acid reacts with the scale, sucking out the metal and turning the carbonate into carbon dioxide (a gas), making the scale magically disappear.

If you are interested, the chemical reaction for oxalic acid reacting with magnesium carbonate is HOOCCOOH + MgCO3 --> MgOOCCOO + CO2 + H2O. Similarly, rust is iron oxide, and the oxalic acid binds to the iron, breaking up the rust and making it disappear when rinsed away."

"I had got some gunk on the outside of a Cuisinart stainless steel pan which I was very fond of, and could NOT get the crap off. Not soaking, not detergent, not soaking in detergent, not scrubbers nor steel wool, not even painting it with ketchup and leaving it for several hours. Then the housekeeper put it in the dishwasher and the gunk turned into something like thick, permanent enamel.

So I went on Google and looked up gunk on stainless steel pans, got recommendations from real people, and ordered three things from Amazon. The first to arrive was Bar Keepers Friend, and I used it, and it worked. I’m sure I will enjoy Goof-Off and Goo Gone when they get here, but I don’t need them for this pan. I made a paste, painted it on half the pan, left it for an hour, came back, scrubbed with a no-scratch scrubber, and it came off. It did take some strength and real scrubbing, but that’s good for me. And it’s gone."


"This stuff is like magic! Straight up wizardry. I love it! I initially bought it to clean my sink, which is porcelain and even though it's not even a year old, is just holding on to all the coffee and tea staining. I'd say it took less than a minute after making a paste with Bar Keepers Friend to clean the sink up to a nearly new shine.

Taking a look at the can its easy to find bunches of ways to use this stuff and each application is better than the last. Stainless steel, porcelain, ceramic, copper, brass, fiberglass, corian, chrome and aluminum. See? Magic!

Anyhow, I've used it in the sink, in the bathroom, to clean stainless steel pots and pans on a 17 year old Revereware tea kettle (which I thought would never be restored to its former loveliness, btw). This is a product that I will buy again and again and will happily recommend to anyone."

How does Bar Keepers Friend Work?

Bar Keepers Friend Cleanser & Polish has become the premium house-hold cleanser used by many a home brewer. Using a non-bleach, plant based cleanser plus mineral scrubbing micro particles, BKF attacks tough stains from two directions. 

The oxalic acid, found in plants such as rhubarb, attacks hard rust and lime stains at the molecular level, breaking up the bonds that hold them together. Once those bonds are broken down, the mineral micro scrubbing particles move in to finish the job, polishing as they remove dirty brewing deposits. 

How to use Bar Keeper's friend on a brewing kettle

• Wet surface to be cleaned, perhaps give the brewing kettle a rinse out with a hose so any debris is soaked.
• Sprinkle a small amount of the cleanser on the dampened surface.
• Rub with a wet cloth or sponge. You can add more BKF as you need and don't be afraid to use some elbow grease.
• Rinse thoroughly with water within one minute of application.
• Then wipe the surface dry.

Leave a Comment bar keepers friend, BKF, cleaning your equipment, kettle, review

Best stainless steel ball valves for homebrew kettles

Best stainless steel ball valves for homebrew kettles

When you've decided to upgrade from using beer kits with plastic or glass fermenters and you want to use a bit of steel kit in your beer making, you're probably going to want to use a brewing kettle.

Every kettle needs a valve of some sort to release the beer wort and it's crucial that that exit point will work correctly every time and that it doesn't leak. You can even use them with your mash tun.

A quality steel ball valve will do the job. Once properly attached and sealed to the kettle, it's a simple matter of connecting the hose, and your wort's away!

What to look for when buying a valve for you're brewing kettle

Most brewers tend to use valves manufactured out of steel but there are some parts made of brass. Some brewers suggest brass parts corrode too easily and need to be cleaned as a result. We'd recommend you focus your search on buying a steel valve.

A valve made of 304 Stainless Steel will provide for maximum corrosion resistance.

Size is important - most brew kettles have a pre-made hole that is 7/8" inches in diameter - accordingly, you should be sourcing a 1/2" ball valve.  The seal on the valve should take care of the difference!

You'll also want to ensure the nozzle or hose bard is the right size for your needs. A 1/4" nozzle may result in a beer flow to slow for an impatient brewers, so you may want to consider the commonly used half inch nozzle hose barb. 

What are the best valves to use?

We never recommend cheap products as in the long term they can cost you more trouble than they are worth but mid range is a fine place to start with this bulkhead:

Features

• 1/2"x10mm Stainless Steel Hose Barb
• Stainless Steel Full Port Ball Valve
• Sanitary Ball Valve
• It features a 1/2" Full Port ball valve and a 1/2" barb, which means you'll get a decent wort flow

Check out the price on Amazon.

CONCORD 304 Stainless Steel Weldless Bulkhead Ball Valve

Concord Cookware have produced a no-nonsense valve and boast the following specifications:

• Weldless Bulkhead Set Includes 1/2" Barbed Hose, Ball Valve, Hex Nipple, Washer, Red O-Ring x2, Grooved Lock Nut
• 304 Cast Stainless Steel for highest corrosion resistance
• High Temp silicon O-Ring for heat resistance
• Grooved Lock Nut for leak free installation
• Standard 1/2" NPT fittings made to fit your 7/8" kettle hole

Heh, they said nipple! It's no joke though to check the price out on Amazon.

The "L" Shaped Ball Valve

If you want your hose barb to point more downwards, this model from Tizze will suit your needs.

Tizze's specifications:

• 1/2" weldless bulkhead fitting fits 7/8" kettle hole
• Made from 304 stainless steel
• Full port ball valve
• Heat resistant O ring and it will hold a really good seal on the coupler

Here's a review that an actual brewer left on Amazon:

"Nice valve for transferring wort from the brew kettle to the fermenter. Takes 3/8" tubing doesn't leak and works great!"

So, what are you waiting for? Check out the price on Amazon.

How to attach a ball valve to a drilled kettle

This great instructional video shows you how to easily install the valve. A key take-away is that you can use teflon tape to further prevent leakage.

Another good idea relayed in the video is to test that your valve is correctly installed and your o-rings have made a good seal. Instead of using beer, test it with water!

How do I clean the valve?

Most valves can be taken apart for easy cleaning. A spanner or wrench is quite handy but then, you don't need to tighten these units to death.

Cleaning with a strong brush, hot water and soap will do the trick.

Why are brass made valves a controversial topic?

Both brass and steel are alloys. The metals they are made with each have different properties when they mix with alkalines and acids.

Brass is more likely to corrode, so brewers prefer to use quality stainless steel products to avoid the issue of metal leakage into beer. For example, brass can leach zinc and that's not really a key ingredient of beer is it? (it's actually really helpful as a yeast nutrient though...)

Leave a Comment ball valve, kettle, mash tun, spigot

The best kettle spiders for straining hops

You could be forgiven for wondering what a hops spider is.

Is it some kind of jumping jack or a spider that lives on the hop plant?

Nope, it’s an instrument to help add hops to your boil to help prevent sludge build up from the hops pellets or even the leaves. It’s ideal for preventing clogs in brewing gear and helps make brew day just that little bit cleaner.

The way a hops spider works is it is basically a mesh filter that sits over the building kettle and it simply acts as a strainer for the hops - you get want you want from the hops into your beer and the mess stays inside the filter and is simply removed by taking the spider out.

Too easy eh?

Many commercially made hop spiders will use a mesh of 300 micron as it filters the hops quite well.

If you are using leaves, it is actually a really good idea to use a kettle spider because any stray leaves can easily block a valve or inline filter and that could be a real pain to sort out!

What are the things to look for in a good hops spider?

• Good micron size filter, 300 is standard
• Made of stainless steel
• Features a sturdy tripod that will fit across your kettle or
• a hook that will fit the side of your kettle

I’ve heard hops filters reduce the utilization of hops. Is this true?

It’s a valid concern but perhaps one that is somewhat over thought but there are several things you can do to make sure you get the efficient hops utilization - and in case you didn’t know, we are talking about the IBUs that go into the hops and thus affecting the bitterness of the beer.

• Make sure your filter sits inside the kettle quite low, say one or two inches from the bottle. This gives the hops enough surface area in which it can play. Check this before your first brew, not when it's time to add the hops!
• Speaking of surface area, don’t overfill the hops filter. The hops needs its space, especially if you are using leaves. You don’t want them all mashed together, they should be able to float freely a bit. Hangin' and bangin' Jerry!
• During the boil, give the hops a bit of a stir, or ‘agitate’ them if you will. Maybe use a brewing spoon for this, and remember you are dealing with hot boiling water so be careful as you usually are. 
• When you remove the kettle filter, ensure that you let it drain completely so that anything that should go into the beer, is with the beer. 
• You can always compensate by adding a little extra hops to account for any loss utilization. 
• Some spiders have a tripod and some use a hook on the side of the kettle. Neither kind is better than the other if you follow the above way to use one.

What is the best hops filter to use?

One of the most popular kind of spiders is the 300 Micron Mesh Stainless Steel Hop Filter Strainer. 

Suitable for a brew bucket fermenter, you simply hang it to the side of brew kettle during the boil, easy to hang and keep stable.

This brew filter will dramatically keep hop trub from getting in your brew bucket. It's also easy to clean with a sprayer or brush. 

Made of stainless steel it is rust-proof and hot-resistant and if looked after, it will give you a long service life.

Check out its availability on Amazon.

DIY  - making your own hops spider

While there are plenty of really good hops spiders on Amazon, you may wish to make you own in the spirit of good keen homerbrewers every where. Given they are simple devices to make, if you follow the instructions (like in the below video tutorial) then there’s a good chance of making a handy spider.

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↣ What is beerstone (and how to remove it)?

Beerstone is a silent but deadly beer gear killer

It creeps in slowly, like a silent assassin and you might not discover their presence until its too late...

Beerstone

The scourge of brewing kettles and kegs everywhere, beerstone can be a key element in causing off beer.

What is it?

Beerstone is a kind of scale known as 'calcium oxalate' (C2CaO4) in the brewing industry. 

This precipitate is largely due to a reaction between alkaline cleaners (e.g. caustic soda), hard water minerals (think calcium and magnesium) and protein in the form of amino acids.

It affects both the home brewer and commercial operations. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly once you've learned about the science, the milk industry has similar problems with buildup on milking machinery and milk vans.

That industry calls it, yes you guessed it, milkstone!

How does beerstone ruin beer?

The development of beerstone leaves an unsanitary surface on the keg or kettle or other brewing equipment that offers an environment that can harbour microorganisms. 

At it's most minor interference with the beer, beerstone can cause those classic "off flavors" or even shorten the shelf life of your batch.

In the worst case scenario, unwanted micro-organisms can wreck an entire batch of beer which is a waste of good beer, a waste of money and a loss of your precious brewing time.

How does beerstone form?

The organic compounds found in the wort and beer will combine with metals in the water - usually calcium and magnesium for the oxalate. It is a white, crystalline precipitate - which makes its initial appearance hard to detect with the naked eye. 

Beer bugs will then find a home in the calcium oxalate - and here's the kicker - this environment allows the microorganisms to avoid contact with your cleaning regime and, believe it or not, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) can then help form a cover by creating additional precipitate because the caustic agents react with the CO2 (given off by the fermentation process).

It's almost like you can't win!

So how do you remove beerstone?

The pros at Birkocorp have offered a pretty handy 5 step method for removing beerstone build up:

1. Rinse out beer and yeast with ambient temperature water.
2. Use a 1-2 ounce per gallon phosphoric/nitric acid mixture (140°F maximum temperature) for 15-30 minutes.
3. Do not rinse the solution out.
4. Use a noncaustic alkaline cleaner at 1-2 ounces per gallon of warm (120-140°F) to start. CIP for 15-30 minutes depending on conditions.
5. Rinse with ambient temperature water until the pH of the rinse water is neutral (same pH as the tap water coming in).

If it's not clear, you'll need to fire up up your gas burner to get the solutions to the correct temperature.

Any residual 'soil' adhered to the metal can be removed with a high-pressure hot water rinse or simply wiped off as it should now be quite soft. If you need to do a scrub, use a sponge or scrubber that will not scour the metal. 

The entire method should be followed. This is because the acid mixture does not remove the stone, it softens up the scaling so that the alkaline cleaner has the chance to do its magic. 

Beerstone Prevention is beer than cure

If it's so easy for brewers to not notice that beerstone is 'scaling up' how can it be prevented from occurring?

The key is to mix up your cleaning method by using strong acid solutions are the quickest and most effective way to remove beerstone from stainless steel surfaces. Hydrochloric acid is a popular choice but you should not use it every time as it could cause pitting.

When using strong acids, be wary of their corrosiveness on metal.

Brewclean is a product that can help prevent the buildup of brewstone. Specifically designed for cleaning homebrew kegs and brewing equipment, it is non-corrosive so it will not cause rust on kegs or other homebrew equipment.

The wetting agent (surfactant) helps remove beerstone and other 'soils'. It's a good alternative to using sodium hydroxide.

You should be quite careful when using these kinds of acids and alkaline solutions as they are pretty potent and can do some real damage if you come into contact with them.

 A splash of chemical cleaner in the eye is pretty damaging and painful, trust me I learned this lesson some years ago and it cost me a trip to the hospital!

Leave a Comment beerstone, kegs, kettle, PBW, sanitization