I was getting ready to transfer to another carboy this morning, and noticed really light colored streaks in the unfilled carboy. I use PBW to CIP my fermenter(s), first scrubbing most of the beerstone away using cold water then soaking with PBW for at least 1/2 hour. then scrub some more, rinse, and either drip dry and put away, or acid rinse and fill. the streaks look like brush streaks since they are horizontal. but so light (can only notice when dry) I probably wouldn’t notice if the same residue exists in a stainless fermenter. Is an acid rinse adequate when no “chunks” are evident, or is there a more thorough method I should employ? I have not had any infection issues in the past; have I just been lucky? Your thoughts.
Sounds like residue from the PBW. Try rinsing with hotter water or rinsing with starsan as a final step.
Like Steve said, likely pbw res7due. I also read somewhere on here that for proper rinse, rinse water should be close to the same temp as you washed or soaked in for best results. Most soaps rinse well in cold water but apparently pbw likes whatever temp it was used in for rinsing. Just what I remember reading and I could easily have mis-remembered
You remembered correctly. Jon from Five Star recommends rinsing at or warmer than soak temps to avoid residue.
Pi, if you already have a residue on there you may need an acid to remove it. Sometimes a starsan soak works for this as Steve mentioned. In general, alkaline cleaners work better on organic deposits, acids on mineral deposits.
PI, are you using PBW with warm water? I also remember Jon from 5 star talking on a podcast that PBW can be used with cold water, but obviously it works much better with warmer (even hot) water. That is how I use it and I can’t say I have ever noticed any residue. I used to use oxyclean, that was short lived because that DID leave residue and never got my boil kettle clean like BPW does.
The wife even asks to use it sometimes for baked on food in a dish or crockpot. Love PBW.