Reasonable priced keg washer

[phildo79]

Anyone know where I could get one from? Brew 2 Bottle 'have' one for £60 but they are out of stock. I also think they went out of business and are just getting rid of what they have left, so I doubt they will be getting them in any time soon.

Angel Homebrew £90 - sold out
Brew Keg Tap £85 - sold out
Brew Day £105
Get 'er Brewed £95
Aliexpress £40 (with another £40 postage)

£80 to £105 seems a bit much for a bucket and a water pump. I could try and make one myself but I don't know how much that would cost. Would need to be a good bit less to warrant the faffing around.

Any ideas or advice?

 

[SMP Brewery]

I have one of these. Keg Washer Drill Attachment - The Malt Miller and have never had a problem. You could probably make one cheaper.

I leave my empty keg with co2 in till it’s needed, empty it, rinse it, add a bit of that oxi stuff with some hot water, use the above and then rinse and add starsan, good to go.

 

[phildo79]

An option but I don't think it would save me much time compared to my current routine. It's the 'let the gizmo do all the work while I have a beer' that I am looking for.

 

[SMP Brewery]

You must drink a lot of beer in 5 minutes

 

[gyurmaember]

We discussed it earlier, if you use the search function. You can build better one.

 

[LeeH]

I could try and make one myself but I don't know how much that would cost. Would need to be a good bit less to warrant the faffing around.

Any ideas or advice?

Bucket and pump 30 quid. Pipe and fittings 5-10.

Or a microfibre cloth and 5 mins of wiping with some TFR. Pennies.

 

[LeeH]

Here

 

[dcbrookes]

I built my own, inspired by a post here a few years back. I already had a submersible pump and an old fermentation bucket so it was a pretty straightforward build. I used bits of copper pipe from my odds and ends box for the riser and added a CIP ball to the top,

 

[Wezzle]

I bought the "FastWasher Rack" from amazon a few weeks ago which works great for me, it's currently £50 on prime, though I had a spare rectangular storage tub to stand it in during use

 

[MrJay83]

I built my own, inspired by a post here a few years back. I already had a submersible pump and an old fermentation bucket so it was a pretty straightforward build. I used bits of copper pipe from my odds and ends box for the riser and added a CIP ball to the top,

What's the rating of your pump (don't want my all-rounder visiting the neighbours)? I probably have everything in the shed bar that.

 

[dcbrookes]

What's the rating of your pump (don't want my all-rounder visiting the neighbours)? I probably have everything in the shed bar that.

I think my pump is 400W - it is well over 20 years old, was bought in France, and lost all its labels ages ago, but it looks very like the 400W ones on Amazon. I use a CIP ball on the business end - if not I think my All-rounders would have taken flight by now. I have a screw thread on the top of the main riser and two interchangeable top pieces - a short one for fermenters and a longer one for kegs; both have CIP balls attached. I don't mess about with separate feeds for the keg posts as I use the 23L Chinese kegs and the posts are very easy to remove and soak in the bucket while the cleaning is in progress.

 

[MrJay83]

I was having a look around and I seen the bucket blaster is about 2000l/h and similar Chinese ones are about 50W. I'm surprised your pump hasn't your AR halfway back to Oz
Cheers for the info. The CIP ball sounds much better than just a few holes drilled at the end of some pipe.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I was thinking about using a decent submersible pump that fits inside the Brewzilla so using the Brewzilla for temp control and then it’s a case of plumbing off the pump and a couple of ball lock lines.

 

[MashBag]

Bucket and a pond pump? What's to build?

If the pump comes with a good array of fittings (don't buy the cheapest) it will also wash hoses.... And run your fv chiller

IMO a pond pump is a brewery essential tool.

 

[phildo79]

I bought the "FastWasher Rack" from amazon a few weeks ago which works great for me, it's currently £50 on prime, though I had a spare rectangular storage tub to stand it in during use

I seen this but struggled to find any photos or vids of it being used to wash kegs. Also, where does all the water go? Would it work with a 23L keg with only one handle?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FastWasher...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451681858711&psc=1

 

[phildo79]

You must drink a lot of beer in 5 minutes

If only the whole process took 5 mins, mate.

Strip the posts down.
Soak them in oxy.
Rinse and sanitise.
Rinse out the keg.
Soak it in oxy.
Clean as much as I can with a non-scouring sponge (this would be replaced by the gadget you have).
Rinse out and sanitise.
Reassemble.

I could try and do the job as quick as possible but I prefer to be thorough. After a couple of infected batches last year, I don't cut corners. Nothing worse than tipping a keg full of beer down the drain. The cleaning process doesn't usually bother me but when I did it the other day, it just felt like it took ages. Time which could be better spent having a cold one and watching the footie.

 

[MashBag]

Some gizmos take longer to setup than the time they save. The designs are to make the vender money. Not to make your life easier

 

[Wezzle]

I seen this but struggled to find any photos or vids of it being used to wash kegs. Also, where does all the water go? Would it work with a 23L keg with only one handle?

It needs a tub to stand in and the water/cleaning solution recirculates.

Might be hard to make out in the pic but the mouth of any corny kegs sit on the top and inside of the top piece as it's oval shaped.
I use a CIP ball I already owned on top of the pipe instead of the supplied barb which just sprays upwards

 

[phildo79]

@Wezzle Hmmm, that would seem fine for my serving kegs but I use a 23L keg to ferment in. The top of it gets caked in krausen and usually requires a scouring sponge to clean it properly. I am beginning to wonder if even the bucket blaster would do an adequate job now.

 

[Wezzle]

If you're only cleaning the one vessel at a time then you probably don't need a system like this, by the time it takes to get out and setup you would have probably finished cleaning by hand, inside and out.

I got mine because I'm lazy, I have 4 different fermenters, one being a corny for pressure fermenting and 6 kegs for serving. The fermenters I empty, rinse with water until they're visually clean and put away for when have a cleaning day where each keg/fermenter/vessel is disassembled and left on the washer for about 10-15 mins recirculating warm Oxy solution. All the small parts I leave in the bottom of the washer to soak in the solution as it recirculates.
While that does it's thing I'm cleaning other stuff - beerlines, taps, connecters, and making up some sanitizer etc.