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Caustic cleaner and krausen ring

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  • Caustic cleaner and krausen ring

    Hi,

    I have a question: will the caustic cleaner dissolve the krausen ring? I have a fermentor with CIP spray ball, and I do not want the spray ball to become clogged by yeast and hops residues (there is a lot of hops in krausen ring, because I was dry hopping).

    Yury

  • #2
    Originally posted by Yury View Post
    Hi,

    I have a question: will the caustic cleaner dissolve the krausen ring? I have a fermentor with CIP spray ball, and I do not want the spray ball to become clogged by yeast and hops residues (there is a lot of hops in krausen ring, because I was dry hopping).

    Yury
    You could just send hot water through the spray ball or open the top manway and spray what crud you can off the ring while having the dump valve open to a drain. After you knock off what you can, then start the CIP. Never had an issue with gunk clogging up the spray ball, but we do try and pre-rinse first before beginning CIP.

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    • #3
      Definitely a good idea to pre-rinse with hot water. I usually burst the sprayball a few times with hot water for a couple reasons. First, it loosens any easily removable material. Second, it helps blow out the co2 so you don’t risk neutralizing your caustic solution or pulling a vacuum. Third, it pre-heats the tank so your caustic solution will stay hotter longer. When I get a good temp, and stop seeing much particulate in the drain, then start my cycle.

      Hop particles can clog or reduce the effectiveness of your sprayball. I’ve found this to be more problematic on rotating sprayballs over static. Not common, and I believe I have seen less issues when using type 45 over type 90. Sometimes a woody piece or two get caught in there. Yeast, and the krausen ring will be broken down by an appropriate caustic solution and will not cause issues.

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      • #4
        A common method in larger breweries with automated systems is to not pre-rinse with water, but wet with 1 to 2% caustic, leave to soak for a few minutes and repeat 2 sometimes 3 times. All the caustic is run to drain. At the end of the wet / wash / stand cycles, and particularly after a short water (can be recovered water) rinse, the tank will be clean enough to be able to recirculate fresh caustic and not have to dump because it is dirty, or because of CO2 degradation as much of the degradation will take place during these pre-wash / soak cycles. Then rinse and sanitise, or have a separate acid wash if necessary between the main "polish" caustic cycle and the sanitisation.
        dick

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