Cleaning Your Brew Pot Ball Valve

I remember when I first disassembled the ball valve on my brew pot after never having done so. I was HORRIFIED!! As brewers, we are always so careful to make certain that everything is clean and sanitary, especially anything that our wort touches on the cold side of the brew day, which means anything after the boil, but I had overlooked this very important piece of equipment come clean up time. Here's what my disassembled valve looked like after my Scottish 80 Shilling Ale brew day this past Saturday.

Bear in mind that this was after one brew day and that I started with a spotlessly clean ball valve. Had I left this on my brew pot, the wort stuck inside would have been a breeding ground for all sorts of nasty, beer ruining microbes, not to mention the kettle trub and hop particles being trapped inside.

Considering that this is what 6 to 11 gallons of freshly cooled wort passes thorough on its way to the fermenter, we all need to make sure that it is spotlessly cleaned and sanitary for every brew day. Some advocate for simply flushing the system really well with PBW as part of the clean up process. This is referred to as Clean In Place, or CIP for short. This is accomplished by varying the opening of the valve as cleaner runs through it to make sure that every part of the valve is flushed out. This might be fine for some, but I am a bit more anal about the clean up and given that it takes roughly 5 minutes to disassemble, and the same to reassemble once the valve's been cleaned and dried, I always remove, disassemble, and clean my valve after every brew day.

All you'll need is an adjustable wrench (or 2 if you'd prefer to not use a socket wrench) and a socket wrench. For my valve, I use a 13mm socket. I would suggest taking a picture of the assembled valve to aid in the reassembly the first time or two but after that, it becomes second nature. Do be careful with the stem that actually extends into the chamber and turns the ball as there is a very small, white o-ring that is very easily lost once it has been taken off of the stem. Once disassembled, simply rinse the pieces and let them soak in a bowl of PBW or any oxygen cleaner. I typically let them soak overnight, then rinse the cleaner off the next morning, and let the pieces air dry before reassembling the valve.

Once you're ready to brew again, simply re-install the valve on your brew pot and check for leaks. Whether you clean in place or disassemble your ball valve, you always want to make sure that it has been sanitized before you drain the wort at the end of the brew day. This is most easily done by simply running a gallon or so of boiling wort through the valve towards the end of the boil. Be sure to wear protective gloves and use a container that can stand up to the boiling liquid. Once you've run off about a gallon, simply close the valve and pour the wort back into the boil kettle. I go a step further and spray the valve really well with Starsan before I drain the kettle.

Stay tuned as I will post about a citrus IPA brew day coming up very soon. This beer, along with an American Amber Ale of mine, will be served at the upcoming Evergreen Homebrew Festival on Sunday, October 18th from 3-6 at Ecco on Overton Park Ave. I'd love to see you all there so check it out. We'll have 20+ beers being poured!!

Cheers