Carboy driers

[BeerBelly]

Does anyone have a helpful suggestion on how to dry my carboys. My current method isnt very efficient. I have my wife hold it upside down until it is dry. I think we are looking at a strike.

[fstbttms]

I'm sure you are aware that carboys (at least the 6.5 gallon types) fit perfectly in a square plastic milk crate. I have several dozen of these in my garage (I'm certain Safeway will never miss them!) and they serve all kinds of purposes. One of the most important is carboy dryer. I cut a hole in the bottom of a crate, large enough to accept the spout of the carboy. I stack that crate on top of another, invert the carboy and set it down in the top crate with the neck thru the hole. The carboy can sit and drain all day if I want, safely encased in it's plastic shell. In fact, all my carboys live in these crates. I almost never take them out. I've attached a pic.

[stronk]

Use a hairdryer. The element gets hot enough to kill all microbes in the air, so there's no danger of contaminating it.

[BeerBelly]

Thanks for some great tips!!

[danno]

I set mine on top of an empty corny, with the lid off it works great. (two handled cornies, obviously...) one downfall, it's a bit tippy, but all i'm doing is letting it drain for a couple of minutes, either after cleaning or star-san...

[mortong]

You can also get carboy stands at most LHBSs for about $6. They're just little blue round stands that can stack. Of course, it's hard to beat free if you use milk crates. I may have to get a few.

[evilredlight]

I use an old box from a beer kit.

It just happens to be the perfect size to fit it!

[paul84043]

I never dry mine....
I rinse them with Star San after cleaning and pour out all the stuff, let it sit for a few, and then pour it out again. Then I just pop on an airlock and put it in the basement.
StarSan leaves a film that continues to act as a sanitizer and apparently will not allow anything to grow in the carboy, even after extended times sitting.

When I bring one up, I rinse it out with sanitizer and inspect it, I have never found anything in them other than a bit of old sanitizer.

[paul84043]

I was reading another thread a few weeks ago and I came across one where someone mantioned "swirling" your bottles to get all the water out of them fast.
This BTW works wonders, you just give it a circular flip and create that little vortex, everything just goes "floosh" and it's empty.

THis works on carboys like you would not believe!!!

Have you ever spent all that time trying to get all the foam out of the carboy from cleaning? Especially if you use Star San, which is a foaming sanitizer.
Well, I tried this last time...I poured an extra few cups of sanitizer and flipped the carboy over, gave it a circular flip and lo and behold, the damn thing completely enptied out in 2 seconds flat!!!

Thank you to whoever mentioned that in the first place.

Try it the next time with your carboy, you'll be amazed!

Also, for those of you who are bottlers and hate the whole process...

I have started doing it in "steps". If I know I'm going to bottle, I'll prep all the bottles the day before, and even wash some extras if I'm going to bottle another batch in a day or so.
I have also started to triple rinse my bottles after emptying them out, this has done wonders for my process.
I rinse them out and just put them in a box in the garage.
Then when I'm getting ready to clean bottles, I grab as many as I think I'll need, put them out on the counter, rinse them with hot water and inspect after emptying for anything growing in them. SInce I started triple rinsing, I have never had anything in them.
I then submerge them in a bucket full of StarSan for a few minutes.
While I'm waiting, I continue to rinse out bottles and line them up on the counter. When they have all had thier little soak, I put them into thier box and lay a clean paper towel across the tops to keep anything from falling in. I close the lid on the box and put them in the other room until I need them the next day, or whenever. I don't prep anything that's not going to be used within a day.
I used to do the dishwasher thing, but with the star san, I have been able to cut out that step.
I have never had a problem with a contaminated beer, so it must work.
I don't know if this would work with another sanitizer, the StarSan leaves a film behind and I think that's why it works so well.
Cutting the bottling process in half by washing bottles the day before really helps in keeping the process to a manageable timeframe. In fact, it's downright enjoyable again.

[RedVR6]

After fully cleaning and rinsing my carboys, I generally lay them down on their side so the remaining water settles on the bottom where the carboy(s) is laying (a day or two). Once fully dried I will take some plastic wrap and cover the spouts securing it with a rubberband.

Carboy stands though...I like that idea. Might have to order a couple when I need some more ingredients.

[stronk]

I have never tried Starsan, but the 'film' it leaves sounds an awful lot like the film left by washing-up liquid. I know that surfactants negatively affect the head of a beer, so would this starsan film have the same effect?

[MARK123]

Great tip fstbttms, They fit in there really nice!!!
Makes handling them alot easier when full to!!

[fretlessman71]

If I don't plan on using a carboy for a good week or two, is it really necessary to dry it out quickly? Usually I just give them a good swirl of really hot water and sanitizer, drain, and set them aside. Although I like the idea of putting an airlock on them so they're ready to go right away when I need them next...

[fstbttms]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
If I don't plan on using a carboy for a good week or two, is it really necessary to dry it out quickly? Usually I just give them a good swirl of really hot water and sanitizer, drain, and set them aside. Although I like the idea of putting an airlock on them so they're ready to go right away when I need them next...

After brewing, I fill my carboys up with PBW and let 'em sit for a day or two. Then I rinse and put in my dryer upsidedown to drain. They stay that way till the next brew day, when I sanitize the carboys first thing and then set in the dryer again to drain until I rack the wort into them.

[Tweek]

I dont dry mine. I clean em out and then empty em, if there is a little water left over it just sits there until next time or evaporates. I sanitize everytime b4 I use them again so its not a real issue.