Author: Ray Found

A while back, I put together a collection of DIY brewing utilities that included a pump-based keg washer and sanitizer. After using it many times, I came to the conclusion it fell short in a few ways– it required a ton of water, the spray pressure wasn’t high enough to sufficiently remove all trub, and it only worked with kegs, not carboys. I’d heard good things about another popular keg and carboy washer, which seemed like a great solution, but being famously impatient and enjoying the DIY side of things, I set to the task of designing my own version that proved simple, effective, and fun. We’re calling it the…

BrüBlaster Keg & Carboy Washer

The purpose of this article is to share with others how to easily build this efficient tool for themselves. To keep things as simple as possible, I’ve broken the DIY down into 3 sections focused on acquiring the necessary parts, assembling the washer, and putting it to use. If you have any questions or find yourself confused with a step, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments section below and I’ll respond as soon as possible!



| PARTS |

What follows is a list of the parts I’ve found work well for this keg and carboy washer. While I list specific dimensions, please keep in mind I went with the sizes that worked for my intended purposes, which may vary depending on the type of carboys you use or pump you go with. This washer is incredibly easy to adapt to whatever size best suits your needs, there’s no reason to rigidly adhere to what I’ve done if you’ll be using it to clean different gear; however, by following along, you can be assured the washer will work beautifully with PET carboys and cornelius kegs. Also, hardware store inventory on fittings varies, seemingly by the hour, so you may need to substitute to accomplish the same goals.

I included links to as many parts as possible for those who prefer purchasing online. However, nearly all of the PVC parts for the BrüBlaster can be purchased individually at big box home improvement stores at a lower price.

Submersible Utility Pump

The pump used in the popular commercially available keg washer may be enough to get the job done, but since I already had a much more powerful (~3x) pump on hand, I decided to put it to use. While more powerful pumps cost more, the increased pressure blasts away trub with ease, plus an added benefit is they usually feature standard garden hose threads. Less powerful pumps will certainly work, I wouldn’t recommend anything under 500 gallons per hour, and be sure to pay attention to type/size of the outlet adapter on whichever one you choose.

6 Gallon Plastic Bucket

A cheap 5 gallon bucket from the hardware store will work fine as a basin for the washer, though I’ve been using a 6 gallon fermentation bucket I had lying around– no reason to buy something I already have. Plus, with the large pump, the additional depth makes for more room for the fittings.

Bucket Lid

For the top of the keg and carboy washer, you’ll need a lid that you’re comfortable cutting up– if you plan to continue using your fermentation bucket to make beer, consider picking up a bucket lid from your local big box retailer. I’ve found I actually prefer the “Homer” lids over the the “nicer” options because they’re cheap, easy to snap on/off due lacking a robust sealing lip, and the raised circular ridge is conveniently the perfect size for most carboys and corny kegs!

Spray Wand Parts

Too avoid as much confusion as possible, I’m going share the exact parts I used to build my washer. Similar to other commercially available keg and carboy washers, I originally designed mine to have a single spray wand. It worked great for kegs, but I found one shortcoming when it came to cleaning my PET carboys– the diameter of the pipe occupied so much space in the carboy neck that the cleaning solution was unable to quickly drain back out. Since this wasn’t an issue for kegs, my solution was to put together a separate spray wand specifically for cleaning carboys that could easily be interchanged for the larger keg spray wand. This has worked out great!

The following pieces are made from PVC, so be sure to grab yourself some PVC cement to ensure solid seals between the non-threaded connections.

Keg Spray Wand

To ensure keg posts and diptubes are adequately cleaned, I fashioned a simple solution that requires the following parts:

Carboy Spray Wand

| ASSEMBLY |

With all the pieces gathered, it’s time to put the puzzle together. To start, you’ll want to prepare the wash basin by first cutting out the center of the bucket lid matching the inside diameter of the corny keg handles, which is a piece of cake if the lid has a raised ridge, as it can easily be traced with a Dremel tool or sharp utility knife.

Then cut a small notch at the rim of the lid for the submersible pump cord.

Now we can move onto constructing the spray wands. While it can be accomplished once all glued together, it’s probably best to do all the drilling first, before glueing it together. To start, use a 1/8″ drill bit to drill 8-10 holes in the caps for both the keg (3/4″) and carboy (1/2″) wands.

Next, you’ll need to drill a series of holes around the perimeter of only the carboy spray wand (unless you ferment in kegs). We want high-pressure streams of cleaner to be pointed directly at the area kräusen tends to collect, which for me is at the shoulder of my 6 gallon PET carboys; this will vary depending on the type of fermentor you use and should be taken into account before you start drilling. I ended up drilling a series of a dozen 1/8″ holes in a 2″ wide band around the pipe.

With these holes drilled, all that’s left to do is glue and reconnect the fittings for each part. Threaded fittings can be connected without tape since minor leaks aren’t a big deal for this application, but don’t forget to apply PVC cement between each non-threaded slip connection.

Keg Post & Diptube Washer

Start by attaching the two 12″ lengths of vinyl tubing to both the liquid and gas disconnects, securing each to the barb with a hose clamp. Insert the 3/8″ tee fitting into the open ends of the tubes and securing them in place with hose clamps. Attach one end of the 18″ length of tubing to the perpendicular barb on the tee and clamp it into place, then secure the other end with a hose clamp to the barbed end of the 3/8″ female hose adapter. Set this part aside for now, we’ll return to it in just a bit.

Keg Spray Wand

Before we start putting this piece together, cut a 2″ piece of the 2′ PVC pipe off using a Dremel or hacksaw, it will be used to connect 2 other pieces. Once that’s done, screw the 3/4″ female NPT to hose adapter fitting onto the male end of the 3/4″ threaded adapter. Apply PVC cement to the female slip end of the adapter then insert the 2″ chunk of pipe you cut off from the larger pipe. Apply some cement to inner part of one side of the 3/4″ tee and insert the other end of 2″ tube. Next, simply insert the longer PVC tube into the other side of the tee* then slip the hole-drilled cap with on the end, remembering to use cement for each connection.

*I made a mistake when initially building my keg spray wand that required me to use a coupler between the tee and longer pipe; this is unnecessary with the parts listed.

Finally, attach the 3/4″ threaded hose nipple to the open branch of the tee then to the other end attach the hose adapter from the already built keg post and diptube washer. Voila, this piece is ready for use!

Carboy Spray Wand

The carboy spray wand is a little easier to construct since there’s no tee fitting involved. First, attach the 3/4″ female NPT to hose adapter fitting onto the 3/4″ male end of the reducer bushing, to that attach the male end of the 1/2″ slip to riser fitting, then apply some cement to one end of the PVC pipe and secure it in the slip. After applying cement to the open end of the PVC pipe, slip on the drilled cap and you’re all set!

| USING THE BRÜBLASTER |

The BrüBlaster is super easy to use and takes little effort to setup.

Add approximately 2 gallons of hot water to the wash basin Add the proper amount of your favorite cleaner– CraftMeister Alkaline Brewery Wash works great! Attach the spray wand of your choice to the pump Place the pump in the cleaning solution in the wash basin and attach the lid For cleaning kegs, connect the disconnects to the posts and invert the keg on the basin lid, making sure the disconnects are in the hole. Turn the pump on and let the BrüBlaster run until for 10-15 minutes

When cleaning carboys, I dump the trub before placing them on the BrüBlaster, though I skip this step with kegs. I’ve also found that rotating the carboy a few times while it’s on the unit helps to remove all of the kräusen ring.

Since I’ve usually got multiple dirty kegs at the same time, I like to wash them all first then dump the cleaner, fill the basin with Star San solution, and repeat the process, storing each keg or carboy with a little sanitizer in them.

| THE VERDICT |

In a word: Freakingawesome!!! My kegs come off of the BrüBlaster sparkly clean in no time flat. Due to the stubborn nature of kräusen, carboys can be a bit more challenging, occasionally requiring a light soak, but generally the high-pressure of hot cleaning solution gets the job done just fine.

The only real drawback of the BrüBlaster comes when using it for sanitizing. My preferred sanitizer of choice being Star San, the constant agitation can make the foam grow out of control. It still works, but it is a little messy, so once my Star San is gone, I’ll be picking up some Saniclean, a non-foaming alternative.

And that’s how you build the BrüBlaster keg and carboy cleaner, an inexpensive and efficient tool that I trust will come in handy to any brewer interested in spending less time engaged in the worst part of this hobby. If you build a BrüBlaster, please report back with your experience, we’d love to hear how it works for you!

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