I think I have 'BeerStone' ???

[chris172]

Cleaning a Corny out tonight ready for Kegging and noticed a 'scale deposit' on the sides and dispense tube. It's just like lime scale you get in a kettle.... feels hard and rough to the touch. Is this what 'BeerStone' is??

Next Q is how to remove?

I regularly descale my espresso machine with citric acid granules... would that be OK?? got loads of the stuff.

[killer]

Beerstone - aka Calcium oxalate can be removed with acid. Citric acid should work, though maybe not particularly fast - it's not a very strong acid so you may have to leave for a few days. Phosphoric might be better and (diluted) CRS even better still... (Careful with the CRS if you use it)

[chris172]

Thanks for the reply... I use a dessert spoon in a badly scaled kettle only take 20mins. But will probably need quite a bit in the keg to fill.

You say CRS... I use that to treat my water so have a small bottle.... or is it the same stuff you are on about? if so how much to use?

[killer]

It's not exactly the same thing. In a kettle you have Calcium carbonate buildup which is more quickly removed by acid (in my experience). If it's a very light layer of scale try using the citric first (using warm water may speed things up). In fact, I've just realised that you said corny keg so I'd avoid the CRS which may corrode the stainless steel. Stick with the citric acid...

[chris172]

Will try citric acid tomorrow....

[Cpt.Frederickson]

I had a thread about this a while back after buying some used kegs from Morten that had been used by a brewery. Some were really caked on, loads of the stuff. In the end used a nitric/phosphoric blend they use in chicken farming, did the job.
The key thing was soaking at high-ish temperature, emptying and then using a non-caustic hot soak (i used the poundland stain remover stuff, Wizz Oxi I think its called) to finish. What was left was (for the most part) soft and wiped off after this soak. Stubborn patches I just repeated the process.

That said, this was a heavy build up so you may not need such a hefty acid but there are benefits to the combination.

Thread here

[SiHoltye]

The scale seems to build up on the exterior of the long dip tube but not really on the interior walls of the corny for me. I use a stainless wool style scrubby on the exterior of the long do tube when the scale has built up enough and scratch it off. As long as you then dry the tube surface well (I use kitchen roll) the steel reforms stainless properties say overnight and you're good as new. Just don't scratch the surface of stainless and leave wet. Then rust occurs. You can always scratch rust off stainless with stainless scrubbies too, again leaving to repassivate itself when dry.

[chris172]

Filled the corny with a citric acid solution for an hour or so... emptied and checked... Spotless!!

[chastuck]

Filled the corny with a citric acid solution for an hour or so... emptied and checked... Spotless!!

How much citric acid powder per litre did you use please?

[chris172]

About 6 or 7 dessert spoons for a full corny.