How to Properly Clean Your Carbonation Stone

This is our most-watched video, and the method in it is one every brewery, cidery and kombucha maker can use.

The problem with cleaning stones in the tank

It’s normal to put carbonation stones in a tank while you run your caustic rinse. But that only cleans the surface. You’ll get most of the beer stain off, sure, but the pores inside the stone stay plugged. Plugged pores mean big bubbles, and big bubbles don’t carbonate your beer.

The fix: force caustic through the stone

Our method uses a 1.5-inch straight tube, Dixon sanitary push-to-connects, and tri-clamp fittings:

1. Pull the push-to-connect off the top of the tube and fill it with caustic cleaner. Wear safety glasses and gloves.
2. Attach the dirty stone to the bottom connection. As a bonus, this also flushes and cleans your ball valve and check valve at the same time.
3. Connect your CO2 line with a needle valve to control the flow.
4. Turn on the CO2 and push the caustic all the way through the stone.

A badly fouled stone ran at about 15 PSI with a maximum of 5 cubic feet per hour through it. Three caustic flushes later, the flow difference was dramatic, because all the pores were open again.

Why this matters for carbonation quality

Open pores give you lots of tiny bubbles. Tiny bubbles dissolve instead of racing to the headspace. Our guide to the physics of bubble size explains why.

Want better control over your carbonation? Contact us today.