Beer Stone (and the fighting thereof)

Evander

I have a growler from a brewery that I love that I had to decommission due to beer stone deposits about a year ago. The thing is, they redesigned their growlers since I bought this one, and I hate the new design.

Now, they put a seasonal beer on tap this month that I fucking love (an Imperial Alt. Ale, 11% ABV and very sweet, with a really nice finish) and I want to bring some home. Of my options, finding a way to clear out the beer stone is the one I prefer, so what is that way? I've soaked it in soap and water and vinegar solutions in the past, but they had minimal effect. Today I got fed up, bought a gallon of vinegar, and poured the growler full of it. My plan is to leave ti soaking for a while, but I am worried that alone won't do it.

So please, help me out. What should I be doing to clean it? Also, what should I do once it is clean to keep this from happening again?

Evander

Oops, I meant to post this in H/A, althoguh come to think of it, this crowd might actually be more likely to have the answers.

General_Win

I have no idea what a growler is or what beer stones are, but you should take your dog to the vet.

Quid

A growler is just a particularly large bottle of beer that can usually be recapped. It's called a growler because the original version was just a covered pail that the carbonation would cause to "growl".

A beer stone is actually similar to a kidney stone, but it forms inside the beer is kept in. Which is an issue since it ruins new beer put in there.

Have you tried breaking it up with a tool?

General_Win

Thank you Quid. Making your own beer sounds delicious. Evander, your beer sounds especially delicious, except for the beer stones.

Quid

I don't believe he's making his own beer, he's just reusing a bottle.

General_Win

Ah ha, well its mighty early for me to read things properly. Either way beer sounds delicious.

Cathode

A cursory search of the internet has revealed this:
http://www.birkocorp.com/Brewing/beerstone.html

Might be a bit pricey to get your hands on the lovely caustic chemicals involved though

Critter

A soak with BLC should take care of it. You can find it in homebrew shops.