Air Stone Santitaion

[wobbly]

The last three brews I have done have all ended up with an infection. (I AG and bottle)

On checking back on anything I have done different the only thing that comes to mind is I started using the Air Stone to airate the wort prior to pitching the yeast (I hadn't done that for a year or so as I previously just shook the sh-- out of the fermenter))

The Air Stone and Pump have been in the cupboard for about a year and before I used them I ran the pump with the air stone and inter connecting tubing immersed in an Idophor solution

There is a medical filter between the pump and the air stone however it is probable a few years old.

Now getting to the point.

How do members sanitise their airstones, filters, tubing and pumps before use after they have been out of use for a while?

 

[Spoonta]

boiling water for 20 mins

 

[Yob]

boiling water for 20 mins

over 3 days... one boil is NOT ENOUGH to steralise...

 

[bignath]

Wow that's spooky, i was gonna ask the same thing today, as last night i finished off building my aeration setup with filter, two lines with stones etc...

I was wondering about running the aerater in boiling water for a length of time (boil some water on the stove and once it's boiling run the pump for some time) and then i was thinking about making up a solution of my sanitiser and running the setup into a jar of it...

As i said, brand spanking new to this aeration deal so i have no idea if this is a good idea or not, but it was what i was gonna try. I haven't got my stirplate up and running so i was gonna give the aeration rig a trial run with a yeast starter first before using it in actual wort.

Sorry to hijack thread but it's obviously related to OP's question.

 

[wobbly]

boiling water for 20 mins

Should have thought of that myself

over 3 days... one boil is NOT ENOUGH to steralise

I have a pressure cooker so will "Cook" the bits in that at 15psi for 20 mins

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[pimpsqueak]

Is it a "Stone" airstone, or one of the stainless steel ones?
If it's stainless, why not bake it in the oven @ 180c for an hour? That's how I sterilise my tallies.

 

[flano]

I have never aerated any of my beers.

When I add the water to the wort I do it about 2 litres at a time and sort of pour from a a few feet above the fermenter.
It seems to get it all chruning nicely.
Never had any problems that I can notice....what does aerating it actually do?

 

[bignath]

what does aerating it actually do?

either by splashing, shaking or using a pump and stone, aeration supplies yeast with oxygen which is crucial in its early reproduction phase. More oxygen increases favourably the conditions yeast needs to multiply, therefore increasing the chances of a good strong healthy fermentation.

I am a splasher from as far as i can hold my cubes, but thought i'd investigate the air pump and stone method too.

 

[flano]

cheers.

so is this done before or ater yeast is added?

 

[wobbly]

Is it a "Stone" airstone, or one of the stainless steel ones?

Stainless

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[raven19]

boiling water for 20 mins

Craftbrewer recommend differently and warn again boiling, etc:

Linky

Only used mine once so far - had pump on whilst soaking in my no rinse sanitiser for 5 minutes or so prior to popping it into the fermentor full of wort. Repeat process after use, then wipe dry and store dry till next time

 

[Spoonta]

nevs say to boil it

 

[bignath]

cheers.

so is this done before or ater yeast is added?

either or both....BUT, you don't want to be aerating once active fermentation has begun, as you risk oxidising your beer. You want to be providing oxygen up to and during the time that the yeast is in it's growth phase, not it's "im hungry and gonna eat all the sugars" phase..

You can aerate a starter, you can aerate the cube before pitching it into a fermenter, you can aerate once it's in the fermenter etc...

 

[marksfish]

i soak mine in pbw after use then rinse then boil for at least 20 minutes and store in a white labs vial filled with iodophor or starsan.

 

[Dave70]

I drop it into the same bucket I'm using to sanitize everything else in and let it fizz away while I'm getting my shit together.
Pull it out by the tube, let it blow itself dry and plonk it into the wort. I cover the unit with a cloth I dunked in the sanitizer and wrung dry.
I give everything I touch, including my hands, a spray from my bottle of iodophor solution.
Never had a problem.
Ever.

You can boil the arse out of anything as much as you like, but if the last thing you did before touching your immaculately sanitized airstone was go number 2 without washing your hands for example, you just wasted your time.

 

[Ross]

If running off an aquarium pump we recommend to have your airstone running at all times when submerging in liquid.
Turn the pump on, & submerge the airstone in your favourite non-rinse sanitiser, transfer while still running to your wort.
When finished aerating, with it still running, rinse & transfer back into your sanitiser, then with it still running, pad dry with some paper towel.
Store in a ziplock or something similar until next require, then repeat the above.


Cheers Ross

 

[Florian]

That makes totally sense with an air pump and is exactly what I used to do.
But with an oxygen setup that's a whole lot of expensive oxygen going to waste, at least when using the small disposable cylinders.

I might have to figure out an adapter to quickly change the tubing over to Co2 for the sanitising parts, or to the air pump for that matter.

 

[[email protected]]

I boil the stone every now and then to clean and sanitise. But generally connect to air pump and use sanitiser. Following on from Ross' comments, If you don't run air through it while in liquid it does tend lose it's porosity over time.

I read about a technique from a US site that works well. Once when finished boiling for 15-20 mins, I attach a JG fitting to the stone and blow through with CO2 while the stone is still hot. The CO2 is capable of more pressure than the air filter. This dries the stone very quickly as well as blowing out any excess liquid/buildup and returns the stone to new.