thanks very much Lionman for your feedback. I cleaned with oxy clean last time but i'm noticing a little bit of mould under some of the lids. perhaps my mix of cleaning agent wasnt strong enough? happy to look at starsan if thats better. I also didnt remove labels and am wondering if that was a way of harboring unwanted bacteria.. I'm bottling my next batch in a couple of days and will double check the cleaning as i go..
I had thought about bulk priming, is there a danger of stirring up sediment when mixing it in?
Again thanks for your feedback, much appreciated
Get some Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW). It cleans more effectively than sodium percarbonate (AKA washing soda, Oxyclean, et al). Make sure you are mixing at as per the instructions on the bottle. If it says 10 grams per litre, measure out 10 grams for every litre of water in whatever you're cleaning. Add the PBW to water and not the other way around. Same with any other cleaning/sanitising agent you are using.
Starsan is a sanitiser, not a cleaner. Its job is to kill off bacteria, mould spores, wild yeast, etc that is too small for the naked eye to see. You definitely need to sanitise all of the equipment your beer is going into - bulk priming container and all bottles. All equipment should be spotlessly clean before you use Starsan, or any other sanitiser.
If you can see crud left behind in your FV, you either haven't used hot enough water, the correct concentration of PBW, or you haven't given it enough time. Sometimes you will have to manually scrub. If you're cleaning a plastic FV rather than a glass carboy, use a Chux cloth or something similar that won't scratch the plastic. Scratches will leave wonderful hiding places for bacteria to harbour. Avoid scratches at all costs.
The only labels that should be on the equipment you are using should be on the outside. They will fall off after cleaning after general use and won't contibute any issues to your beer - they never come into contact with your beer. However, you still want to clean the outside of any vessel your beer is going into and sanitise as well. Don't take any short cuts with your cleaning and sanitising practices. If you have any lables on the inside, for some silly reason, get rid of them immdeiately and all the adhesive matter before adding any wort or beer.
If you're bulk priming, make sure the length of the hose on your syphon is long enough to allow you to make at least a couple of loops at the
bottom of the vessel you're bulk priming in. Most syphons come with a hose that's too short. Don't be a tight arse - replace it with a long food grade hose. The hose I use is 3 metres long. Ensuring there are loops at the bottom of the vessel you are transfering into will minimise oxidisation as you're transfering. It will also create a nice whirlpool action that will ensure that your source of sugar will mix thoroughly through your beer and enable consistent carbonation.
The vessel you're bulk priming in should be cleaned and sanitised prior to use, so there's no sediment in there to swirl around. If you're using a hose that's too short, you'll get beer splashing around. You need to avoid this at all costs, especially if you're bulk priming a hoppy beer. It's better to use a hose that's too long (no such thing really) than use one that's too short.
I hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy some great beer.
