Cheap And Effective Sanitisers

[Trough Lolly]

In some recent threads, I have noticed brewers referring to the use of bleach as part of their sanitisation routine.

Up until now, I've only used Pink Neo or Sodium Met and a soft nylon brush for cleaning my fermenters and bottles. To date, touching wood very firmly, I have not had a bad batch or infection for the last 8 years. B)

Is there a cheaper alternative to the small expensive tubs of powder that are sold at the local HBS and Woolies?

Can I use a chlorine bleach in lieu? What sort of dilution needs to be done? Can I pour some White King into the fermenter, or am I inviting disaster to my brewery! :huh:

Any advice/tips appreciated.

Cheers,

TL

 

[Linz]

I have used "Fiesta" non-scented powder, without a problem, at the rate of one teaspoon to the litre.

 

[timmy]

I soak my fermenters and gear in diluted bleach everynow and then. or whenever they look stained. After rinsing all the old smells are gone.

I use upmarket homebrand bleach.

 

[PostModern]

Iodophor works out being pretty good value. You can keep using it until it loses its amber colour (at which point it no longer sanitises). I tend to fill a fermenter with solution (about 3 caps in a fermenter full of water) then rack it to clean my racking hose. At this stage it's sanitising another fermenter. If it's still amber at bottling day, fill bottles with it or fill the laundry tub with it and soak the bottles. Best value cleaner by miles. It is also very effective.

Bleach is extremely effective but obviously requires rinsing, so your gear is only as sterile as your tap water... which should be OK, I guess

 

[deebee]

I sometimes use bleach - homebrand like timmy. Gotta be unscented. Makes your fermenter smell good. Gotta rinse well. Taste the rinse runnings to make sure no bleach taste left.

 

[Batz]

I give mine the bleach treatment quite often , takes those built up stains off
What's iodophor ? :blink:

 

[johnno]

I've only used unscented bleach so far and that seems to be ok as long as you rinse plenty. I just chuck it straight in the fermenter and then fill with water let it soak and hey presto.


B)

 

[Justin]

A stabilized iodine product the same as Milk machine sanitizer from dairies, which is apparently a cheap source of the stuff if you can find it. I haven't personally used the stuff but have mates who swear by it, stains your stuff a bit though but lasts a long time and you can reuse it. I've been using Brewshield up till now and used the last bit the other day, have had it quite a while (12mths). There is no mention of a used by date on it and the other day I experienced my first infection, although not in the fermenter only the bottle but got me wondering?? Hope my current brew (all-grain Kolsch) turns out ok :unsure:

JD

 

[Trev]

I've been using Idophor for about 18 months and also haven't (yet) had an infection - mind you I've made some crook beers though but unfortunately can't blame sanitation.

I normally give the fermenter a clean with Pink detergent first, then mix up a few litres of Idophor solution and swirl it around in the fermenter making sure that all of it including lid and the thread are all wetted. Do this a few times then and normally keep my racking hose in it as well. The books say that it needs to contact the surface for about 20 minutes to be effective. It also does not have to be rinsed out.

I drain the solution out through the racking hose as well and keep the solution in some 2L juice bottles. As PM says, you keep using it till it loses the amber colour.

I haven't seen it in many HB shops though. It costs maybe $10 for a little bottle but lasts an awful long time.

Trev

 

[Jazman]

grumpys one shot is good or jovial monks terminator which is ortho phosophic acid it works a treat

 

[GSRman]

Another vote for Bleach... i also use metho 90% in a squirter bottle just to spray on anything i want before stuff.. like lids when im making up starters etc..

 

[Murray]

Another vote for Bleach... i also use metho 90% in a squirter bottle just to spray on anything i want before stuff.. like lids when im making up starters etc..

I prefer to use 70% metho. It is the industry standard in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Apparently the polarity at 70% is more effective at disinfecting. Among other things, I always spray my hands with it when I pick stuff up, just in case.

 

[JWB]

B) I use homebrand bleach.

Its the most effective thing ive found..
I fill fermenter with water and put in about 100ml bleach and soak for 30 minutes...anything else that needs sanatizing goes in to the fermenter with it....rinse out with tap water....
I know everthing is only as sterile as my tap water but again ...Ive never had a problem...70%metho is a great back up in spray bottles ..

Because bleach is so cheap I dont bother trying to keep it after using it....

:chug:
JWB

 

[Snow]

I've started using Morgans sanitizer, which is the same as Brewshield. However, there's nothing in the instructions about how long it needs to be in contact before it effectively sanitises. Does this mean it's immediate? I leave it 10 mins just to be sure. I love the fact it doesn't need rinsing. No more sodium met for me....

 

[Murray]

The hydrogen peroxide/silver sanitisers like that seem to be great, however, I find they fail my cost/benefit analysis.

 

[Wozza]

I've been using bleach to keep my beer bottles sweet. Bought some unscented bleach from the local supermarket - cheap as chips - and mixed up a solution in a spray bottle. Should be 0.24% hypochlorite solution (that's 60 ml of bleach, which is normally 4% Sodium hypochlorite, in a litre of water. Check the bottle for the percentages - and thanks to Greg, I think it was, from the Grumpy's forum for that).

Now, after I've finished a bottle, I swill it 3 times with cold water, then spray the bleach solution around the neck and into the bottle. Onto the shelf and put a crown top onto it to keep the dust 'n' bugs out.

When I'm ready to bottle, I just squirt some cold water into each bottle a couple of times with the hand gun attachement on the garden hose - really high pressure, and they're ready to go.

And in passing, the 30 odd bucks I spent on that hand gun hose attachment has to be the best purchase, dollar for dollar, that I've ever spent on HB by a country mile. How easy is it to clean bottles, jerries, racking tubes, fermenters etc etc. Couldn't live without it.

 

[Jazman]

with orthophosic acid ( grumpys one shot)you dont need to rinse out

 

[big d]

hey jaz you sure you havent shares in ortho phos acid.
i reckon you love the stuff as much as i do.its a cracker product.

 

[Batz]

Yep I use it too , great stuff
Still do a bleach clean once in a while