Cleaning And Sterilizing Glass

[voota]

Hi, yesterday I bought a 23 litre glass fermenter for use as a secondary, I was wondering whats the standard way of cleaning and sterilizing them, with my plastic ones I put some metabisulphate in there for 15 mins, rinse then scorch it with a kettle full of boiling water. I guess my question is, am I going to shatter my glass fermenter with boiling water, or isn't it necessary? Friends of mine dont use the hot water at all but I like to be really really careful with the cleaning and stuff.

Cheers, Chris

 

[Backlane Brewery]

I going to shatter my glass fermenter with boiling water, or isn't it necessary?

[post="50460"][/post]​

Yes, and no.
If you bought a proprietary brand of sodium met. rather than a plain wrap placcy bag, the label should tell you to add it to water, put it in the vessel or whatever you are cleaning, shake it all about a bit and then drain and leave to dry for an hour or so. It is the fumes that do the work, you don't need to rinse.

That said, when we have used it (and if you do a search you should find a few threads explaining the pros and cons of this stuff) we have often rinsed with cold water after 10 minutes drying time. Never had an infected batch or bottle.

BTW, what did you get- carboy or demijohn? They can be a bugger to clean dried foam etc off anyway, before you even get to the sanitising stage.

 

[warrenlw63]

Voota,

Be wary of boiling water and glass carboys. They're prone to thermal shock.

I just fill with warm/hot water, add 2-3 teaspoons of Nappisan. Rinse twice with cold water afterwards. Then just sanitize with iodophor diluted at 5ml to 5lt of cold water. Just shake the sanitizer around several times of whatever time period suits you.

Then just drain and use.

Warren -

 

[voota]

Cheers warren, i'm going to drop a IPA into it this arvo.

 

[warrenlw63]

No worries Voota.

Another good point. Make sure you handle it carefully when wet. Dimpled rubber gloves aren't a bad thing to have around. Get hold of a milk crate to carry it in.

Warren -

 

[Wortgames]

One word - BLEACH!!!

Bleach is cheap and there ain't much that will survive a good soak (even dried on krausen scum will give in within a day or two).

If it's already clean and you just want to sanitise it, you can use bleach again (just rinse well) but I'm with Warren, I like iodophor - its food safe (and also cheap ;-). You could also use brew-shield or similar, but it's an act of faith - it looks, smells and acts too much like water for mine, so I use it in a spray bottle for extra insurance around the place but I'm not sure I'd rely on it for sanitising a fermenter.

I haven't used sodium met for years, I hate the stuff.

 

[pint of lager]

Hot glass expands, cold glass contracts. If you have parts of your carbouy at different temperatures, you have unequal expansion and contraction. The glass then breaks.

Do not use hot water. Even warm water on a cold day will cause the glass to break. I have broken a carbouy on a cold day with warm water. Use room temperature water.

Different forums over the years have contained sad tales from breakages. Some requiring extensive stitching.

Treat your glass carbouy gently. It is fragile.

 

[quincy]

Make sure you handle it carefully when wet. Dimpled rubber gloves aren't a bad thing to have around. Get hold of a milk crate to carry it in.

[post="50468"][/post]​

This is a good point especially if you use napisan to clean. I don't use a glass fermenter but I clean with napisan. This stuff makes everything pretty "slimy" when cleaning. A plastic fermenter can be a handful let alone a big glass jobby.

Plastic will bounce - glass well mmmm.....

My 2c

Cheers

 

[Batz]

[

Another good point. Make sure you handle it carefully when wet. Dimpled rubber gloves aren't a bad thing to have around. Get hold of a milk crate to carry it in.

Warren -

[post="50468"][/post]​

[/quote]


A very good point this , one I did not listen too

Batz

 

[Darren]

I am just too clumsy to use glass

 

[warrenlw63]

Might sound like a wowser, it's the very reason I've given up sampling whilst brewing.

"However"

This is more than compensated for after cleaning up. :chug:

Warren -

 

[Backlane Brewery]

This is kinda why I asked voota if he had bought a carboy or demijohn- carboys tend to be straight sided, and come with no handles. Demis are curved and usually come with a cover/handles, makes them a bit easier to work with.
Though I second everything said about gloves.

 

[Hoops]

Voota,

Be wary of boiling water and glass carboys. They're prone to thermal shock.

I just fill with warm/hot water, add 2-3 teaspoons of Nappisan. Rinse twice with cold water afterwards. Then just sanitize with iodophor diluted at 5ml to 5lt of cold water. Just shake the sanitizer around several times of whatever time period suits you.

Then just drain and use.

Warren -

[post="50464"][/post]​

I'm with warren on this one, Napisan, rinse then Iodine. Never had any problems

Hoops

 

[voota]

Thanks guys, I've got a carboy. I did use a demijohn but its a bit of a pain in the ass and i'm selling it on ebay at the moment.
I just put my ipa into the secondary after using metabisulphate and a warm rinse. I'll get my hands on some idophor this arvo as i'm going to the brew shop. Hopefully i can steal a milkcrate from somewhere (prob a servo).

Thanks again,
Voota