Thirsty Boy
ICB - tight shorts and poor attitude. **** yeah!
- Joined
- 21/5/06
- Messages
- 4,544
- Reaction score
- 106
sodium met is not in and of itself a bad thing. Its just not much good either. After you sanitise with the bleach/vinegar, I think you are right and sodium met solution as your "rinse" phase wouldn't have hurt anything.
My preference, and(I think) the generally accepted "best practice" sanitation technique is to use a no-rinse sanitiser, and fill/use the vessel while it is still wet with the sanitising solution. If the surface of your fermenter is still coated by actual sanitising solution when you fill it... then it must be sanitary. Any bugs that land on it will just die as they land, then its full of wort.
The bleach/vinegar solution is supposed to be used as a no-rinse. The theory is that by acidifying the bleach with vinegar, it becomes effective at a low enough dose, that any residual chlorine will not be enough to cause off flavours that are above the taste threshold.
28ml of household bleach into 19L of water, followed by 28ml of white vinegar. DONT mix the bleach and vinegar directly or you will gas yourself.
Thats the ratio suggested by Charlie Tally from fivestar chemicals (makers of starsan and other food industry sanitisers) for use as an extremely effective no-rinse sanitiser. To confirm this, I personally discussed a bleach/vinegar no-rinse with Jon Herskovits from 5 star chemicals when I was next to him at one of the ANHC dinners last year. He says the same thing. One ounce to 5 gallons to one ounce. No rinsing required.
Me, I primarily use starsan (I want the foam, it is re-usable and lasts for months and months). But I use iodophor every now and again just to keep the brewery bugs on their toes - and occasionally, the vinegar/bleach solution to really come out of left field.
The last thing that touches any of my equipment before it gets its beer/wort, and that will be seconds only before ... is something that is going to activley kill any bugs.
My preference, and(I think) the generally accepted "best practice" sanitation technique is to use a no-rinse sanitiser, and fill/use the vessel while it is still wet with the sanitising solution. If the surface of your fermenter is still coated by actual sanitising solution when you fill it... then it must be sanitary. Any bugs that land on it will just die as they land, then its full of wort.
The bleach/vinegar solution is supposed to be used as a no-rinse. The theory is that by acidifying the bleach with vinegar, it becomes effective at a low enough dose, that any residual chlorine will not be enough to cause off flavours that are above the taste threshold.
28ml of household bleach into 19L of water, followed by 28ml of white vinegar. DONT mix the bleach and vinegar directly or you will gas yourself.
Thats the ratio suggested by Charlie Tally from fivestar chemicals (makers of starsan and other food industry sanitisers) for use as an extremely effective no-rinse sanitiser. To confirm this, I personally discussed a bleach/vinegar no-rinse with Jon Herskovits from 5 star chemicals when I was next to him at one of the ANHC dinners last year. He says the same thing. One ounce to 5 gallons to one ounce. No rinsing required.
Me, I primarily use starsan (I want the foam, it is re-usable and lasts for months and months). But I use iodophor every now and again just to keep the brewery bugs on their toes - and occasionally, the vinegar/bleach solution to really come out of left field.
The last thing that touches any of my equipment before it gets its beer/wort, and that will be seconds only before ... is something that is going to activley kill any bugs.
