I Hope My Sterilisation Routines Are Up To Scratch

[Interloper]

So tonight is bottling night and I was pottering around the brew shed last night getting organised and I looked at one of the taps on an old fermenter that I was given recently (filled with a Coopers Pale Ale) and I thought:

"hmmmm....that tap looks a little loose"

so I gave it a tiny twist and bam! it started leaking like a b@stard - CPA going every where! Damned 2nd hand, old fermenters....

I raced back inside, grabbed the racking tube fresh from the laundry where it was sterilising and bolted back to the shed.

Luckily I always sterilise after use and my racking cube was still sealed up and sitting on the shelf, but I am really hoping that no bacteria had taken hold. It's been sitting on there for a fortnight since my last lager racking.

I would normally sterilise immediately before use again, not just use something that had been sitting in my shed for 2 weeks.

Anyone care to comment on whether a sealed, sterilised cube is likely to still be sanitary after 2 weeks sitting in my shed?

If it wasn't an emergency I would never chance it and always sterilise first.

Moral of the story?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Linz]

Ive put 30L of Dunkel weizen into 2 cubes that I had sanitized and sealed(sitting for 3+ weeks with a little no-rinse sanitiser in them). No balloons yet after a week

 

[matti]

I cannot vouch for any of the above.
Sanitation agents doesn't last forever but if a container has been cleaned appropriately, then dried and sealed.
Theoretically no water no bugs.
I believe a wee bit of sterilized boiled water is a godd insurance though

I just like to add that the fermentation tap are the route cause of many infections.

There are no quick and easy solution I can think of.

I tend to spray the tap with alcohol or sanitizer. then rinse off with boiling water.
Run a cup of beer out prior adding a fully sanitized racking hose.
The collect initial running in a bowl and pinch the end.
Rinse it with boiling water again before curl it around the bottem of second vessel.

Similar routine when bottling.

 

[Interloper]

I note from your sig you have a 7% ginger beer - how much sugar did you add to get it to 7%?

 

[matti]

I note from your sig you have a 7% ginger beer - how much sugar did you add to get it to 7%

The 22 L bathc was split into two 11 litre batches.
The initial eleven litres was bottled for the kids to have.
The second lot was fermented out with US-05 200ml of lemon juice,freshly added ginger not sure of quantity.
My wife added the sugar. She said she added a kilo.
I guesstimated the %V/V alcohol to be around %7 +-1

Its still a bit sharp taste wise but warms you up quite a bit.
Plan to let it sit for awhile longer. say another 3 months.

(Not that good with ginger beer. It is rather cloudy.)