Infection Control and Cleaning

[Reed88]

I know, I know..Sanitise, Sanitise,Sanitise...BUT it seems ive gained an infection and will lose around 100L of beer...good learning curve.

I run a single 1V Biab set up. with pump to recirc back through lid. at around 15mins left in the boil I run through a plate chiller...then after boil has finished turn hose on to crash temp then i let my batch settle for another 10mins or so then it goes back through chiller into fermenter and yeast and bang the magic happens...has been great for 6months but last two brews (back to back) have both gone completely horrible...looking for suggestions or help with ideas on a full clean down and full Sanitise...with that in mind can i ask the following

Best way to clean stainless brew pot?

Best way to clean Chiller(30 Plate)?

Best way to clean kegs?

Best way to clean plastic 60L fermenters and beer lines and pump?

open to all suggestions ideas! any help would be great

Thanks in advance

 

[pcqypcqy]

Can the chiller be disassambled and cleaned that way?

Otherwise, a few guys use a dilution of caustic soda to recirculate and clean in place. If you mimic all the operations you're brewery does, it should clean everything. Probably can't hurt to disassemble everything you can and clean it.

Can't beat star san for sanitisation.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Disassemble all the ball valves, clean and sanitise all parts, particularly the balls and the ball seats. If your ball valves cannot be disassembled, throw them in the bin and buy ones that can.

I'm a little obsessive about such things; no ball valves anywhere except on water tanks.

 

[Stouter]

What sort of tap do you have on your urn?
3 piece ball valves seem the choice option as they can be completely dismantled. I do this every two brews now.

Edit - Lyrebird's onto it and posted as I was typing.

 

[Matplat]

What sort of tap do you have on your urn?
3 piece ball valves seem the choice option as they can be completely dismantled. I do this every two brews now.

Edit - Lyrebird's onto it and posted as I was typing.

Far out! I've never dismantled my ball valves!

 

[Matplat]

Oh yeah, I've read that some guys bake their plate chillers in the oven at 200deg for a while to kill off anything lurking....

 

[damoninja]

Pump wise, when I'm done with my pump for the day I flush it once with water then again with starsan, there's going to be some starsan welled in the pump head so I'm OK with that being there... I circulate starsan through the system 30 minute before the end of the boil, then 15 minutes in start circulating with hot wort. Occasionally I circulate sodium percarbonate through it too for a real good clean.

I've personally never pulled my ball valves apart but after an infection would not hesitate.

 

[idzy]

The main concern with this stuff is cold side, anything that happens after the boil. The culprit is most likely not your chiller as you are running boiling wort through it and more likely your fermenters and fermentation gear.

The regime I have started is 24 hour soak in 1:60 ratio of bleach (1 litre into 60 litres, or 500ml into 30 litres) for the fermenter and then 24 hour soak with PBW (I heat up the PBW and then add it). The PBW will help remove any residual bleach too as bleach can come through in the flavour pretty easily. After the first fermenter is done, I pour bleach into the second one that is to be cleaned to try and minimise waste. The fermenters look and smell brand spanking new after this. Also important to unwind your taps and clean the thread on the fermenter and pull the taps apart and soak them too (this obviously requires spare taps). I bang them with a metal rod and the two pieces come apart and go into the mix.

Also important to check all of the o-rings and seals, un-seat them from wherever they are and soak them well before re-seating. Ensure that there is no gunk behind the seals. Particularly important with cubes.

When you are ready to use, starsan everything fermenter and tap parts and assemble them. Pour out starsan just before adding wort and yeast.

 

[goatchop41]

The regime I have started is 24 hour soak in 1:60 ratio of bleach (1 litre into 60 litres, or 500ml into 30 litres) for the fermenter and then 24 hour soak with PBW (I heat up the PBW and then add it). The PBW will help remove any residual bleach too as bleach can come through in the flavour pretty easily. After the first fermenter is done, I pour bleach into the second one that is to be cleaned to try and minimise waste. The fermenters look and smell brand spanking new after this. Also important to unwind your taps and clean the thread on the fermenter and pull the taps apart and soak them too (this obviously requires spare taps). I bang them with a metal rod and the two pieces come apart and go into the mix.

Ever tried acidified bleach? It has a much shorter time to kill (as per a link to a research paper that I recall reading in another AHB thread). 5% bleach, 5% white vinegar, 90% water. That paper said that it'll kill pretty much anything.
SAFETY PRECAUTION:
DO NOT DIRECTLY MIX THE BLEACH AND VINEGAR! You will create chlorine gas.....mix the bleach and water, then add the vinegar. Do it in a well ventilated area, just in case!!

 

[Dan Pratt]

Just to be clear, its clean, soak, clean, sanitise but that's just me.

It sucks when you lose a batch but you always improve on your regime of preparation.

Brewing inside or outside?

 

[Reed88]

Hey Guys, cheers for all the help. full brewery strip down an clean this weekend., pratty1 i brew inside my garage. fermenters are currently soaking in the bleech and water following ratio mentioned before

 

[kaiserben]

Rather than start a new thread I'll just necro this one:

I've been having a few infections recently. I recently replaced some plastic fermenters (with a combo of stainless and new plastic).

I'm seeking some advice about some questions below.

My most recent infection appeared in a Mangrove Jack's Stainless Steel fermenter in a batch of Pils that had been bulk lagering (in primary) for nearly a month. There were a few ropey strands floating in the top of the fermented beer. The smell was obviously not right and it has a slight taste of vinegar. (Assuming this is an aceto infection). I gave the fermenter and taps a good clean, assumed it was a poorly washed tap, and thought that was problem solved.

Will a soak of the stainless fermenter in PBW kill this infection? Or do I need to take more drastic measures? (Or otherwise what should I use on stainless in a home brew environment?)

I decided to pressure cook any equipment that could fit in my pressure cooker. So far my aeration stone and any silicon tubing went in, as well as the washer and stainless stell nut from my fermenter. I assume this will kill any bugs that have latched on to this equipment?

The tap that came with the Mangrove Jack's fermenter has a metal inner and plastic outer. Would it be safe to pressure cook this too?

And when it comes to plastic taps that come with plastic fermenters, could I pressure cook those?

Having racked my brain, a couple of my processes that stand out as potential infection bringers are:

I store all my transfer tubes/hoses, air stone, spare plastic taps, bungs and o-rings in (plastic) fermenter filled with mixed no-rinse solution. It's kept in a (dark) room that sits at ~25-27C every day. I hadn't changed the no-rinse solution for months at a time. So I'm pondering whether I change that and store everything dry. (how do people make sure the insides of their hoses get completely dry? Particularly as they like to coil around themselves rather than hang straight)

My ferment fridge sits in a carpeted room (in a tray to stop any leaks reaching the carpet). I chill my wort down to pitching temp and sometimes I just get the fermenter out of the fridge and on to a towel on the carpet - and aerate with pure O2, then pitch yeast. I suspect that dust from the carpet might be in the air in that sort of environment. And that the same issues wouldn't happen if I carry the fermenter into my kitchen. Does a potentially dusty carpet sound like the likely culprit?

 

[Grott]

Do you have a lid/airlock or do you cover with glad wrap?
I always sanitise everything including any hoses with non rinse starsan mixture just before preparing the wort. They don't have to be dry.
Do you check the pH level of your long term use of sanitiser to see if it is still effective?
How long is the wort sitting to cool down so you can add the yeast?

 

[barls]

id personally give it soak in a caustic solution above 65 degrees and that should fix most problems.

 

[kaiserben]

Do you have a lid/airlock or do you cover with glad wrap?
I always sanitise everything including any hoses with non rinse starsan mixture just before preparing the wort. They don't have to be dry.
Do you check the pH level of your long term use of sanitiser to see if it is still effective?
How long is the wort sitting to cool down so you can add the yeast?

Glad wrap.

Yeah - I do and always would still sanitise in starsan. I just mean: how do people get their stuff dry ahead of putting away for storage?

I don't check that pH level of my no-rinse. Maybe being a bit risky there.

For cooling down I use a counter-flow chiller, which gets my wort to ~24C. Then I tend to cover with glad wrap, get in fridge to chill down to pitching temp. For Ales that'd take 4-5 hours, and for lagers more like 10-12 hours.

 

[nosco]

Maybe ot but....I had a pils and a hefe go bad last summer. Im no expert in picking infections but Im thinking the pils may have been acetaldehyde. It tasted more like an APA with a bit of a sour after taste at first and then went more apple'y and sour. Ive known the term for a while but I didnt realise that it can be from infection OR from stressed yeast. I think it may be from the later as in under pitching and under O2ing. Maybe the same with the hefe as a few "commercial" examples ive had have had a bit of a sour note to them.

In my case I think its a case of lack of XP in identifying off flavors me thinks maybe. :unsure:

 

[kaiserben]

Can I pressure cook plastic fermenter taps at 131C? And my tubes/hosing?

And will doing so kill anything lurking on this equipment?