Plastic Fermenter Cleaning & Prepearation.

[Yeastie Beastie]

Now that I have fortunately had my questions answered about cleaning and sanitizing glass bottles Linky
I am now starting to wonder if I am doing the right thing cleaning out my plastic fermenters.

Bleach & Napisan got a fair mention involving the cleaning of glass bottle and I took that aboard and did a bottle clean today and it came up trumps, thanks to the help from here.

I usually remove tap, strip tap, remove airlock & seal, remove lid seal and clean away.

What is a good cleaning product (sanitizing aside) for plastic fermenters?

Does bleach and Napisan get the same mention here?

 

[Phoney]

There's been dozens of threads on this topic already, eg:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=33161

 

[BEC26]

There's been dozens of threads on this topic already, eg:

True, but to be honest, the search function is pretty ordinary IMO

Also the OP is a new member who might not have had a chance to see that there is a search function - albeit one that gives out random replies when I use it.

That said, I had an addon for firefox that specifically searches AHB. It becomes a drop down search box n the google

It is at No. 11 on this page

http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?category=61

Install that addon to Firefox, and you can search AHB much betterer that the inbuilt search engine.

IMO it should be a sticky, or added to the Beer 101 course!!

All my opinion and my 2c worth

Cheers

 

[Wolfy]

Does bleach and Napisan get the same mention here?

In a word ... yes.

 

[Thunderlips]

I just use water and then the likes of starsan.

Water and starsan before using the fermenter and then I just clean with water and a sponge
when I've finished a brew and emptied a fermenter.

Then water and starsan again before using the fermenter.

Never had a problem.

 

[thylacine]

There's been dozens of threads on this topic already, eg:

True, but to be honest, the search function is pretty ordinary IMO

Also the OP is a new member who might not have had a chance to see that there is a search function - albeit one that gives out random replies when I use it.

That said, I had an addon for firefox that specifically searches AHB. It becomes a drop down search box n the google

It is at No. 11 on this page

http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?category=61

Install that addon to Firefox, and you can search AHB much betterer that the inbuilt search engine.

IMO it should be a sticky, or added to the Beer 101 course!!

All my opinion and my 2c worth


When searching AHB site. Use a search engine. eg. GOOGLE: Type in the following- site:aussiehomebrewer.com "double batch"
Enter your search terms between the quotation marks. eg. "double batch"

 

[Yeastie Beastie]

In a word ... yes.

Thanks Wolfy.
That's all I needed to know.
I have 2 x 23 litre fermenters to bottle today and 2 x 23 litre fermenters to refill so I want to get it right from here on in.
I questioned my bottle cleaning techniques and posted a thread, turns out I found a far better way.
Thought I would question my cleanliness on my fermenters too, turns out the same, there is a better way.

Thanks heaps.
Kev.

 

[mwd]

True, but to be honest, the search function is pretty ordinary IMO

That said, I had an addon for firefox that specifically searches AHB. It becomes a drop down search box n the google

It is at No. 11 on this page

http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?category=61

Install that addon to Firefox, and you can search AHB much betterer that the inbuilt search engine.

IMO it should be a sticky, or added to the Beer 101 course!!

All my opinion and my 2c worth

Cheers

+1 a fantastic addon if you remember to use it.

Great for recipe hunting

 

[sawtellrob]

This might sound a bit coarse but for 20 years I've been cleaning my plastic fermenter by soaking with hot water and dish washer powder. After this it is washed out well and then rinsed with boiling water. Might sound primitive but I have only ever had 2 bad brews and temperature was the problem not cleanliness.

 

[captaincleanoff]

yeh, the above is all you ever need to do.

 

[Wortgames]

Bleach, napisan and dishwasher powder are all fine, but bear in mind that a plastic fermenter will absorb odours that glass bottles won't, so always go for the unscented option and don't leave anything soaking for very long.

It's worth doing some research about sanitisers, because there really isn't much 'consensus' on the subject. Everyone has their favourite based on things like cost, usage technique and past results. Some like to spray, some like to soak, etc.

I use Herlisil, which is the industrial equivalent of the 'no-rinse' sanitisers you'll find in your LHBS. It costs a fraction of the LHBS stuff when diluted to the same strength, but it took a bunch of us to buy 20L of it. I was also a fan of iodophor which is cheap and non-toxic but it stains so you can't spray it around. The 'expensive' options are anything that comes in little bottles and is already seriously diluted, but even these are not too costly if you can be efficient at using them.

Personally I like to make up a few litres on brew day, enough to soak everything I'll need (eg in the bottom of a CLEAN fermenter) and some to go in a spray bottle. Others like to fill the fermenter to the brim, while others are happy just spraying everything and so use very little. To each his own.

What I would say is get yourself some sponges that DON'T have a scrubby back. You don't want to put scratches into a new fermenter, as scratches can harbour nasties and smells. A soft sponge and some hot napisan or similar should easily clean a fermenter after use, then store it upside down somewhere clean and airy or better yet, fill it with the next brew.

 

[brando]

I brewed K&K 15 years ago, and took little notice of sanitation - compared to these days.

I would just scrub out Dad's old black fermenter with a course plastic brush (was still living at home), some of Mum's dishwashing liquid, and water from the backyard hose.

Would sell the beers to Dad and his mates for $2 a tallie.

Never a complaint about quality.

 

[flattop]

I wash the fermenter with just plain water scrub off any crud with my bare hands, throw in about 300mls of starsan and splash it around, leave it in there until the next brew.