Rookie Question

[brewn00b]

Hi, I am currently attempting my very first brew and have been taking hydrometer readings and everything is progressing nicely. However I have noticed some liquid hangs around in the end of the tap on the fermenter. Should I try and sanitise the end of the tap before bottling at all? Thanks.

 

[manticle]

If you can do so easily then yes. I always give mine a spray with no rinse sanitiser after sampling. If it's crusty, you may need to clean it - cotton buds can be good for this.

 

[raven19]

+1 to manticle's post.

I use a spray bottle filled with metho to spray things like this. Works a treat for me.

 

[Tony]

For soooooo many years i never bothered cleaning after taking a sample and never had any problems but at my new place there is something in the air that did cause me problems.

So now i use a spray bottle with a bit of starsan in it, but just rinsing it out with strait water would be fine, just to stop the beer drips drying out to bits of extracty goop in the tap end.

Its one of those...... not a big problem but cant hurt to make the effort things.

cheers

 

[kocken42]

A PMS (Potassium metabisulfite) solution is also effective.

 

[dcx3]

Raven do you just fill a spray bottle with metho or do you water it down.
Cheers

 

[King Brown]

As the others do I spray with some starsan. Never had any problems when I didn't but like Tony said It isn't a big effort and will eliminate one possible source of infection.

 

[Lecterfan]

I also give it a decent spray (in my instance I use starsan OR a bleach solution) after each sample is taken as well....like a preventative/maintenance thing. On bottling/racking day I give it a clean again but am already pretty satisfied that it has been kept sanitised.

 

[Siborg]

Do yourself a favour and buy some no-rinse sanitiser from your local home brew shop (LHBS), or log on to one of this sites sponsors and buy some starsan. Dilute and fill a spray bottle as everyone has suggested.

Starsan is non-toxic, odorless, tasteless etc. If I'm unsure about anything, I'll give it a spray or two and I have absolute peace of mind.