Sanitising Cleaner

[therook]

I just found a big drum of " Toilet and batheroom Sanitising Clear " it contains Phosphoric acid 81g/L and Quaternary Ammonium Compound 15g/l ...WOULD this be SAFE to use as a sanitiser???

 

[pint of lager]

Short answer, probably not.

With any cleaning and sanitising regime for brewing:

Step one is cleaning. Use a no scented product. Bleach, homebrand napisan and PSR are the most popular choices. These all need to be rinsed thoroughly. Quaternary ammonium may or may not be suitable. Maybe someone else can comment.

Step two is sanitising. For this you want a product that is food grade and at low levels will not hurt you or your beer, only unwanted moulds, bacteria and wild yeasts. Usual choices are iodine, phosphoric acid and hydrogen peroxide. When allowed to contact your cleaned brewgear for the required time, then allowed to drain, they are ready to use. They do not affect the end flavour of your beer.

Many bathroom products also have scents added that are a mongrel to remove from plastics. I personally wouldn't use any product with a scent for my brewgear.

So your product may be ok as a cleaner, but it is not food grade and definitely not suitable as a sanitiser.

 

[therook]

Thanks POL

 

[Adamt]

Yeah, a "quaternary ammonium compound" could be anything from an antiseptic to a shampoo.

That'd be a no for brewing sanitation

 

[therook]

So does anyone know where to source IODOPHOR in Melbourne?

 

[peas_and_corn]

I bought mine online- www.esbeer.com.au- and it's quite reliable

 

[Bizarre]

Hi TR,

I used to work in the food insustry years ago and quaternary amonium (or quatam) is used as a sanitiser (especially in the dairy industry from memory).

Check this link out

http://www.preserveinternational.com/ants_...sanitizers.html

In theory you probably could use it as a sanitiser, but I'd probably err on the side of caution and say "visit your local home brew shop" seeing we dont have any details regarding strength etc.

Cheers

 

[pb unleaded]

So does anyone know where to source IODOPHOR in Melbourne?

Grain and Grape

 

[sam]

Quats are used to santise the brewing area (walls, floors, outside fermenters etc.) by some breweries. They are not really used for brewing equipment due to negative foam effects (Noonan) and, I spose, because they are much better sanitisers out there, like iodophor, phos acid, peroxitane.

Cheers,

Sam