Sanitization

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robbiep

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Hi guys,

Besides temperature control, sanitization is also a very important fundamental to get right in home brewing.

I still have all my kit in the Coopers Box, but i plan to sanitize it all before i starts (even though its not really necessary).

I plan to get into AG brewing as soon as possible, but i guess it doesnt make a difference what brewing method you use, sanitization plays an important role.

I have the following questions on the topic:

1: Can regular non-scented bleach be used to sanitize equipment?
2: How you do sanitize your equipment i.e. throw everything into your fermenter then let soak for a while, then rinse?
3: Whats the best agent to use for sanitization?
4: How do you sanitize PET bottles?

Look forward to hearing your feedback.

Regards,
Robbie
 
Someone will be along shortly to tell you to "do a search".

Me, I'll just tell you that sanitise is spelled with an "s".

Most common options for sanitising are Starsan and Idophor. Both are non-rinse and are available in most home brew stores.
Make up a solution per the instructions (1:1000-ish) and soak everything in the solution for at least a minute.
You can drip dry but don't rinse - this effectively "un-sanitises" your gear.
 
Starsan is the way to go. You can use bleach, but any residue on your brewing gear will taint the beer.

For bottles I tip some starsan in each, shake for a while, and drain on a bottle drying tree.
 
You can use bleach, most people here use StarSan, Phosphoric Acid dilution, Iodophor, NapiSan etc - its really up to you whatever you prefer and what suits your wallet.

I chuck everything in the fermenter and spray away

I use phosphoric acid diluted (personal preference), I used to use Iodophor

I wash them in PSR, then spray inside with phosphoric acid, lids get soaked in phosphoric acid as well. Underneath the plastic seal sometimes concerns me but you can replace the lids pretty cheaply if your are worried.

I always wash bottles after I empty the contents so there is no dried yeast residue

After you do this for a while you can see why so many people are kegging

</my2c>
 
I got a bag of "Stericlean" with my starter kit from Aussie Brew Makers. It's a cleaner and sanitiser all in one...you simply put a couple of tablespoons into your fermenter, with 10 litres of warm water, put the lid on and give it a good shake. If cleaning an FV that's just been emptied, I use a soft rag to wipe off all the krausen after i've shaken. Then open it up and drop in all your bits, paddle/o ring/grommet/little bottler/can opener etc. Leave it be for at least an hour. Then open it up, take all the bits out, and tip out the solution (I do this in the bath).

Fill with another 10 litres of warm/hot water, re-seal and shake. Empty over the bits sitting in your bath. Do that again one more time with 10 litres of water. At the end everything is absolutely sparkling, and odour free.

So that's been really easy. But when this bag of Stericlean runs out, i'm likely to move to no-name unscented napisan (Sodium Perc) for my cleaning, then Starsan for sanitising.

For my bottles, I rinse them twice with hot water after use, then put them in a box. On filling day, they don't need cleaning 'coz they already are. I use a no-rinse sanitiser solution (currently Morgans no rinse, but eventually Starsan), fill the first bottle 2/3rd's to the top, pick the bottle up and shake. Then pour the solution via a funnel into the next bottle and repeat. Each sterilised bottle goes to one side. Once all done, and about to fill, I invert the bottle one last time to drain any remaining drops of solution out of them, then fill.
 
Unscented nappisan or sodium percarbonate is a cleaner. You use it to clean grime off your equipment and fermenter usually at the end of brew day.
Starsan and Idophor is a sanitizer usually used during brew day to sanitise your equipment and fermenter as explained in previous posts.

Do yourself a favour and get some no rinse sanitiser like starsan. You will be glad you did. I used to rinse my sanitiser with boiling water and now use sanitiser and its great. you might get some foam in your bottles after draining starsan out but dont worry the foam is fine and in fact can help the yeast to some degree. You can fill your bottles with the foam inside and it wont hurt anything.

Also make up a solution of starsan and put into a spray bottle. You can use this to spray things that are harder to rinse in solution including your arms and hands before you start to bottle. I spray the inside of my fermenter tap and around the top before I open the lid.
 
Great, thanks for the advice... looks like Starsan is the way to go :)

Do you need to dilute it?
 
Completely :icon_offtopic:

FTFU:
Someone will be along shortly to tell you to "do a search".

Me, I'll just tell you that, in Australia, sanitise is spelled with an "s", whereas in the US it is spelled with a "z" and in the UK both variants happily exist next to each other.
 
Great, thanks for the advice... looks like Starsan is the way to go :)

Do you need to dilute it?

Starsan is diluted 1.5ml per L

so, to make up a 3L jug of starsan measure out 4.5ml with a baby medicine syringe ;)

That 3L of Starsan should be enough for your entire brew day, and to fill up your spray bottle, airlock and blow-off bottle.

Just pour the 3L into your fermenter, seal, and shake etc

At that rate a 900ml bottle will last you a long time :)
 
with another 10 litres of warm/hot water, re-seal and shake. Empty over the bits sitting in your bath. Do that again one more time with 10 litres of water. At the end everything is absolutely sparkling, and odour free.

....empty over the bits sitting in your bath?

Youve got to be fuckin kidding me....please tell me your joking.

'Cause i suppose a bath is really really clean. After all, it is where people wash all their dirt , grime and germs off of themselves...

EDIT: What do you use to get rid of the excess moisture from all your stuff 'post bath'...your dishcloth?
 
....empty over the bits sitting in your bath?

Youve got to be fuckin kidding me....please tell me your joking.

'Cause i suppose a bath is really really clean. After all, it is where people wash all their dirt , grime and germs off of themselves...

EDIT: What do you use to get rid of the excess moisture from all your stuff 'post bath'...your dishcloth?
Damn, did your mum tell you how dirty we made the bath? I asked her to keep it a secret.
 
Damn, did your mum tell you how dirty we made the bath? I asked her to keep it a secret.

You know, theres just something about you i dont like. Cant quite put my finger on it.

You just seem to be the type of wanker that doesnt give a shit if the info or opinions he posts leads new brewers up the garden path or not. Remember, what you put up here stays up here for a ******* long time.

Next thing you know there will be stack of brewers posting questions like:

'I washed all my stuff in my bath, and now my beers infected - can someone tell me why?'

There is nothing you can say that can justify why cleaning your stuff by pouring water over it in the bath tub is a good idea.

Btw, im not even gonna entertain the thought of mother jokes. Its a pretty low act.
 
You know, theres just something about you i dont like. Cant quite put my finger on it.

You just seem to be the type of wanker that doesnt give a shit if the info or opinions he posts leads new brewers up the garden path or not. Remember, what you put up here stays up here for a ******* long time.

Next thing you know there will be stack of brewers posting questions like:

'I washed all my stuff in my bath, and now my beers infected - can someone tell me why?'

There is nothing you can say that can justify why cleaning your stuff by pouring water over it in the bath tub is a good idea.

Btw, im not even gonna entertain the thought of mother jokes. Its a pretty low act.
Actually little man, you are a pretty low act. You continue to attack mine and other posts with your vicious, petty and childish approach. Yet so very rarely do you add anything of actual value to this forum. A little dull light goes off in your head and you immediately attack. Maybe your bath is filthy and covered in germs. That doesn't mean everyone's is. How do you even know that the bath I use for cleaning brewing equipment is used by anyone? Would you have posted the same thing if i'd mentioned the laundry sink? The same sink in which I occasionally wash dog shit off the bottom of my shoes? Let alone the fact that the bath i'm cleaning in has just had 10 litres of stericlean solution poured all over it....somehow these magical fairies that spread germs in my bath each night have bred a super-bug that can survive that. Your response is ridiculous and inflammatory, and makes me think you're still stinging from being shown up for the knucklehead you are in previous debates where you assumed your way was the only way.

Let's stop for a minute and think about how you could have done this better (**** me it's like talking to a 6 year old). If you were really concerned about the cleanliness of my bath, why not write:

"I have a few concerns about carniebrew's use of a bath to sanitise his brew gear. Baths can harbour germs that could infect your gear after you've cleaned them. Keep that in mind".

And then most people wouldn't immediately think "Fark me there goes tiny Nathaniel off on his usual rant again, man that bloke can be such a cnut." If you used your same words below to challenge someone's statement in the pub you'd likely get your head smashed in. Why do you think it's right to do so on this forum?

I mean seriously dude, I have had PM's from other members of this forum talking about what a complete waste of air you are. Surely that's embarrassing for you. But no doubt this is falling on deaf ears, and i've just wasted another 5 minutes of my life on responding to you, something i'm sure I swore to myself i'd never do after last time.

Go buy yourself a box set of Mythbusters for xmas, and make sure it includes the episode that shows the toilet seat harbours less germs than the kitchen sink....then freak out about me cleaning my gear in a pristine bath.

Any chance you could actually tell the OP your way of cleaning/sanitising your gear? Or unlike me, are you too scared of having your methods put up for public scrutiny after pissing all over everyone else's? I am producing HOME BREW here fer chrissakes, at a cost of $10 a slab. I'm not making baby formula. I use a risk vs reward model to decide on my processes, and so far i've made nothing but infection free, top quality beer. There's a million things I could do better, and i'm tipping the same thing goes for 99% of home brewers on this forum. Just coz I do something others might disagree with doesn't give you the right to scream "you've got to be ******* kidding me", and make some smart arse comment about a dish cloth. Grow up and stop acting like a complete turd.
 
You know carniebrew. This could have all been avoided if you just had have washed out your bath with bleach before putting your brewing stuff in there. :lol:
 
my answers in red.

Actually little man, you are a pretty low act. You continue to attack mine and other posts with your vicious, petty and childish approach.
It's not petty and childish. What your doing (or more correctly where you are doing it) is asking for trouble. Other brewers that are gonna read about your method need to be aware it's not a good place to clean your stuff. Unless of course you clean and sanitise your bath tub before you clean your shit, and if your gonna go to that much effort, there's easier way to do it in that case.
Yet so very rarely do you add anything of actual value to this forum.
That's almost laughable that one.
A little dull light goes off in your head and you immediately attack.
Actually.....no not usually. You would have to appreciate though, that the longer you are a member/visitor/contributor here, it gets difficult sometimes to ignore posts where the advice is just wrong/dangerous/risky etc.
Maybe your bath is filthy and covered in germs. That doesn't mean everyone's is.
Unless you clean and sanitise (not even going into sterilising) yeah, your bath is filthy from a "bug" level. Mine is too. They would be disgusting if you swabbed and analysed them. I wouldn't want my brewing gear cleaned in that sort of environment.
How do you even know that the bath I use for cleaning brewing equipment is used by anyone?
Doesn't need to be used by anyone. Used or not, a bath is from a molecular/virus/bug point of view - filthy.
Would you have posted the same thing if i'd mentioned the laundry sink?
Damn right i would have.
The same sink in which I occasionally wash dog shit off the bottom of my shoes?
Yep, that one.
Let alone the fact that the bath i'm cleaning in has just had 10 litres of stericlean solution poured all over it....somehow these magical fairies that spread germs in my bath each night have bred a super-bug that can survive that.
WOW - that stericlean must be amazing stuff! Kills super-bugs?? Wicked, i'm gonna go get me some of that.
There's bug everywhere dude, in the air, on the surfaces you brew with, on the utensils you brew with, in your brewing vessels - ******* everywhere. Homebrewing and infection arguments are about RISK MANAGEMENT. Everything is a potential source of something nasty entering your beer, what we as homebrewers should be concerned about is minimising the damage or the frequency or both.
Your response is ridiculous and inflammatory,
It's not ridiculous at all. There's nothing at all you can say about pouring 10lt over your stuff sitting at the bottom of your bath that will make anyone agree it's a top idea.
....and makes me think you're still stinging from being shown up for the knucklehead you are in previous debates where you assumed your way was the only way.
Ahh, i knew you'd falsely bring that one up. I thought about mentioning it in my original post in this thread, but thought id let it lie.
You don't get it at all do you...I wasn't shown up at all in that thread. And i never once assumed my way was the only way. I repeated in that thread time and time again, that i know his way works, and i know my way works. I also stated numerous times that i'm not an electrician and therefore couldn't remember why others said it was a potentially bad idea, but many did.
I was informed by whatever the guys name is, and had clear evidence provided by his posts, and his pm's back and forth to each other, that make his method make sense to me. I learnt something new and apologised. Go back and re-read that thread and you'll see what i mean.
Let's stop for a minute and think about how you could have done this better (**** me it's like talking to a 6 year old). If you were really concerned about the cleanliness of my bath, why not write:

"I have a few concerns about carniebrew's use of a bath to sanitise his brew gear. Baths can harbour germs that could infect your gear after you've cleaned them. Keep that in mind".
Sure, i have no problem with that.
And then most people wouldn't immediately think "Fark me there goes tiny Nathaniel off on his usual rant again, man that bloke can be such a cnut."
Most people here don't think of me like that. Those that have been here around the same time as me, longer than me, and less time than me that know me better than you do, would strongly disagree.
If you used your same words below to challenge someone's statement in the pub you'd likely get your head smashed in. Why do you think it's right to do so on this forum?

I mean seriously dude, I have had PM's from other members of this forum talking about what a complete waste of air you are. Surely that's embarrassing for you.
Tit for tat mate, sounds like a dick measuring contest. You say you get pm's from other members, i get a whole heap too that back me up.
I'm not the greatest user of this forum sure, no contest to that one....but see those 5 stars next to my name in my profile? Other's members here have given me those. That means that some people here value my input, and think that more times than not, what i contribute is worthwhile.
But no doubt this is falling on deaf ears, and i've just wasted another 5 minutes of my life on responding to you, something i'm sure I swore to myself i'd never do after last time.
No, i hear just fine. Aswell as a brewer, i'm also a pro muso/private music tutor for a living. My ears work just fine and/or dandy.
Go buy yourself a box set of Mythbusters for xmas, and make sure it includes the episode that shows the toilet seat harbours less germs than the kitchen sink....then freak out about me cleaning my gear in a pristine bath.
Haha, classic. Pristine bath. Yeah, cause if something "looks" clean, then it must be all good to go yeah?? Bell-end...
Any chance you could actually tell the OP your way of cleaning/sanitising your gear? Or unlike me, are you too scared of having your methods put up for public scrutiny after pissing all over everyone else's?
I'd gladly share my cleaning process mate but adding that to this post, at this time doesn't feel appropriate. When i've finished writing this i'm gonna go have a coffee and start the day properly.
I am producing HOME BREW here fer chrissakes, at a cost of $10 a slab. I'm not making baby formula. I use a risk vs reward model to decide on my processes, and so far i've made nothing but infection free, top quality beer. There's a million things I could do better, and i'm tipping the same thing goes for 99% of home brewers on this forum. Just coz I do something others might disagree with doesn't give you the right to scream "you've got to be ******* kidding me", and make some smart arse comment about a dish cloth.
Did i hurt your feelings with "you've got to be ******* kidding me?"?. Toughen up tiger, the world's full of nasty/passionate people and every once in a while, the strength of their words may....just....piss...you...off.
Grow up and stop acting like a complete turd.
 
Much better than The Real Housewives of New Jersey
 
Would this be a bad time to ask about why my airlock isn't bubbling???

;)



quick... DUCK FOR COVER!!!! ARRRGHHHHHH!
 
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