sodium perc and sodium meta - both, either or neither?

[ceejay]

Hey all.

Getting back in to brewing after a bit of a hiatus. Picked up a brew kit from the local home brew shop and then got on to the topic of cleaning and sanitising Old mate sold me a jar of sodium percarbonate and a jar of sodium metabisulphite. I don't recall using either previously, so was advised to clean with perc and then sanitize with meta.

Once I got home and did some further googling with Dr Google, I'm getting the feeling that old mate should not have sold me both, and I came to the conclusion that I could use the perc for initial cleaning and then should buy something else entirely (and preferably no-rinse) for the sanitizing.

Can anyone offer some advise on the advice I was given? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers (literally and metaphorically),

Chris.

 

[Tropico]

Sodium Percarbonate is great for cleaning and sanitising. I have used it for years for bottles, fermenters and equipment and have not had a bottle or brew turn bad.

Sodium Metabisuphite doesn't clean but is a good/better sanitiser. Never had a problem after using it as well. They put small amounts into wine as a colour and flavour preservative.

 

[Rodolphe01]

Yes, google was correct. Perc great for cleaning. Dump the meta and get a no rinse sanitiser such as iodophor or starsan.

 

[Blind Dog]

Sodium perc is a very good cleaning agent. Sodium met is a great cleaner and sanitiser, but it's the fumes not the liquid that does the sanitising, and you then need (or really should) rinse which may or may not be an issue. Personally, I use sodium met as my alternate sanitiser and give everything in my brewery some exposure to it every so often - mix it up, swirl it round, ditch and leave. Keeps the bugs on their toes. After a day or two, I rinse with boiling water a few times, dry and store. I still sanitise with starsan before I use it again.

Plus you can use a pinch of sodium met to knock out chloramine in your liquor.

Edit: I wouldn't use sodium met as my main sanitiser though, I prefer starsan (real or copy)

 

[Camo6]

Many brewers on here use a mix of sodium percarbonate and sodium metasilicate which are the key ingredients of Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW). I use nothing else for cleaning the brewery.

Not to be confused with sodium metabisulphate which is a sanitiser but not as popular nowadays as Starsan. You can use it to help remove chloramines if your water supply uses them.

Being a tightarse I'd use the perc for cleaning and the metabisulphate for sanitising but when you run out give Starsan a go and also get in on a perc/metasilicate bulk buy. Straight perc works great in the washing machine and dishwasher (leaves the expensive tablets for dead). But be warned, once SWMBO discovers it you'll need to keep a hidden stash for the brewery.

 

[ceejay]

Thanks guys, appreciate your comments.

I was a bit concerned about the rinsing after using meta, so have decided to opt for a liquid no-rinse for sanitizing (and might alternate between perc and meta for cleaning).

@Camo6 - SWAMO, lol, have not heard that for so long and will definitely need to keep PBW away from her if i go that way once i finish using what i currently have.

 

[Bribie G]

When I started brewing in the 1970s Sodium Metabisulphite was about all we had for sanitizing, but it gives off unpleasant sulphur dioxide fumes that can be very dangerous to some asthmatics. As posted it also has applications in winemaking and chlorine removal. I think Brigalow still put it out at Big W etc.

Starsan is brilliant, I'm still on the bottle I bought from CraftBrewer in 2012.

BrewMan does perc by the kilo at a not too bad price; that's another item that lasts forever, I picked up 5kg off MHB when I first moved to Old Bar in 2012 and was just about to run out, got 2kg from Brewman the other day and that should keep me going for over a year.

And that includes bleaching my volleys h34r:

Ceejay, maybe ring CraftBrewer, they often have stuff in stock that doesn't show on their website.