TOPIC:

I just use warm soapy water for cleaning and Milton for sanitising, 5 tablets in a 25 litre fermenter. Warm soapy water to wash out bottles and rinse, followed by a cycle in the dishwasher with 1 Milton tablet thrown in the base.

I use VWP to clean, it's particularly good when there is dried on crud and crap on the fermenters etc. It'll actually clean most things just with a soak and then to remove the chlorine a quick rinse and the final finish is to drop it into a bucket of star san. I normally use Halfords water with star san and reuse it multiple times, but if stuck I will make up a once off mix with my tap water which will go cloudy immediately, but then I won't keep it after one use.
I used to use bleach but I can detect it at very very low levels in a beer now. I don't trust dishwashers at all and have a feeling that they maybe kill head retention because of the dishwasher anti-streaking salts.

"bigears":boj0mlx9 wrote:

"Partridge9":boj0mlx9 wrote: also the idea of putting starsan in a small plant sprayer and calling things sterilised after spraying with that is ridiculous. I might add I have personally seen many batches down the drain from people cleaning with water and then sterilising with starsan.

I have used OXIClean which was great but very expensive, I tried Burtons cleaner steriliser and it was pretty good but worked out expensive at 10euro per 500g.[/quote:boj0mlx9]

That's quite a statement, I use starsan in a spray bottle all the time. Not only is it effective it is also the cheapest solution as it can be reused over and over - you do need soft water. Oxiclean is brilliant for cleaning but it is not a sanitiser.


Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk[/quote:boj0mlx9]

Sorry, Partridge, I'm 100% with Bigears on this one. This is EXACTLY the use case scenario that Starsan was created for; (there's a reason it's so expensive).

-Your argument that you know some people that use StarSan who still had infected beer is implying causality because of correlation which we know is a logical no-no.


A non-rinse, short-term contact (30 seconds(the label says 2 minutes but that's because the minimum EPA test is for 2 minutes and the labeling requirements say you have to specify the EPA test parameters)) sanitizer that works effectively at lower temps (even the foam kills). It also doesn't produce off-flavors if you use it in too high of a concentration and it doesn't impact head retention later.

See Palmer: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-3.html">www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-3.html

A huge point is that sanitizers work AFTER you've already cleaned your equipment and have removed all soil; many sanitizers don't work in the presence of organic soil and will stop working. StarSan was created to still work in the presence of (some) organic soil and is your "insurance policy" in case you haven't perfectly cleaned everything.

You can listen to the owner of StarSan talk about sanitization in general and StarSan specifically for quite a period of time here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="hw.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/390da96899933961/b...d=&l_mid=1511169">hw.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/390da96899 ... id=1511169

He surprisingly actually says that water/bleach is a very effective cleanser when used correctly before he gets into StarSan stuff. The interview with Charlie starts at around minute 10.

(Bigears is the wise man living on the brewing mountain top and when he says something it's a good idea to pay attention; that's been my experience anyway.) -There's loads of information behind his statement that you need soft water as high mineral content in your water will cause Starsan's sanitization ability to break down quicker (if it's cloudy; it's not working) but if you mix StarSan with deionized water; even blended in a spray bottle it can last for MONTHS). I didn't understand this but after he said it I listened to the podcast above and figured out what he meant.


Adam

The best preparation one can have for the cleaning of beer making equipment is to have a child who was bottle fed!

I'm used to sterilising everything from when my children were younger and it has stood me in good stead making beer. I don't sanitise, which aims to kill bad germs... I sterilise, which aims to kill everything!

After an Ag brew I go to the bottom of the garden and flush out all the grains and bits with the garden hose straight onto the compost heap.

Then, back to the kitchen and use hot water and a washing up sponge ( non-abrasive ) to clean the sticky bits. Then rinse with cold water. If I am putting the kit away for more than a few days I leave about 200 ml of water with a campden tablet thrown in. This keeps the containers "sweet".

When its time to brew, rinse with cold water, spray with Starsan, drain and away we go.


I now need to give my demi-johns and pressure barrels ( which I can't get my hands into ) a good cleaning/de-staining by soaking them in a good stong cleaner for a few days or so.

What is the recommended cleaner to use to soak away stains and deposits?

Cheers

Will

&amp;quot;Will_D&amp;quot;:29ydyfdp wrote: What is the recommended cleaner to use to soak away stains and deposits?

Cheers

Will[/quote:29ydyfdp]


VWP is very good for this. Soda crystals are another option, or those Oxy cleaners from Lidl or Aldi.

Personally I find VWP to be the best and easy to get my hands on as a local health store carries it in their mini homebrew section.