davids47 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I am going to start brewing again after about 1.5 years away .what is the best cleaner to buy for the fermenter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I use sodium percarbonate for cleaning, starsan for sanitizing. If you can't get percarbonate by itself you can use unscented nappy soakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davids47 Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Thanks for info will head to woolies later see what thy have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikes15 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I use hot tap water for rinsing & with a little unscented household Bleach for Cleaning / sanitizing followed by a good hot rinse & leave to air dry. I leave the Taps & airlock in a pint glass of water & bleach for a couple of days post brew. I also use Starsan for sanitizing on the day come brewing time. Also just use disposable Chux cloth to wipe everything, no scrubbing brushes etc, micro scratches they make will hide germs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Chlorine bleach is fine as long as it's rinsed thoroughly, then rinsed thoroughly again. If not then it can potentially ruin a batch. Percarbonate on the other hand doesn't require as thorough rinsing, at least in the fermenter. Oxygen left behind by it will assist yeast but in bottles or kegs could cause problems so best to thoroughly rinse those. I rinse it properly anyway because I don't like the slimy feel of the sodium carbonate it also leaves behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davids47 Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 sodium percarbonate what rate do you use per lt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Doesn't really matter mate. Not too little, and not too much. If I had to guess probably about 5-7g per litre but there's no need to be precise with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I use sodium perc for soaking and starsan for sanitising. I also every now and then use a iodine based sanitiser to kill everything. Including anything that has touched a saison strain of yeast due to the diastaticus strain causing me some gushers early on. As far as dose rates I use about 2 tbls for my 25 lt cube. Doesn’t really matter. The more use use the longer the stuff will produce a chemical reaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackgym Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Di San OXY for cleaning. Milton Anti-bacterial Solution for disinfecting. Difference between sanitiser and disinfectant: Sanitising is meant to reduce, not kill, the occurrence and growth of bacteria, viruses and fungi. Disinfecting a surface will “kill” the microscopic organisms. Note Aussie spelling of saniti(s)er. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I'd assume that disinfectant needs rinsing afterwards, kind of defeats the purpose a bit. But if it works, fair enough. Bottom line is you'll never have your equipment 100% sterile. It just can't be done at home. The best we can do is eliminate unwanted bugs as much as possible. I've never had an infected batch in the 6 and a half years I've been brewing again, aside from a cube that blew up but I don't really count that because it never made it to the fermenter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackgym Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 20 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said: I'd assume that disinfectant needs rinsing afterwards, kind of defeats the purpose a bit. But if it works, fair enough. Bottom line is you'll never have your equipment 100% sterile. It just can't be done at home. The best we can do is eliminate unwanted bugs as much as possible. I've never had an infected batch in the 6 and a half years I've been brewing again, aside from a cube that blew up but I don't really count that because it never made it to the fermenter Nope, no need to rinse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 How much of the Milton solution is required? It looks like it costs around $7 per litre. The instructions say 12.5ml per litre for baby bottles. Is that the same for your brewing equipment? And what contact time is required? I presume it doesn't leave an aftertaste or you wouldn't use it. Starsan is used in the ratio 1.5ml per litre. I'm not questioning whether it works, I;m sure it does. I'm just curious as to how you use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackgym Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 7 hours ago, Hairy said: How much of the Milton solution is required? It looks like it costs around $7 per litre. The instructions say 12.5ml per litre for baby bottles. Is that the same for your brewing equipment? And what contact time is required? I presume it doesn't leave an aftertaste or you wouldn't use it. Starsan is used in the ratio 1.5ml per litre. I'm not questioning whether it works, I;m sure it does. I'm just curious as to how you use it. Yes, it costs around $7-$8 per litre at the chemists. On the day I put down a brew I use Milton at 6ml per 500ml spray bottle for fermenter and other equipment. Contact time would be around 5-10 minutes before I use each piece of equipment. On bottling day I mix 12ml of Milton with 1 litre of water and spread it out to rinse through 30 PET bottles. Contact time simply depends on time taken from 1 through 30. As you surmised, there's no aftertaste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hackenbushel Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I use unscented napisan or generic equivalent to clean. Thin unscented bleach to sanitise. Cheap and works well for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikes15 Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Must say I think my beers have improved since I started using Starsan spray on everything just before use, cant get much cheaper than that either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Starsan didn't make any difference to the quality of my beers but I've never had an infection in the fermenter or bottles/kegs so it's obviously working as it should along with the cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 You could save good money by using dilute household bleach, instead of Milton. Both contain the active ingredient, Sodium Hypolchlorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 I keep anything chlorine based away from my brewing equipment. It's probably not likely to happen if it's used properly but I can do without a band-aid beer, something which is more of a risk if you're not rinsing it because you're leaving chlorine behind in the fermenter and whatever else it's been used on without rinsing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hackenbushel Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Each to their own Like most things, it's the dose that makes the poison. Bleach can be no rinse if used properly. If you are paranoid then just rinse with your brewing water. Unless you are doing a full boil your water will make up a hefty percentage of your final wort, so it's illogical to think you will do any harm by rinsing with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 It's not infection that's the issue. Chlorine reacts with phenols in the beer and produces chlorophenols, which taste like bandaids, medicinal, even plastic like. Everyone's threshold is different, an amount one person can't taste, another will taste. The best solution is to remove it from all brewing water and any used for cleaning should be thoroughly rinsed off. It's counterproductive to use it as a no rinse sanitiser. While it will most likely prevent infection, it could ruin the beer with chlorophenols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hackenbushel Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Each to their own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Aren’t chlorophenols the cells that Jedis have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farls Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 10 minutes ago, Hairy said: Aren’t chlorophenols the cells that Jedis have? The force is strong with this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 3 hours ago, Dr. Hackenbushel said: Each to their own You can say that until you're blue in the face, but if you want to dismiss advice based on facts and end up with a batch exhibiting those problems, don't say you weren't warned of the risk of it happening. There's a million results on Google about this issue, it's a pretty well known and proven occurrence. That's why I don't use bleach (or if I did it would be thoroughly rinsed off) and also remove the chlorine from my brewing water. The water here is treated with chloramines which boiling doesn't remove. I've never had problems but I figure it's better to prevent the problem before it becomes one. http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/06/19/phenolics-and-tannins-in-home-brewed-beer/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Hackenbushel Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Calm down mate. I didn't ask for your advice. I use bleach and so do many others without any problems. https://beerliever.com/bleach-no-rinse-sanitiser-home-brewing-beer/ I'm not suggesting you start doing the same and I couldn't give a flying fox what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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