Finally took a dive into homebrewing.

[Beercules281]

16 hours ago, Fedaykin409 said:

you dip your toe with the supplied lager. get a taste for it....
and the next thing you know you're adding nectar & dry hopping.

... and you get more adventurous every brew.

my game plan was to stick to a few basics before doing anything crazy... and now i'm trying the ROTM that will be new things i've been yet to do. (and looking at picking up a bar fridge on the cheap when I see one, then buy inkbird for temp control)

 

ANYWAY! the point i'm trying to make. is that it is a slippery slope. as you learn more. you want to do more. 

 

how'd that first one taste ? 

It tasted like beer! It definitely has that Homebrew taste from just the Kit and Kilo. But in all honesty for first beer i'm happy with it. Looking forward to cracking my Pale Ale at the end of this week. Gotta start prepping for another batch this week also. Next on the list is a Draught. I really like the ROTM Botanical Ale and i'm looking forward to making that one in the future once i've got myself a little more established.

 

Question for all the gurus out there. What's the best way to clean th FV and implements' that have been sitting for 2 weeks before throwing down another batch? 

[Classic Brewing Co]

53 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

It tasted like beer! It definitely has that Homebrew taste from just the Kit and Kilo. But in all honesty for first beer i'm happy with it. Looking forward to cracking my Pale Ale at the end of this week. Gotta start prepping for another batch this week also. Next on the list is a Draught. I really like the ROTM Botanical Ale and i'm looking forward to making that one in the future once i've got myself a little more established.

 

Question for all the gurus out there. What's the best way to clean th FV and implements' that have been sitting for 2 weeks before throwing down another batch? 

Some of us have different methods but here are the basics.

To clean a fermenter, you should¹²:

• Rinse the fermenter out with hot water (multiple times if very dirty)
• Add the cleanser and water according to instructions
• Agitate the solution by shaking the fermenter
• If the fermenter is very dirty, leave it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes
• Use a soft cloth or soft cleaning brush to clean inside the fermenter

To sanitize a plastic fermenter, you should soak or spray with a no-rinse brewing sanitizer such as Star San soon before brewing a batch of beer². Avoid scratching the plastic during cleaning².

Edited April 14 by Classic Brewing Co

[Beercules281]

5 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Some of us have different methods but here are the basics.

To clean a fermenter, you should¹²:

• Rinse the fermenter out with hot water (multiple times if very dirty)
• Add the cleanser and water according to instructions
• Agitate the solution by shaking the fermenter
• If the fermenter is very dirty, leave it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes
• Use a soft cloth or soft cleaning brush to clean inside the fermenter

To sanitize a plastic fermenter, you should soak or spray with a no-rinse brewing sanitizer such as Star San soon before brewing a batch of beer². Avoid scratching the plastic during cleaning².

Awesome. Pretty straight forward. Thanks for the advice. 

Edited April 14 by Beercules281
Sunday Spelling

[ChairmanDrew]

Straight after bottling I give it a good scrub with a (clean) brush and dish washing liquid, followed by a thorough rinse.

The key part is making sure everything is properly sterilised before using it again, I use no-rinse steriliser (sodium percarbonate).

[Aussiekraut]

7 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Some of us have different methods but here are the basics.

To clean a fermenter, you should¹²:

• Rinse the fermenter out with hot water (multiple times if very dirty)
• Add the cleanser and water according to instructions
• Agitate the solution by shaking the fermenter
• If the fermenter is very dirty, leave it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes
• Use a soft cloth or soft cleaning brush to clean inside the fermenter

To sanitize a plastic fermenter, you should soak or spray with a no-rinse brewing sanitizer such as Star San soon before brewing a batch of beer². Avoid scratching the plastic during cleaning².

I do emphasize that cleaning and sanitation are very important. However, when I am cleaning my fermenters is a lot easier.  Add the right amount of Sodium Percarbonate to the FV, fill it to the brim, put the lid on, shake it for a bit and then let it sit for 24 hours before emptying it. Then empty it, rinse it out thoroughly and put about 3l sanitiser in.  Shake the living Bejesus out of it a few times, then empty and fill it with the wort of your choice. After every other batch, I take the taps apart and soak them overnight in a fermenter, before I reassemble, sanitise and use them again.

[Classic Brewing Co]

14 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

I do emphasize that cleaning and sanitation are very important. However, when I am cleaning my fermenters is a lot easier.  Add the right amount of Sodium Percarbonate to the FV, fill it to the brim, put the lid on, shake it for a bit and then let it sit for 24 hours before emptying it. Then empty it, rinse it out thoroughly and put about 3l sanitiser in.  Shake the living Bejesus out of it a few times, then empty and fill it with the wort of your choice. After every other batch, I take the taps apart and soak them overnight in a fermenter, before I reassemble, sanitise and use them again.

I agree AK, but that was just the basics.

My regime is as strict as yours.

[Shamus O'Sean]

20 hours ago, Beercules281 said:

It tasted like beer! It definitely has that Homebrew taste from just the Kit and Kilo. But in all honesty for first beer i'm happy with it. Looking forward to cracking my Pale Ale at the end of this week. Gotta start prepping for another batch this week also. Next on the list is a Draught. I really like the ROTM Botanical Ale and i'm looking forward to making that one in the future once i've got myself a little more established.

 

Question for all the gurus out there. What's the best way to clean th FV and implements' that have been sitting for 2 weeks before throwing down another batch? 

I use Oxysan, unscented laundry soaker.  It is around 30% Sodium Percarbonate. 

I used to add enough to the fermenter and fill it to the brim with hot water, leave overnight and rinse well in the morning.  However, that uses a fair bit of Oxysan to fill a 30 litre FV.  So, now, rather than use all that Oxysan, I use a plastic tub big enough to lay the fermenter on it side.  I mix up enough cleaner for about 6 -10 litres worth.  Pour that into the tub.  Lay the FV in the liquid.  Every 15 minutes, I get a soft cloth (eg. Chux) and wipe out the segment of the FV that was soaking.  Then I rotate the FV in the liquid to the next segment and repeat until the whole of the FV is cleaned.

[Beercules281]

Thanks for the tips. I picked myself up some sanitiser from my local brew store before I put down my Pale Ale. 

I plan to pick up a bottle of Brewclean this week to give everything a good clean out before I put down my Draught.  I assume this will be ideal for cleaning everything prior to spraying with sanitiser and putting down a WORT?

[Back Brewing]

2 hours ago, Beercules281 said:

Thanks for the tips. I picked myself up some sanitiser from my local brew store before I put down my Pale Ale. 

I plan to pick up a bottle of Brewclean this week to give everything a good clean out before I put down my Draught.  I assume this will be ideal for cleaning everything prior to spraying with sanitiser and putting down a WORT?

Mate I don't know how much that cost you but it would be cheaper to buy a kilo of 100% sodium percarbonate and half a litre of stellasan these will last a long time from a local brew shop that stocks them

[Beercules281]

49 minutes ago, Back Brewing said:

Mate I don't know how much that cost you but it would be cheaper to buy a kilo of 100% sodium percarbonate and half a litre of stellasan these will last a long time from a local brew shop that stocks them

I believe the sanitiser cost $10 and the bottle or cleaner about $17. Thanks for the tips. I'll have a look there on my visit to see if they have any. 

[Beerdo]

Everybody has covered the cleaning process but I thought I'd just add an efficiency tip. Rather than just filling a FV with water and cleaner to soak I also throw some equipment in the FV eg. spoon, bottles, bottling wand, hose. Just common sense but sometimes common sense evades us when we're concentrating on new things.

[Aussiekraut]

11 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

Mate I don't know how much that cost you but it would be cheaper to buy a kilo of 100% sodium percarbonate and half a litre of stellasan these will last a long time from a local brew shop that stocks them

I tend to buy my SP in a 25kg sack. I use a lot and a big bag lasts over a year. Heaps cheaper than buying by the kg too. I soak my fermenters, my kegs and my cubes overnight, then rinse and clean and rinse again. I even clean the Erlenmeyer flasks for the yeast starters with it. It's the only way to get the caked-in krausen leftovers out of them. The malt pipe of the BZ and all the screens get a soaking too and the system itself gets filled with some and soaked to get bits off the bottom, the rest gets wiped down with the SP water. 

[Oldbloke]

Important to clean ASAP after bottling. I just use a hose and soft cloth. Very eady while its soft. Perhaps a bit of dish washing detergent very occasionally. 

 

For sanitising, lots of options. Lot of arguments too! But coopers recommend it.

I just use unscented household bleach. About a table spoon full with abt 2 litres of water IIRC. Splash it around and leave it for 30-40 minutes. Just splash it around 3 or 4 times over the 30 minutes.

Then rinse, and ad rinse again with about 1 lire of boiling water. Bobs your uncle.

[Classic Brewing Co]

On 4/18/2024 at 6:23 AM, Beerdo said:

Everybody has covered the cleaning process but I thought I'd just add an efficiency tip. Rather than just filling a FV with water and cleaner to soak I also throw some equipment in the FV eg. spoon, bottles, bottling wand, hose. Just common sense but sometimes common sense evades us when we're concentrating on new things.

Agreed, I have been doing that for years, with StellarSan diluted. If it is an Extract brew, even the can opener goes in there.

[Oldbloke]

Just check out FAQs.  

 

https://www.diybeer.com/au/faqs/#FAQ_1_11

[Beercules281]

49 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

Just check out FAQs.  

 

https://www.diybeer.com/au/faqs/#FAQ_1_11

I totally forgot that was in the FAQ. Thanks for the tips guys.

I purchased one of these bad boys as well as a bottle tree to make things a little easier.

 

Appreciate all the different advice. Will definitely benefit from all the experience!

[iBooz2]

41 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

I totally forgot that was in the FAQ. Thanks for the tips guys.

I purchased one of these bad boys as well as a bottle tree to make things a little easier.

 

Appreciate all the different advice. Will definitely benefit from all the experience!

@Beercules281, now that you have one of these, I will give you a good tip:

Get yourself a screw cap off a 1.25 or bigger Coke bottle and then drill a M13 (1/2") hole through the centre of it.  Start off with a smaller drill bit and work your way up to the M13.  Remove any burrs and then slip it over the tip of the bottle wash squirter and let it sit on those edges that are there.  This will give you a much bigger shoulder to catch the rim of the PET's and other bottles to use when you push down on the bottle washer and it will make it just so much easier.  These bottle washers are made for bottles with a very small rim, crown seals and the like.  You may have to hold the bottles just off the vertical when pushing down to pump the sanitiser otherwise it may squirt out the sides as well.  Just a bit of practice and you will get the idea.

See pic below to show you how its done.

Edited April 23 by iBooz2

[Beercules281]

1 hour ago, iBooz2 said:

@Beercules281, now that you have one of these, I will give you a good tip:

Get yourself a screw cap off a 1.25 or bigger Coke bottle and then drill a M13 (1/2") hole through the centre of it.  Start off with a smaller drill bit and work your way up to the M13.  Remove any burrs and then slip it over the tip of the bottle wash squirter and let it sit on those edges that are there.  This will give you a much bigger shoulder to catch the rim of the PET's and other bottles to use when you push down on the bottle washer and it will make it just so much easier.  These bottle washers are made for bottles with a very small rim, crown seals and the like.  You may have to hold the bottles just off the vertical when pushing down to pump the sanitiser otherwise it may squirt out the sides as well.  Just a bit of practice and you will get the idea.

See pic below to show you how its done.

I discovered that upon research of the bottle washer. I've just used the screw fitting off a garden hose fitting. Your idea seems more permanent though. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

58 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

I discovered that upon research of the bottle washer. I've just used the screw fitting off a garden hose fitting. Your idea seems more permanent though. 

I use a M12 stainless steel washer.

[iBooz2]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I use a M12 stainless steel washer.

So long as the hole in the middle of the M12 washer is 12.66 mm dia then all will be good and its a mudflap sized washer, i.e. a much bigger OD than a normal SS washer.

Edited April 23 by iBooz2

[iBooz2]

On 4/14/2024 at 12:33 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

Some of us have different methods but here are the basics.

To clean a fermenter, you should¹²:

• Rinse the fermenter out with hot water (multiple times if very dirty)
• Add the cleanser and water according to instructions
• Agitate the solution by shaking the fermenter
• If the fermenter is very dirty, leave it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes
• Use a soft cloth or soft cleaning brush to clean inside the fermenter

To sanitize a plastic fermenter, you should soak or spray with a no-rinse brewing sanitizer such as Star San soon before brewing a batch of beer². Avoid scratching the plastic during cleaning².

Never, ever use a brush on the inside of your FV, even a soft one otherwise plan on buying a new FV soon or infected brews.  That goes for PET bottles as well.  With glass bottles or Glass FV's and SS FV's a soft brush would be OK.  And that goes as well as never letting the stirring spoon scrape or touch the insides of your Coopers or other plastic FV whilst mixing up your wort.

Even a soft cloth like a chux when used against Krausen scum the grits becomes like sandpaper to a plastic FV.  My mind boggles !

Hose off the FV ASAP after bottling or kegging with a garden hose pressure nozzle, what comes off with that is liquid enough to be removed.  For the remaining scum simply use two scoops of SP and fill the FV to the brim with hot tap water and any residue scum will dissolve in two hours or so.  Leave it overnight to be sure.  Then it's just a simple hose off again with the garden pressure nozzle and then a hot rinse or two and then sanitise ready for the next brew.

Edited April 23 by iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Never, ever use a brush on the inside of your FV, even a soft one otherwise plan on buying a new FV soon or infected brews.  That goes for PET bottles as well.  With glass bottles or Glass FV's and SS FV's a soft brush would be OK.  And that goes as well as never letting the stirring spoon scrape or touch the insides of your Coopers or other plastic FV whilst mixing up your wort.

Even a soft cloth like a chux when used against Krausen scum the grits becomes like sandpaper to a plastic FV.  My mind boggles !

Hose off the FV ASAP after bottling or kegging with a garden hose pressure nozzle, what comes off with that is liquid enough to be removed.  For the remaining scum simply use two scoops of SP and fill the FV to the brim with hot tap water and any residue scum will dissolve in two hours or so.  Leave it overnight to be sure.  Then it's just a simple hose off again with the garden pressure nozzle and then a hot rinse or two and then sanitise ready for the next brew.

I do exactly that but as the post says, here are the basics. I am sure different people have weird & wonderful ideas & methods but commonsense is the key here, I have been cleaning fermenters for donkey's years & only ever hosed them to death, soaked them up to overnight & cleaned & sanitised with StellaSan again.

 

[Back Brewing]

16 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Just check out FAQs.  

 

https://www.diybeer.com/au/faqs/#FAQ_1_11

This link should be a sticky at the head of each topic so new brewers can see the answers to any questions thay have and then get their own processes as they progress

Edited April 23 by Back Brewing

[jennyss]

17 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

never letting the stirring spoon scrape or touch the insides of your Coopers or other plastic FV whilst mixing up your wort.

@iBooz2, You are raising the bar very high! I will have to try mixing my brew without touching the sides of the FV, but the cat is already out of the bag.

[Classic Brewing Co]

47 minutes ago, jennyss said:

@iBooz2, You are raising the bar very high! I will have to try mixing my brew without touching the sides of the FV, but the cat is already out of the bag.

I should mention that I am aware of that too, but over the years I have seen many home brewers using even metal/wooden spoons.

It is important to keep the spoon away from the sides & bottom.