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Cleaning and Sanatizing, the Howto

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Sabar

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 28, 2009
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Loganton, Pa
I know there has to be a detailed list of how and what to do some where here. I cant seem to find it.

I know, after I have three batches started this is a fine time to ask questions on one of the most important basics. but here goes.

So far I have used several ways to sanitize equipment.

One way has been to fill the Primary up with bleach water and soak everything in there, (yep read that idea here) then rinse everything with tap water. That seemed a bit counter productive, so when I talked to a local brew shop
they presented me with,

Option two, I don't remember what exactly it was ( I tossed the bottle) but it was for stopping fermentation and sanitizing. the guy told me to mix it with one gallon water and swirl it around or soak things in it. he also told me to keep it in a jug for up to a few months and to reuse it.

So what do all of you use? do you rinse after? how do you do Carboys? fill it completely or swirl the heck out of what ever solution you are using?

I realize this is one of the most basic and important steps performed, and mentioned often in these forums. how ever I rarely find any details about it.

One thing I am thinking of doing, is making a tube out of PVC pipe, that I can fill with some kind of solution and drop my stiring spoon, and mixing/aerating drill tool into.

Thanks for any and all, idea's, experiences or life lessons and one can impart on us newbees

Sabar
 
Whatever you do, don't use Iodophor for sanitizing plastic equipment. This is by far the biggest mistake I have ever done in my meadmaking. It baically rendered all the equipment I used it on completely useless, as it's been impossible to get rid of the iodide that seems to have bound to the plastic somehow.
 
Does Iodophor leave an odor? or stain plastic? what is it that makes the plastic equipment unusable? I am trying to get as much information as possible into this one string.

Thanks
Sabar
 
It's primarily the odor, and it is transfered to whatever liquid it's in contact with for a longer period of time. I tried to use it to make one batch anyway, with cheap honey, but the Iodide flavour made it undrinkable (unfortunately it seemed to have been a fine mead otherwise).

Even after making this whole new batch in it, and sanatizing again for several months after the use of Iodophor, the odor still remains.

It did also leave a few stains, especially in the tubing.

I should also say, that I think I used at least ten times too strong a dose, but even so with the experience I had, I will certainly never attempt to use it again.
 
Using roughly the dose recommended on the bottle, I've had some discolouration of plastic things from iodophor, but no issues whatsoever with taste or smell being transfered to the mead. That stuff is SUPER concentrated, if you even doubled it you'd be pretty likely to have issues, let alone if you actually added something like 10 times as much as you should have.

I keep a bucket full of iodophor solution in one of my sinks most of the time (driving my girl nuts I think!), especially while I have batches in primary. I rack some of it into my carboys, or pour it in or whatever, swirl and slosh it, then dump it back into the bucket, and dip the neck of the carboy/jug into the solution to sanitize it.

What I really love is that I can just toss whatever tool I'm using back into the solution when I'm mixing up my must and such, and dunk my hands and fore arms in every time I grab something, so I pretty much stay constantly sanitized, even if I touch un-sanitized things during the process (as long as I then dunk my hands again).

I've tried just sanitizing everything at the beginning, but to me, having the ability to constantly resanitize throughout the process is fantastic.

Plus, whenever I want to take a measurement I just dunk everything I need, shake it off and go ahead.

Iodophor = great in my personal experience so far.
 
Have you checked out the NewBee guide?

Iodophor at the proper dosage (12.5 ppm) won't leave a taste. You will get staining of plastic parts over time, but that is it. Using it at 10 times concentrated means it is no longer a no-rinse sanitizer.
 
akueck said:
Iodophor at the proper dosage (12.5 ppm) won't leave a taste. You will get staining of plastic parts over time, but that is it. Using it at 10 times concentrated means it is no longer a no-rinse sanitizer.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect it to be no rinse at high dosage, but the fact that it essentially polluted my plastic equipment without the possibility of cleaning, ever, makes me find it scary to use in any dosage. I'm sure it works, but I'm going to stay away from it.
 
Smarrikåka said:
I wouldn't expect it to be no rinse at high dosage, but the fact that it essentially polluted my plastic equipment without the possibility of cleaning, ever, makes me find it scary to use in any dosage. I'm sure it works, but I'm going to stay away from it.
Click to expand...

Star San is a good alternative. Although I routinely use iodophor, since microbes are very good at adapting to survive in the most hostile of environments, I will take a sanitizer holiday every 6 months. During that time I switch to Star San (I used to switch to bleach) for a few weeks to eliminate any mutants that may be starting to enjoy the iodophor. I have no documentation to support this practice, but it makes me feel good.

And yes, even regular strength 12.5-25 ppm iodophor will permanently stain plastic buckets, tubing, and implements along with clothes, shoes, and certain flooring material if it remains in prolonged contact. I have not, however, found any lingering odor after a container has been rinsed and soaked following the iodophor use. I am pretty sure your equipment was not damaged, other than the brownish discoloration from the iodophor. Still, there are plenty of alternatives if you don't like it.

Medsen
 
Medsen Fey said:
I am pretty sure your equipment was not damaged, other than the brownish discoloration from the iodophor. Still, there are plenty of alternatives if you don't like it.
Click to expand...

Oh, it was damaged. Believe me, there's no mistaking that, and it wasn't stains. I only noticed stains after reading about the effects iodophor. There is a slight possibility that it was the previous batch that damaged it though. This batch was an experementive wild yeast methelgin, with a lot of floral content that stayed in longer than it should have. But I find the iodophor to be more likely, and the lingering odor, was more reminiscant of it.

Either way, there are plenty of alternatives as you say.
 
Well, this all happened over 1 year ago, maybe even 2 years ago. I don't have the equipment any more. But I let it stay soaked with warm water and a high dose of dishwashing detergent, as that was the only thing I had that I felt might work. I did this for several days in a row, but it didn't have any apparent effect (and like I said earlier, not even making a new mead, and cleaning up after that helped remove it). So I eventually gave up on it and decided to dispose of it.
 
Back to Sabar's question -- try the search function again. There is some good information on sanitizing methods, and I recall a really detailed post by Oskaar on this subject.
 
Thank you Pewter,

That is exactly the kind of things I am looking for. to bad the links from Oscaar's post are broken, that I am sure would have also been interesting to read.

I know the newbee guide has alot of useful info in it but I was hoping to get more ideas on the actual how to part.

One thing I am glad to see, in the newbee guide is, in the chart my B-Brite that I have been using is listed.

Oh and the search tool, Yes it is very very helpful. I have no clue how many posts it has led me to reading that always include interesting and helpful information. How ever I have to admit sometimes it can be a little overwhelming and not real specific to what your looking for.

Oh and the PVC holder, looks like a wonderful idea for cleaning and sanitizing. One Question i have there is.

If I have a mead I am told to stir twice a day daily for 5 days. can I fill that tube with B-Brite solution and reuse it storing my stirrer in it for the 5 days. assuming I pull it out and rinse it off every time?

Thanks every one
Sabar
 
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