Advice on cleaning and sanitizing

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Ridenour64

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Hey guys I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for cleaning and sanitizing. I use oxy clean to clean. And star San as a sanitizer. My main question is how to clean hard to reAch places such and my siphone tubes. My auto siphons. Airlocks wine thiefs etc. How am I supposed to be able toable to scrub or wine those places down. Is simply sitting in the oxy clean going to cleanse or do I have to reach those spots?

Also. In attempting to clean my siphone hose with a wire and cloth I scratched the inside of my siphon tube. Is the tube no longer any good? I know you can't have scratched buckets, idk if this matters because the wine is not actually sitting in the tube.

Thanks in advance.
 
Sorry for all of the typos. I am on my iPhone and the app was not working too well.
 
Usually if you soak in some type of soft cleaning solution you should be good. Just vigorously pump the siphon after it has been sitting in cleaning solution for a while. You shouldn't have too much gunk in there assuming you clean right away, that might be the best advice. After you use something get it soaking right away. PBW is a cleaning solution that is very effective if you let things sit overnight.

Scratches in plastic are trouble. It is probably not worth the risk using that again. Next time use soft clothes.

Homebrewers Unite @ The Cleveland Brew Shop
http://clevelandbrewshop.com/
 
Thanks a lot for the fast reply! So you think sitting in oxy clean is efficient enough? I will consider PBW next time. I'd like to finish off the oxy clean tho.

And yeah I thought you'd say that about to siphon tube.
 
Ridenour64 said:
Thanks a lot for the fast reply! So you think sitting in oxy clean is efficient enough? I will consider PBW next time. I'd like to finish off the oxy clean tho.

And yeah I thought you'd say that about to siphon tube.

With hoses, air locks, giving them a quick rinse after using keeps them clean. Every now and then an air lock will get gummed up, I use baby bottle brushes to get them scrubbed out.

Any of my plastics get cloudy are retired for new.
 
Ok thanks. I feel like this cleaning and sanitizing thing is so hard. Or I'm just making it more complicated then what it is. I need to find a routine or a good way to do all of it.
 
After you are done runs some hot tap water through them to dissolve any sugar left in it, you can then use a solution of potassium metabilsulfite to run through it, drain dry and store. We also rinse off in KM before using tubing, thieves etc. Its cheap, you can make up a couple of gallons easy to just dump stuff into it. Buy it in powder form, not camden, a lot cheaper and easier to use than the camden. WVMJ
 
I almost never need to clean, but always sanitize. An ounce of prevention... I.e. rinse you tubing and siphons immediatly after using them with hot water. The spray nozzel on your kitchen sink can be your best friend for reaching hard to get spots.

After that I use either Star San (love this stuff) or K-meta only when I go to brew again.

Sounds like you are already doing good work cleaning, just try using 'high pressure' or 'a good soak' for those hard to reach places! :)
 
Thanks for all the advice! I'm currently on my second batch of wine which is an island mist peach Chardonnay. My first batch was welches grape and it went bad along the way somehow.
 
I just transferred my wine into my better bottle. And looking closer at my bucket, there are a ton of scratches which is crazy because I stirred in a pot and when I mixed I didn't hit the sides at all? Do most experienced brewers still do primary In buckets or just a bigger carboy?

I'm debating just buying a 6.5 glass carboy and a 6 gal glass carboy to avoid scratches. Will a glass carboy scratch when stirring bentonite or other ingredients?

This is kind of frustrating because I just paid 75$ for this kit and I'm thinking I shoulda just bought glass.
 
Ridenour64 said:
I just transferred my wine into my better bottle. And looking closer at my bucket, there are a ton of scratches which is crazy because I stirred in a pot and when I mixed I didn't hit the sides at all? Do most experienced brewers still do primary In buckets or just a bigger carboy?

I'm debating just buying a 6.5 glass carboy and a 6 gal glass carboy to avoid scratches. Will a glass carboy scratch when stirring bentonite or other ingredients?

This is kind of frustrating because I just paid 75$ for this kit and I'm thinking I shoulda just bought glass.

I primary ferment mainly in plastic buckets. If the scratches become stained, then replace, they don't last forever. I have done juice in a larger carboy, but it is useful to have buckets.
 
So I can still use the bucket even with scratches? As long as I clean and sanitize well? I was just worried that my money went down the drain after only one use.

This stuff isn't as easy as I thought it would be.
 
Ridenour64 said:
So I can still use the bucket even with scratches? As long as I clean and sanitize well? I was just worried that my money went down the drain after only one use.

This stuff isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Clean immediately after you are done fermenting, and the bucket will be fine.

Once you do a few batches, it'll become routine and won't seem so hard.
 
If/when you decide to purchase additional carboys, do read some of the threads comparing glass to Better Bottles. There are strong opinions on either side of the debate, and I'm not advocating either one here -- you'd have to make up your own mind anyway -- but there are definitely advantages and disadvantages to each, for sure.
 
Which do you prefer. Seems that glass would be easier to maintain and clean. Also last longer. Those things have to be pretty hard to scratch.
 
The glass is definitely easier to clean than plastic and cannot easily be scratched. But, it's not scratching the glass that is an issue but rather the glass scratching you. :( Be aware that a 6 gallon glass jug filled with liquid can weigh over 50 pounds...I don't know how much pressure that is against the glass, but a flaw in the glass from manufacturing or a small crack in it from rough handling or whatever and a bad moment can be disasterous. You might want to check this thread out: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium-376523/

From what I can tell, broken carboys don't happen that frequently but if it's you it happens to then that's one time too many. Plenty of folks use them for years without any problems, though. Lot's of folks swear by'em.

I've just started fermenting mead and have two new 3-gallon glass carboys, one of which I've got filled with a traditional mead. When I was washing and sanitizing the carboy and then moving it filled with mead I really felt uncomfortable. I've also got two old 5 or 6 gallon glass carboys that I had intended to use but I think I'll put some type of plant or something in them instead. I figure since I'm just starting and in the process of gathering up equipment that now is the time to pick what type of vessels I want to focus on. I figure I'll still use some gallon jugs and will probably use the 3-gallon carboys some but I plan on concentrating on a different type of vessel for fermenting and aging in.

What I am planning on for the future is using cornelius kegs for my fermentation vessels. I'll primary in a bucket then rack into a keg for secondary. From that point I'll simply rack from keg to keg and the mead will never see daylight until it's dispensed for bottling or drinking....doing it this way should should cut down on oxidation issues, too. Some folks primary in kegs and the mead or wine is never exposed to oxygen or daylight at all until it is either bottled or drank. These are the same type of kegs used for dispensing and carbonating beer and soft drinks.

Anyhow, just wanted to mention all this to you. We all got our decisions to make. :)

Best wishes,
Ed
 
Very informative! This is only my second attempt at making wine and I have a lot to learn! Thanks a lot!
 
That thread you posted is pretty scary also. Crazy to think that could just happen like that.
 
I love glass, for pretty much anything I do. You can see what's going on inside, no fear of off flavours from plastic or leaching chemicals of any sort, easy to clean and hard to scratch.
 
My intention was to make you aware of possibilities so that if you use carboys regularly that you are cautious with them.

I'm not that experienced with them (I'm a newbee, remember :) ) but some things that make sense to me:

*Inspect them regularly for small cracks in the glass
*Don't pour hot liquids into a cool carboy or really hot liquids into a room temp carboy. Widely differing bottle and liquid can cause cracks.
*Many folks set their carboys in milk crates for bottom support and I would assume for a catchment for some of the glass should a carboy break.
*Don't set a full carboy down on a concrete floor...you will not be able to precisely set the carboy down and one point of the bottle will "bump" first with all the mass of the liquid inside the bottle pressing against that single contact point. Put old carpet, thick carboard, foam matting, whatever down to set the carboy on.
*Some people use skateboards or small dollies to move filled carboys...use with caution.
*I really don't like the idea of those metal, plastic coated handles that go around the carboys' necks. They put sideways tension on the glass neck of the bottle. Definitely don't use them to carry a full carboy.
*Move glass carboys as little as possible. Fill them at the spot they will ferment/age.
*Wear heavy shoes or boots when working with the carboys...shattered glass will come to rest at "feet level", though injuries happen during the glass's trip to the floor, too.
*Know your own capability in regards to holding and carrying heavy objects and don't try to impress yourself with your awesome strenght. :rolleyes:

Here's a couple of threads that I came up with by searching for carboy safety:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/glass-carboy-safety-tips-193317/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/careful-glass-carboys-297235/index2.html

The article below is promoting moving away from glass...one side of the plastic vs. glass debate. There's a link within the short article to a list of carboy accidents that include a short description of what happened. Again, I want to emphasize that these accidents are infrequent but they *do* happen...I guess it depends on how much risk we want to take...or not take.
http://brewing.lustreking.com/articles/nomoreglass.html

Best wishes,
Ed
 
Bluespark, you're right about the glass jugs being easy to clean and more or less inert in regards to retaining or giving off smells/chemicals. Being hard to scratch definitely helps out on reducing hiding spots for bacteria, etc.,. It makes me feel good to see a sparkling clean glass container...and it's easy to tell if you "missed a spot".

The ability to view what's going on inside a glass container during fermentation is nice for curiosity but for the must inside it's not good...a light-proof container would be better. A pH meter/strips and a hydrometer should be the primary tools for fermentation/must management. I'm like you, I do like to see what's going on inside. ;) I would consider Better Bottles but the debates over oxygen permeability of their plastic is keeping me away from them. I'm mostly making mead (honey wine) which has longer aging requirements than regular grape wines. As mentioned earlier, though, I'm going to all kegs eventually and will adapt to a non-visual management. :)

Ed
 
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