Sanitizing...

I'm going to be purchasing my equipment to start brewing this weekend (was going to wait until I'm finished with finals in a couple weeks, but Austin's sale is speeding up that process).

I am going to buy a carboy for fermenting and a plastic bucket for racking/bottling. One thing I thought of was to get an extra bucket for mixing sanitizer solutions in/actually sanitizing things in. Do you guys use buckets for this or another type of vessel like a large plastic storage container?

It seems a bucket would be cheaper, but probably more "cramped."

I put this here rather than the sanitizing forum since I am a "newb", but if that is in error, I apologize.

Thoughts/suggestions are highly appreciated.

any large tub will work I use a rubbermade storage box and a wall paper tray for long items like racking canes

I bought a 10 gallon Sterilite storage container from Walmart for 4 bucks. It's the way to go.

I just use a 5G home depot bucket for sanitizing. Easy to move and cheap. Anything will work that doesn't leak too fast.

OT: "womencantsail"? Okay, but they are perfect for motorboatin'!

What sanitizer are you using (or planning to use)?

If StarSan don't bother with a dedicated mixin tub or bucket. Just go to WalMart or any other local Reverse Osmosis (Culligan around here) provider and get a 5 Gallon bottle. Mix the StarSan directly in the bottle.

Do get a spray bottle. Pour some of your StarSan solution into teh spray bottle and apply the sanitizer genorously to all surfaces of anything that will touch the wort. Spray the outsides, spray the insides, spray down the tubes, etc...

This will be enough. And the solution in the water bottle will last for months to well over a year. But you gotta use the RO or distilled waters!

+1 on the spray bottle... also, i rarely pour more than 1/2 gallon in the bottom of a cheap wally world bucket to sanitize tubes and such... with the autosiphon, i just run some stansan through it pump style in the bucket. i've brewed like 8 batches so far and used about 2 oz. of my big starsan bottle.

You really don't need to mix up a ton of starsan (or iodophor for that matter) to sanitize everything. I rarely mix up more that a gallon or so. Most everything can be done with a spray bottle, a vinator to sanitize bottles, or just by swirling the sanitizer. It is wet contact. so all you really need to do is swish it for 30 seconds or so....

There's a lot of good info and tips on using those sanitizers in this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/?highlight=sanitizer+question

Revvy said:

You really don't need to mix up a ton of starsan (or iodophor for that matter) to sanitize everything.

Click to expand...

True.

But the carboys are convieniently packaged in a compatible volume with the integral measuring cup. After a year of storage in a non-insulated, non-conditioned garage my solution maintained perfect pH even with dumping used (keg sanitizing) solutions back into the carboy.

At that rate, my 32oz bottle is good for 32 years.

+1 on a gal of sanitizer. Don't need much more than that.

I use a cooler to oxyclean labels off bottles and to sanitize my gear in. It can multi use (BEER) and it frees up the bathtub for the SWMBO!

I mix my sanitizer in my primary (Ale Pail) and sanitizer everything in there. I pour it into my glass carboy just before i need to fill the primary.

After the yeast is pitched and the bucket fermenter is sealed, I dump the carboy, and seal it with sanitized plastic srap and close it off with a rubberband, ready to use.

Then i make about 2 cups of solution on racking day, and run it through my autosiphon and hoses.

GilaMinumBeer: I came up with this nick back in high school and I still find it humorous, so I continue to use it. Plus, it's a conversation piece if nothing else.

Back to the topic at hand...

Thank you all for the tips.

I will be using StarSan and I was planning on getting a spray bottle anyway (and never dreamed of actually mixing up 5 gallons of cleaner)--so at least it seems like I'm on the right track.

I'll look into picking up a cheapo container (I'm sure it won't be a problem with all the Targets and such around). And I have a couple coolers, so I can use those for the bottles.

While we're on the subject of bottles...

I've started collecting them lately from beer I've been drinking and from friends. I have not cleaned any of them yet, so would you recommend a go-round in the dishwasher before I get ready to sanitize and bottle them?

I've seen/read about plenty of different methods, but this seems like the simplest one. And I would prefer to not mess around with the oven...

If you are using Starsan then get yourself a 1-2 gallon garden sprayer good to store and to sanitize with along with a 32 oz spray bottle your good to go .I use distilled water to mix . I switched a few months ago from Iodopher and wont be looking back

womencantsail said:

I'll look into picking up a cheapo container (I'm sure it won't be a problem with all the Targets and such around). And I have a couple coolers, so I can use those for the bottles.

Click to expand...

find a local Chinese place and ask if they have any extra soy sauce buckets.

JeepDiver said:

find a local Chinese place and ask if they have any extra soy sauce buckets.

Click to expand...

+1 to this...that's what I have for general cleanup and sanitizing...

Anybody who has brewed apfelwein should have several nice plastic 1 gallon "Tree Top Apple Juice" containers.

I use these for everything: Starsan, Blow off bottles, measuring water, holding sanitized water for topping off or rehydrating yeast, etc.

IMO with a spray bottle there's never a need for more than one gallon of Star-san. I use a syringe and add 6 ml of concentrate to a gallon and off I go.