Aeration stone sanitation

Are aeration stones difficult to santize with all those thousands of little holes? Do you just clean and soak in a santitizer along with everything else?

I am thinking about getting one and was wondering about this.

Thanks.

BrewStef

I soak mine in Star-san before use. Immediately after use I stick it back in the Star-san and crack the O2 to blow any possible contaminants out of the holes. Then I hang it up to dry and do the same thing again next time...no issues so far.

The instructions with mine said to boil it for 5 min.

I would also imagine that if you dont cut the air pump off at all when sticking into the wort and then swtiching to the sanitizer, then nothing could soak into the air stone or stem, with the air constantly pushing out of the stone... so a good star san soak may do it...it seems like it would make sense.. I would probably still boil it to be safe since it really doesnt take that much time...

Jester

Could you soak it in iodophor instead of starsan and be safe?

the directions that came with my airstone says that it should be soaked in idophor for 20 minutes after use if you dont want to boil it... so you should be safe..

Jester

brackbrew said:

Could you soak it in iodophor instead of starsan and be safe?

Click to expand...

Iodophor will work as well. That's what I use .

But Starsan might be better since it has cleaning proprties and can break up organic matter that is in the aeration stone.

Kai

Thanks for your responses. I will turn on the air before immersing it in wort, and turn it off once removed from the wort, then soak it in my brewday bucket-o-iodophor both before and after use.

Cheers!

BrewStef

I used to soak my stone and tube in iodophor, but for the first time yesterday I boiled it. The plastic tube has turned a milky white. Im not sure if the tube should be replaced or if it is just discolored. Any thoughts?

Also how often should you change out the inline filters?

- magno

I have used mine in milky-white state for many batches now without any negative effect. Still works fine.