BTF Idophor

How long will a 5 gallon bucket mixed with water and Idophor last?

After Im done drinking my homebrew I rinse the bottles then soak the bottle in the solution until the bucket becomes full with more bottles. Once the bucket is full, I then empty the bottles and place on the drying tree.

Is this wrong to leave the bottles in the solution for a long time?

How about Chlorine? Would it work?

thanks
808

I'm not sure how long it takes but Idophor will turn in to just water after awhile and have no sanitizing effects. I wouldn't use chlorine, my thoughts.

I use Idofor as well but it only effective while it is still the yellowy colour, after that it isn't doing anything

You'd be better off using a bucket of a (thin) bleach solution 3ml/L (at least your pocket will). I've left bottles soaking for weeks with no adverse effects. They rinse easily, then I use iodophor in a spray just before using the items.

DAAB said:

You'd be better off using a bucket of a (thin) bleach solution 3ml/L (at least your pocket will). I've left bottles soaking for weeks with no adverse effects. They rinse easily, then I use iodophor in a spray just before using the items.

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Bleach will also evaporate out of water after a time, although it will take longer for it to become useless for sanitzing than iodophor. At least with iodophor you have knowledge of it's lack of effect, as the color fades - with bleach, you have to go by smell, which is a very poor indicator.

There are also chlorine sanitizers that break down like the idofor. I'd be really careful with the bleach method and don't mix it too strong. I tried a batch of bleachy pilsener once. It was actually my brother's batch. Really.

808beer said:

After Im done drinking my homebrew I rinse the bottles then soak the bottle in the solution until the bucket becomes full with more bottles. Once the bucket is full, I then empty the bottles and place on the drying tree.

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Keep in mind that you aren't cleaning the bottles at all. Just rinsing and sanitizing. If they do get dirty, you can't rinse or sanitize dirt.

Wild

I think an Oxyclean solution would work well. It will take the lables off as well. Make sure you rinse really well....

A good tight lid on the bucket would certainly slow down the evaporation, keeping the sanitizer effective longer.

maybe the beer guru's can validate this idea but, if he were to use the iodaphor, then maybe after the bottles are sanatized and dry he puts a piece of sanatized plastic wrap over the neck. would this keep out the bad guys?

subwyking said:

.. if he were to use the iodaphor, then maybe after the bottles are sanatized and dry he puts a piece of sanatized plastic wrap over the neck. would this keep out the bad guys?

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If you sanitize just before you bottle, it is sufficient to just keep them upside-down until you use them. This will drain the sanitizer and keep germs out of the bottle. Germs (even airborne ones) can't move by themselves and cannot enter bottles that are upside down unless there is a draft into the bottle which you don't have. (Except it they are on a fly that flies into the bottle).

good Idophor link:
http://kotmf.com/articles/iodophor.php

But yes, plastic wrap or foil will work too. Just some more steps you have to make, though.

Kai

Kai said:

If you sanitize just before you bottle, it is sufficient to just keep them upside-down until you use them. This will drain the sanitizer and keep germs out of the bottle. Germs (even airborne ones) can't move by themselves and cannot enter bottles that are upside down unless there is a draft into the bottle which you don't have. (Except it they are on a fly that flies into the bottle).

good Idophor link:
http://kotmf.com/articles/iodophor.php

But yes, plastic wrap or foil will work too. Just some more steps you have to make, though.

Kai

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thanks for the link, that was a great article on iodophor. do you suppose that the same draining/air dry technique for a 12.5 ppm Iodophor solution is also feasible for sanitizing bottles? i wonder now why i needed special bottle rinser for the faucet if i wont be needing to rinse my beer bottles anymore.

deranged_hermit said:

i wonder now why i needed special bottle rinser for the faucet if i wont be needing to rinse my beer bottles anymore.

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You still need to CLEAN the bottles before sanitizing them. The bottle washer is good for that... scrub them with a bottle brush, rinse with the bottle washer, then sanitize and don't rinse again...

-walker

deranged_hermit said:

thanks for the link, that was a great article on iodophor. do you suppose that the same draining/air dry technique for a 12.5 ppm Iodophor solution is also feasible for sanitizing bottles? i wonder now why i needed special bottle rinser for the faucet if i wont be needing to rinse my beer bottles anymore.

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I don't rinse my bottles either, but I drain them for quite some time (10 min or more).

Kai

Walker said:

You still need to CLEAN the bottles before sanitizing them. The bottle washer is good for that... scrub them with a bottle brush, rinse with the bottle washer, then sanitize and don't rinse again...

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I actually clean my bottles after I emptied them. I shake water very vigorously to get all the yeast out and rinse them very well. This way I don't have to clean them on bottling day. Just sanitizing them is fine.

Kai

Kai said:

If you sanitize just before you bottle, it is sufficient to just keep them upside-down until you use them.

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there you go. i bet if you combined all the beer knowledge here you could make like an "encylopedia beertanica".....

jornellas said:

I think an Oxyclean solution would work well. It will take the lables off as well. Make sure you rinse really well....

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Oxyclean isn't really a sanitizer...it's more of a cleaner. Further, you can't let it sit very long; within a few hours the oxygen outgasses from the solution and at that point you don't get any more cleaning effect from it.