Killing bugs?

I just topped up my 65G lambic... and I was wondering what I had to do to the carboy, its glass. so bleach for a while, then it will be fine? bleach, rinse bleach?

what about the funnel? sour only funnel? this is the reason i haven't kegged my Berlier yet.... need to figure out how to clean the stuff!

thanks

Plastic needs to be used for sour beers only. Glass and SS can be boiled or bleached.

Provided you keep the plastic in good condition (scratch free), you can use them interchangeably between batches without fear of cross-contamination. I've been doing just that and never had an issue with infection that wasn't purposeful.

The bugs are resilient, but not indestructible. A weak bleach solution will do the trick.

They can help.

I would do PBW and StarSan for the glass. You could use the plastic for sour only, but it will probably be OK.

Remember, your grain and everything thing pre-boil is covered in bugs. Practice good cleaning and sanitizing routine and you will be OK.

flyangler18 said:

Provided you keep the plastic in good condition (scratch free), you can use them interchangeably between batches without fear of cross-contamination. I've been doing just that and never had an issue with infection that wasn't purposeful.

The bugs are resilient, but not indestructible. A weak bleach solution will do the trick.

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thats what i figued... I dont use the funnel very often! I might just get another one...

now when I rack my BW into the keg, I might have to have a sour racking cain!

I have a separate cane and tubing for my sours. (They're both so cheap, why not?)

I also have a better bottle devoted to sour beers only, although I'm not sure that's really needed. Again, I have a sufficient number of carboys that I don't really NEED to use that one for regular beers, so I figured I'd just keep it separated. I've marked all of my "special" equipment with red electrical tape so that I can remember which is which.

Even with my dedicated BB, my sanitation plan for it is: Oxyclean for a day or two (for general "cleaning"), then Iodophor for a day or two, then StarSan. For normal beers I'll skip the Iodophor step. I refuse to let bleach anywhere near my brewery simply because I have a very sensitive nose to the smell of it.

Munsoned said:

then Iodophor for a day or two

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If it's red, it's dead.

Beerrific said:

If it's red, it's dead.

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Yes, but if it's Munsoned, it's lazy.