Corny Sanitation Question

To sanitize my cornies I fill them with the proper iodophor solution, shoot in some co2 and purge, then let them sit for a short while. Then I push out the iodophor into another corny and repeat. So I have two question.

1. How many time do you think I can reuse the iodophor before it becomes ineffective?

2. If I am not filling the corny right away I should be able to put it on the shelf and it would be ready to fill at a later date? With the corny sanitized and pressurized it should remain that way if the corny is properly sealed? Am I correct in my thinking or am setting myself up for contamination?

plinytheporter said:

To sanitize my cornies I fill them with the proper iodophor solution, shoot in some co2 and purge, then let them sit for a short while. Then I push out the iodophor into another corny and repeat. So I have two question.

1. How many time do you think I can reuse the iodophor before it becomes ineffective?

2. If I am not filling the corny right away I should be able to put it on the shelf and it would be ready to fill at a later date? With the corny sanitized and pressurized it should remain that way if the corny is properly sealed? Am I correct in my thinking or am setting myself up for contamination?

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You are correct - I have never used Iodophor beforeoreor... I know you can check the PH of Starsan to see if it's still good...

Once clean they will store quite a while. I leave pressure on them, and if the pressure is still there when I go to use them, I'm good to go. I would sanitize the outer parts though - Lid, popit, posts, and the like. A spray bottle of Starsan works great for this.

plinytheporter said:

To sanitize my cornies I fill them with the proper iodophor solution, shoot in some co2 and purge, then let them sit for a short while. Then I push out the iodophor into another corny and repeat. So I have two question.

1. How many time do you think I can reuse the iodophor before it becomes ineffective?

2. If I am not filling the corny right away I should be able to put it on the shelf and it would be ready to fill at a later date? With the corny sanitized and pressurized it should remain that way if the corny is properly sealed? Am I correct in my thinking or am setting myself up for contamination?

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I never do a clean hold on mine. I'll prep up 2 gal of iodaphore that I use to sanitize the kegs, tube, siphon... You also don't need to fill thekegs either. A gallon in each shaken up is fine. I push between the two to make sure both in and outs are flushed. You're already making up at least some solution for tubes anyway. I've saved some in a grey spray bottle to protect it from light and it looke ok a week later but I don't think the risk of saving is worth the few cents, IMHO.

I am new to my keg system; I have done the same as above and I am not sure these questions have been answered yet.

Without exposure to air (pressurized in keg) will the iodophor go bad?
I just learned today that it typically only holds out for one day in an open bucket; something that I didn't know before. Thinking that I may need to invest in starsan.

When transferring solution from one keg to another, some solution is left.
The keg will remain pressurized with this small amount of solution on the bottom.
Is this harmless; Could I just transfer my fermented beer on top?
I am thinking that if iodine does evaporate even in a pressurized environment then I would only be left with a small amount of water that would be harmless to my beer.

You definitely don't want to risk dumping beer into a keg with standing Iodophor solution, regardless of how long it's been "aging". It doesn't take much to be detectable in a glass, and then you have five gallons of brew to consume, each pour reminding you about your mistake.

I store my kegs loaded to the lid with Iodophor, but I always empty the keg, drain the dip tubes by pressing their poppets, then invert the keg for at least 10 minutes to let it drip drain, before filling...

Cheers!

To answer the first question: Iodophor contains iodine, which is light-reactive. It doesn't evaporate from the solution, it is destroyed by light. The sanitizing power is lost when the color is gone from the solution.

Iodine is also an oxidizer. I wouldn't recommend leaving it in contact with stainless for prolonged periods of time.

So drip dry the keg. Check, I was already doing this but was hoping I could skip this step.

General consensus from a quick search yields that Iodine is safe for all metals.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sanitizing-corny-keg-w-iodophor-175182/
If this is incorrect please elaborate.

In a pressurized keg, there is no light to destroy the iodine so can I assume that it is still potent? If the color is a fairly accurate judge I will pull some from the keg today to check it; I haven't touched it in a few months.

I have two kegs to clean this weekend, I am trying to find the best way to prep them for my next brew date. I want to avoid having to sanitize on brew day ( I ferment in kegs ).

mredge73 said:

So drip dry the keg. Check, I was already doing this but was hoping I could skip this step.

General consensus from a quick search yields that Iodine is safe for all metals.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sanitizing-corny-keg-w-iodophor-175182/
If this is incorrect please elaborate.

In a pressurized keg, there is no light to destroy the iodine so can I assume that it is still potent? If the color is a fairly accurate judge I will pull some from the keg today to check it; I haven't touched it in a few months.

I have two kegs to clean this weekend, I am trying to find the best way to prep them for my next brew date. I want to avoid having to sanitize on brew day ( I ferment in kegs ).

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I stand by my opinion that long term exposure of stainless to any halogen, including iodine is a bad idea. I have used iodophor to sanitize kegs, but always used them right away.

**edited to add that I wouldn't even let iodophor drip dry from a keg and then store it. I would rinse it and resanitize just before use.

Aside from the concerns over the contact of iodine with stainless, I also would not take the (admittedly small) risk of ineffective sanitation to save five or ten minutes on brew day.

Adam

The foaming goodness of Starsan is great for kegs!
Fill with a couple of gallons, seal and shake, bleed out the foam from the poppets, empty and fill!
I love the foam tower as the keg is filling! Keeps everything out during the filling process.