I never use soap

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dhoyt

dhoyt

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I didnt know if anybody else has been getting away with this? I have never used any kind on cleaner or soap with any of my brewing equipment. I usually rinse everything when Im done with it like I have OCD, or maybe I have OCD ;) I havent run into any issues yet... I have been brewing for a couple of years now. Am I asking for disaster?

Another subject - I need some sanitation ideas. Since I most likely have some form of OCD haha I usually fill carboys to the brim as well and buckets and soak everthing in the sanitizer. As you can imagine I go through alot. Am I going to far? Should I just make one gallon batches and spray everything done? What kind techniques does everybody else use? Thanks Cheers!
 
I usually just rinse or at least a quick dunk in oxyclean. For sanitizer, I make a 1 gallon batch, dump in my carboy and shake. Star San is a contact Sanitizer so no worries here.
 
i wash fermenter bucket and carboy with a little bit of soap, not tons just a little after every use and store until next time. Last thing before putting the wort in the fermenter is that it gets dosed with star san, i don't fill it up full, but use 5 gallons of water with one oz of star san and shake it around for a few minutes.

I use a similar process with bottles.
 
What I read dhoyt to say was that he doesn't use any kind of cleaner - soap, oxiclean, pbw - on his equipment. Am I understanding correctly?

I think if you immediately rinse and rinse really really well, it should be fine. As mentioned above, the krausen rings in the carboys/buckets would be the big issue for me, but I suspect intensive rinsing and swirling would work for that, too.

As for your sanitation question, dhoyt, I use idophor and usually fill the vessel i'm sanitizing to three gallons. I use the three gallons to sanitize everything I need for that day, including the vessel - by swirling, pouring, or wiping the portions that are not underwater. Haven't had any problems.
 
Pappers said:
What I read dhoyt to say was that he doesn't use any kind of cleaner - soap, oxiclean, pbw - on his equipment. Am I understanding correctly?

I think if you immediately rinse and rinse really really well, it should be fine. As mentioned above, the krausen rings in the carboys/buckets would be the big issue for me, but I suspect intensive rinsing and swirling would work for that, too.

As for your sanitation question, dhoyt, I use idophor and usually fill the vessel i'm sanitizing to three gallons. I use the three gallons to sanitize everything I need for that day, including the vessel - by swirling, pouring, or wiping the portions that are not underwater. Haven't had any problems.
Click to expand...


Yeah thats correct, I dont use any kind of cleaner period. Just good scrubing and a lot of rinsing with a jet bottle rinser for carboys. For syphons and hoses, once my buckets are clean and rinsed ill fill them a good portion of the way and then syphon that clean water through for 5 to 10 mins how ever long it takes.. I clean everything once Im done with them so there isnt much time for stuff to get caked on and stubborn.

So my sanitation techniques seem typical then I guess... Just seems like there has to be a better way than using all that sanitizer everytime I do anything...
 
Way too much sanitizer. I have a covered 5 gallon bucket that I keep StarSan mixed in. I pour about a cup from that into my clean carboy/bucket and soak my clean tools/hoses in the bucket. Shake the carboy to cover the insides, dump out what hasn't turned to foam and I'm good to go.

Every once in a while I check the pH of the Starsan mixture, and add more concentrate as necessary. Lasts quite a while.
 
dhoyt said:
I didnt know if anybody else has been getting away with this? I have never used any kind on cleaner or soap with any of my brewing equipment. I usually rinse everything when Im done with it like I have OCD, or maybe I have OCD ;) I havent run into any issues yet... I have been brewing for a couple of years now. Am I asking for disaster?

Another subject - I need some sanitation ideas. Since I most likely have some form of OCD haha I usually fill carboys to the brim as well and buckets and soak everthing in the sanitizer. As you can imagine I go through alot. Am I going to far? Should I just make one gallon batches and spray everything done? What kind techniques does everybody else use? Thanks Cheers!
Click to expand...

You cannot sanitize what is not clean; I use PBW and then StarSan. It's not quite tantamount to putting on deoderant without taking a shower, but that's the best analogy I can come up with on short notice. :)
 
evanmars said:
Way too much sanitizer. I have a covered 5 gallon bucket that I keep StarSan mixed in. I pour about a cup from that into my clean carboy/bucket and soak my clean tools/hoses in the bucket. Shake the carboy to cover the insides, dump out what hasn't turned to foam and I'm good to go.

Every once in a while I check the pH of the Starsan mixture, and add more concentrate as necessary. Lasts quite a while.
Click to expand...

Hmmm sounds good.... What is the pH might I ask? I have thought about using the same sanitizer over and over. I cant really see a problem with it. Testing the pH is a good idea that has never seemed to cross my mind. Silly me!
 
I was in the same boat you were in . I was using way too much star san. i then started saving it and trying to use it for other batches. but it was getting cloudy, thats the sign that it isn't effective anymore. So got 5 gal of distilled water and keep reusing that. it hasn't gotten cloudy and Ive been using it for about a month. I also got one of those pump spray bottles and just spray everything down and make sure they are wet for at least 5 min and then there good.
 
ryan0914 said:
I was in the same boat you were in . I was using way too much star san. i then started saving it and trying to use it for other batches. but it was getting cloudy, thats the sign that it isn't effective anymore. So got 5 gal of distilled water and keep reusing that. it hasn't gotten cloudy and Ive been using it for about a month. I also got one of those pump spray bottles and just spray everything down and make sure they are wet for at least 5 min and then there good.
Click to expand...

Cloudy starsan is fine as long as it is below 3 PH
 
I just buy distilled water for star san and then keep it in a home depot bucket between brew days.

I also don't usually use PBW or Oxyclean unless it looks dirty. I always use hot water and a rag to clean after I'm done, but other than that, I just rinse and sanitize before use. Haven't had problems yet. I shouldn't have said that - my stout is still in the fermenter. I probably just jinxed myself.
 
I will wash my pot with a little soap after use and right before I use it, but I rinse it excessively to make sure I remove all the soap residue. Other than the brew pot and my ss brew spoon/stirrer, soap touches nothing. I do however rinse clean and rub down with my 'brew sponge" (sponge that has never been used to wash dishes in sink) everything after I use it. After brew time, everything that comes near the beer is in my sterilizing solution first.
 
I only use hot water and a soft rag or sponge whenever possible. Every 6-8 brews I'll scrub my kettles down with some bar keepers friend, and if need be I'll soak my carboy/bucket with oxycleen.

I've never had a problem.

I also keep a corny filled with star-san, but I use it to fill up a spray bottle. I spray everything down really well and let it sit for a minute before using. I believe contact time really only needs to be 30 seconds.
 
Thanks for the thread... I have the same issue with using tons of starsan. I just do not trust it after it sits for a few weeks. Sounds like I could save some money and time by getting a ph test kit.
 
I dont have OCD,I have CDO, its the same thing only with the letters in alphabetical order LIKE THEY SHOULD BE!. but I only use soap on new stuff that get Oxy cleaned after the fact.
 
1 gallon sprayer with 1 gallon distilled water and star san does 90% of my sanitation. Having a bucket of sanitizer is handy on brew day, though.
 
Yeah I think that I'm going to put some of these technigues into practice if nobody else is having problems... This was my original concern because sometimes when you spray your stuff down the sanitizer balls up or what not and your not actually getting the contact time that is required for proper sanitation. That why I always have fully submergerd or completely filled everthing. Its a lot of sanitizer....
 
I also keep a 5 gallon bucket of Star San. Every once in a while I rack it into a carboy and dump the fuzzy crap left on the bottom. :D

When the level drops I add 1/4 oz and 1 gallon water, which is a little extra just to make sure the pH stays up.
 

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