You guys are sanitizing wrong!

I was reading a bottling vs. kegging thread and noticed many people referencing dunking bottles in sanitizer solution, which is a pain in the ass. If you want to make star san last forever and simplify your sanitizing process, mix up a solution and dispense it via spray bottle!

I usually mix up a couple gallons of solution and keep it in a cooler with a tap. When my spray bottle gets low, I top it off. It keeps for months this way without going cloudy. You can sanitize any piece of equipment with the spray bottle. I never soak anything. I have brewed and bottled over 30 batches this way and my only infection came from re-bottling an entire batch after noticing my priming solution on the stove, right after capping my last bottle.

It really is harder to screw up a beer than most people believe. Give this a shot and you will save time, water, and sanitizer. And for god's sake, RDWHAHB!

I just wipe stuff on my shirt. It's a clean shirt.

A lot of folks use a spray bottle. Some do that and have a tub o sanitizer to keep gear in while brewing and bottling.

Inefficient? Maybe. Wrong? Don't think so, either way sanitizes the bottle, right?

Yeah - dunking is not "wrong" - it is different. Wrong would be not sanitizing.

I have brewed....... well, christ, I don't even know..... probably 150 batches in the last 3 years, and I have been brewing on and off for 15 years +. 400..... 500 batches???? I have tried about every method of everything imaginable at one time or another. When it comes to sanitizing, by far the Best/fastest/easiest method I have come across - and what I currently do - is dunking. I have a 10 gallon tub of starsan solution made up. I change it maybe once a month. It is always there, always ready - I constantly throw stuff in there and just pull it out as needed and it is good to go.
As much as I brew, I have one or two starter jugs ALWAYS just sitting in the starsan. When I want to make a starter, just pull it out. I can throw stuff in there and grab it in seconds and be 100% confident that it is sanitized. WAY easier than a spray bottle in my opinion. And cost...... 1 10 gallon batch of starsan a month is...... about $1/month. I can live with that.
To be honest, spraying the entire surface of everything I want to use actually sounds like a gigantic PITA to me. I can submerge a case of clean bottles in 5 seconds, along with my beer gun, caps, and everything else I need. Go do whatever I want to get ready to fill some bottles, come back and it is all good to go.
I am perfectly content being a dunker.

Vinator FTW...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

I was under the impression that the solution didn't last when open to the elements. By all means dunk away. I know I'm much happier spraying than dunking. YMMV.

smizak said:

Vinator FTW...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

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Agreed! Far easier, more efficient than either dunking or spraying. And when done if the sanitizer is clean I dump it back into my 5 gallon water bottle where I store Starsan, just topping up some when needed.

Spraying one bottle at a time of soaking 50 bottles at one time?

Yeah, I'm far too lazy to individually spray each bottle.

I use my Vinator for a few pumps each bottle then put them on my dishwasher rack. They drain but do not dry before they are all filled. Easy Peasy!

I drown my bottles, it makes me happy.

If I'm sanitizing a lot of stuff, I'll go ahead and mix up a 5 gallon bucket o' Star San and dunk away. However, if I just need to sanitize something small real quick (a hydrometer, a measuring cup, a stopper, etc), then I'll just grab my spray bottle and use that. For me it's about what's most efficient for the given situation.

smizak said:

Vinator FTW...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

Click to expand...

Yep, LOVE mine.

I mix up sanitizer by the gallon, and use it repeatedly. I usually end up spilling it by using and reusing again and again, long before it loses effectiveness.

Some things I dunk, some things I spray.

I bought my first bottle of star-san in about 2006. I'm on my second bottle, which is more than half full. It lasts a very long time when you only mix it up a gallon a month or so.

I dunk. I have my 5 gallon bucket of Starsan out for other equipment anyway.

Lots of good ideas. Thank you!

Yooper said:

Yep, LOVE mine.

I mix up sanitizer by the gallon, and use it repeatedly. I usually end up spilling it by using and reusing again and again, long before it loses effectiveness.

Some things I dunk, some things I spray.

I bought my first bottle of star-san in about 2006. I'm on my second bottle, which is more than half full. It lasts a very long time when you only mix it up a gallon a month or so.

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Still on my first bottle, 2007 vintage. ;-)

I use a pump up spray bottle because arthritis sucks. My vinator is awesome too.

Like most things in brewing... or life, there is no absolute right or wrong way of sanitizing or doing this or that. Whatever makes you happy and gets the job done is "right" for you at the time. I always have a couple of spray bottles handy as well as a 5 gal bucket filled with Starsan. Sometimes I dunk and sometimes I spray. Just depends. Always dunk the plate chiller and most hoses. Spray just about everything else. Seems to be working so far...

I typically dunk a handful at a time, but I just got a squirt bottle before my last cleaning session, so I'm sure to squirt something. I dunk in a former tidy cats litter bucket, about 2.5 gallons at a time, and can dunk about a dozen bottles at once. The blue bottle is just water and for feline discipline. The red is starsan. Both a sharpie-ed all over to make the wife know for certain which is which.

Should I be wearing gloves or something when I dunk? I get pruny fingers pretty fast, but that's all I can perceive to its effect on skin.

Cheers!

I use exclusively ionizing radiation to sanitize at the atomic level, is that wrong?

No, actually I use a vinator. But it's an EVIL vinator.

Mr. Germ: Do you expect me to talk?
Cycleman: No, Mr Germ! I expect you to die!

I just drink the undiluted star san and then whizz in the bottles.

No, actually, it's just the vinator for bottles, a spray bottle for surfaces, and a two-gallon bucket for soaking pieces. My tiny bottle lasted three years, just got a 32 ounce bottle which should last me 10, thanks to having tap water that is nearly RO levels, so I rarely have to change out my sanitizer. I do every couple of months for GP.

20 gallon plastic HDX totes on sale at Home Depot. $5.98 each. Big Lots is a good place to find bins too.

Pesticide sprayer has served me well.

I haven't batch sanitized bottles by hand in twenty years. I just run my bottles through my dishwasher on the bottom rack with water and heat dry. The bottles easily reach Pasteurization temperature.

Black Island Brewer said:

I just drink the undiluted star san and then whizz in the bottles.

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Bwaaaahahaha!!!! Almost made me spit out my beer ya facetious bastard!

EarlyAmateurZymurgist said:

I haven't batch sanitized bottles by hand in twenty years. I just run my bottles through my dishwasher on the bottom rack with water and heat dry. The bottles easily reach Pasteurization temperature.

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This, except I use top rack...:cross:

Bunch of smartasses.

A friend of mine puts his in the oven at 275 for an hour. It seems to work well for him.

The only downside to this technique is length of time it takes.