I am about to start cleaning and sanitizing my equipment for the first time. I apologize if these questions are ridiculous or remedial I just want to make sure I understand everything before I get started. I plan on cleaning everything with dish soap and sanitizing everything with brewvint no wash. Is it safe to sanitize all of my equipment together in the fermenting bucket? What do I use to dry the equipment after sanitize without risking contamination. I appreciate the advice and feedback.
Sanitizing
- Thread starter glevine75
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glevine75 said:
Check out some of the stickies on equipment/sanitation forum. Most people don't use dish soap period, because it could mess up your beer. If your equipment is new you should only need to sanitize and not until brew day. PBW is a good cleaner and starsan is a good sanitizer.their is no reason to dry equipment, just follow directions on your sanitizer.
Yeah,forget the dish soap. It has an enzyme in it that makes the water sheet off & not leave spots. It kills the head on your beer. I clean with PBW as well. But since they're brand new,just use starsan no rinse sanitizer on them on brew day. It only takes a minute or so of contact time. When things like fermenters are dirty,I rinse it out well,then put it on my fermenter stand,& measure 4TBSP of PBW into it. Then fill to near the top with tap water,stiring as I go to dissolve the PBW. Set the lid on it & leave it for a week. It'll soak clean all by itself,& no scratches inside from scrubbing.
I wouldn't use dish soap, it is too hard to rinse off completely, try PBW or Oxiclean
I don't have any experience with Brewinit, (I use starsan), but if it is a no rinse sanitizer, you do not rinse it off, and do not dry it. Sanitize your equipment just prior to use and leave it wet.
Quote: Is it safe to sanitize all of my equipment together in the fermenting bucket?
I don't put anything hard in my fermenting bucket -- too much risk of scratching it. Your best bet is to use a separate bucket with a lid. During brewday you will always have a convenient source of sanitizer to dunk spoons, thermometers, etc in. Also you can store Starsan (not sure about Brewinit) for a couple months as long as it is lidded and use it for multiple brew sessions. A spray bottle filled with sanitzer solution is also very handy.
Search these forums, there are lots of threads and a lot of good information.
I forgot to mention that the orange homer cheapo buckets are handy for using PBW or sanitizer in to clean/sanitize all your bottles & other things. Cheap & always handy. I even use it to haul water to the man cave to clean my fermenters.
+1 on the buckets -I use several on brew day - 1 with sanitizer solution, one with warm PBW mix, one with warm rinse water, also a couple to hold crushed grains.
If you need to purchase buckets, I recommend the Lowes food grade buckets, they cost $1 more and food grade is probably not necessary, but I feel that it is worth the difference. I use both the Lowes and Homer buckets, but the orange buckets have a nasty habit of getting used for things like cleaning paint brushes in my house. Hence the high tech labelling system in the photo.
If you need to purchase buckets, I recommend the Lowes food grade buckets, they cost $1 more and food grade is probably not necessary, but I feel that it is worth the difference. I use both the Lowes and Homer buckets, but the orange buckets have a nasty habit of getting used for things like cleaning paint brushes in my house. Hence the high tech labelling system in the photo.
