Cleaning/Sanitizing after Infection

[A4J]

In another thread, cervezarara said:

If you had a bacterial infection, you will need to kill the offending bacteria still living in the vessel, or you will sour future batches. You may want to bleach bomb the carboy, making sure to rinse several times to remove all chlorine.

I recently had an infection. I have a few questions regarding the above-comment:
1. Is there a recommended ratio of bleach to water?
2. Must everything that touched the infected beer be bleach bombed, including the racking cane/siphon I use to get the infected beer out of the pail?

 

[dmomo]

You definitely want to decontaminate the siphon. I'd just toss the tubing, to be honest. It's cheap to replace and will bring peace of mind.

Do you have any idea regarding the cause of your infection? Make sure you address that too.

 

[postal_penguin]

Here is my "nuclear option" process after a beer is contaminated:

1. Wash everything in warm soapy water. Soap removes a lot of bacteria by itself and will break up any deposits or films produced.

2. Oxyclean everything for about in hour in warm water(1 scoop to 5 gallons of water). Will rip through any deposits or films left. It likely also has some sanitizer properties since its basically powdered hydrogen peroxide(but I wouldn't use it as such).

3. 10% bleach bath for 15 minutes. This will kill anything left.

4. Star-san it. Hit with another sanitizer and since I make mine with RO/DI it dries spotless.

5. Air dry

Rinse well in between each step so cleaning products are not carried over. Everything that touched the infection should be cleaned this way.

 

[A4J]

Do you have any idea regarding the cause of your infection? Make sure you address that too.

I added dried hibiscus flowers during secondary without pasteurizing the flowers.

Thanks for the info postal_penguin.

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Can I leave bleach/water solution in the carboy for a while? Like a few days or will it leave a residue somewhat like starsan does?

 

[day_trippr]

Can I leave bleach/water solution in the carboy for a while? Like a few days or will it leave a residue somewhat like starsan does?

I was given an ancient glass carboy that had been used as a garden ornament. After blasting all the crud out with a pressure washer I filled it with a strong bleach solution (best as I recall, it was a couple of cups of bleach in 5 gallons of water) and let it sit for a couple of weeks before I rinsed the heck out of it.

I used it as a secondary for many brews without any issues. It now serves as my Star San reservoir...

Cheers!

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Thanks for the info!