Keeping Fermenter Sanitary?

[sportscrazed2]

Say I decide that I would like to sanitize my fermenter the night before brewing how would I go about keeping it sterile? I want to get some star san but unfortunately I can only find it in my local homebrew store but they have horrible hours. So can I just use bleach mixed with water and vigorously rinse?

 

[stevo155]

If you're going to use bleach, you should rinse it with some pre-boil water to get that bleach out. Then you can cover the carboy with tinfoil and a rubberband to keep the bugs out.

 

[Hammy71]

Yes, bleach and water make an excellent solution to sanitize with. Just make sure to rinse very well.

 

[sportscrazed2]

allright will definitely rinse about 5 times. is tap water alright for making the solution? and rinsing? i have a tub in the basement with a hose that spits out super hot water and was planning on using that. or should i buy a gallon of distilled water and mix it up with that? finally how to dry it without adding bacteria?

 

[pkeeler]

Hot tap water is fine for rinsing bleach solution. There is no need to do anything else. If you go 1 tblsp per gallon (soak for 20 minutes), won't take much rinsing at all. Put foil over the top, it will be good to go.

 

[sportscrazed2]

so if i buy 1 gallon of distilled water pour in 1 tablespoon of bleach shake it up then use a sponge to rub it all over bucket then rinse with hot water, then drain as much water as possible by holding it upside down and finally covering it with tin foil or saran wrap it will be good to use when it comes time to add the wort? in the idea situation i would buy some star san but I really want to get my first batch underway tommorow after work but the store won't open until 5:30. then again what time i start depends on when fedex shows up with my ingredients and equipment i ordered

 

[sportscrazed2]

I'm making this harder than it has to be. Star San seems like the best option for me because I can ndo it about 5 minutes from transfering to fermenter and won't have to risk contamination with water or even the air while drying it out. I might have to wait for saturday to brew my first batch because the lhbs is open 8 hours on saturday compared to 2.5 wed,thur,fri

 

[RRxGrasshopper]

I fyour depending on Fed Ex...good luck with that

 

[sportscrazed2]

lol estimated delivery is tommorow afternoon. hoping they show up with everything. here is my new plan go out and buy some star san mix it in my fermenter and leave it in the fermenter until i am ready to transfer my wort and dump it out. star san isn't bad for the environment is it? i can just dump it down the drain? also it won't contribute any off flavors to beer? Even better can I transfer star san from fermenter to bottling bucket for storage until it's time to bottle so that I won't have to sterilize on bottling day?

 

[pkeeler]

You are making this harder than it has to be. If you have a 6.5 gal. fermenter, put in a little more than 1/3 cup of bleach, fill the rest with water (garden hose or tub spigot). Let sit for 25 minutes. Drain. Rinse with hot tap water. Cover with foil and put it aside until you need it. You can also dump the bleach solution into another bucket and use it to sanitize your racking tube, hydrometer, etc. (anything that you want to touch the cooled wort with).

Remember, you can't sterilize any of this stuff. More important than all this is to cool the wort quickly and pitch a large amount of yeast as soon as possible.

 

[sportscrazed2]

so a tub full of salt water should do the trick? still think i'm gonna try to get some star san. can't stand the idea of having a beer that has bleach flavor in it. not that i've ever drunk bleach

 

[logan3825]

Buy a spray bottle. Pour the Star San into your gallon jug of distilled water to mix it. Fill your spray bottle and put the cap back on your jug. The Star San solution "should" stay ok in both until you bottle as long as you keep them sealed. The only way to know for sure is to check with pH paper. As long a the area you want to sanitize is wet for a minute(actually shorter I think) it should be sanitized. I personally wouldn't store a Star San solution in anything I was putting my wort or beer in. I mix a gallon of Star San at a time. Without trying to stretch it, it goes a long way with a spray bottle.

 

[sportscrazed2]

allright will do a spray bottle is one of the things i picked up at walmart today alongside the 8 or so gallons of water. any suggestion on how much to add too the gallon of water?

 

[logan3825]

You are supposed to mix one ounce to 5 gallons of water. I have an 8oz bottle with a little reservoir to fill up marked with 1/2 and 1/4. I fill that up to just under the 1/4 mark. I figure that is about 1/5 an ounce. Probably not the best or most accurate way to measure it but I figure it is close enough for government work. I thought I posted it somewhere but I also use the spray bottle while bottling to spray it into my bottles then dip the top in a bucket of the stuff so every part of the bottle that will touch my beer gets wet. Then I put them on the bottle tree. A gallon of Star San solution will go a long long way. It isn't something I will skimp on though.

I will add the disclaimer that I am new to brewing as well but this is what my reading has led me to believe. Get everything that your wort/beer will come in contact with post boil wet with a Star San solution for a minute and it will be sanitized.

 

[sportscrazed2]

measuring 1/5 an ounce will be very difficult. just did the math the right amount of star san for a 1 gallon jug is 1.2 teaspoons. i will do 1 teaspoon and guess what 20% of a teaspoon looks like. can't hurt to have a little extra can it?

 

[dfc]

You are supposed to mix one ounce to 5 gallons of water. I have an 8oz bottle with a little reservoir to fill up marked with 1/2 and 1/4. I fill that up to just under the 1/4 mark. I figure that is about 1/5 an ounce. Probably not the best or most accurate way to measure it but I figure it is close enough for government work. I thought I posted it somewhere but I also use the spray bottle while bottling to spray it into my bottles then dip the top in a bucket of the stuff so every part of the bottle that will touch my beer gets wet. Then I put them on the bottle tree. A gallon of Star San solution will go a long long way. It isn't something I will skimp on though.

I will add the disclaimer that I am new to brewing as well but this is what my reading has led me to believe. Get everything that your wort/beer will come in contact with post boil wet with a Star San solution for a minute and it will be sanitized.

I'm pretty sure the 1/4 mark is 1/4 oz. I mix up 5 gallons of it and store it in my extra fermenters. I then transfer it to other buckets when needed.

 

[sportscrazed2]

why oh why can't we just use the metric system? all these damn conversions are pain in the ass.

 

[logan3825]

I'm pretty sure the 1/4 mark is 1/4 oz. I mix up 5 gallons of it and store it in my extra fermenters. I then transfer it to other buckets when needed.

I am pretty sure it is too. I just don't want to say anything definitively considering my inexperience. 1/5 is a little less than 1/4 so I am probably in the ballpark. I probably use a little more than I should. Just using the bottle means one less thing to dink around with.

Remember, mix with distilled or RO water if you plan to keep it for a while.

 

[jason.mundy]

+1 pkeeler

Make sure your fermenter is clean prior to brew day. It's best to make sure it is clean when it is stowed away.

Maybe its just me, but I would not trust something to stay sanitized over night. I sanitize my fermenter while my wort is chilling in the brew pot. I use starsan, but I used to use a bleach water mix.

 

[Sammy75]

Maybe its just me, but I would not trust something to stay sanitized over night. I sanitize my fermenter while my wort is chilling in the brew pot. I use starsan, but I used to use a bleach water mix.

+1 I always re-sanitize even if I cleaned and sanitized before if it's been sitting around for a while. You never know what somehow found its way in. Just re-spray with your starsan solution a bit before.