Sterilizing Glass After Sour Beer

[Tyler.W]

I am starting a solera project and used a glass flask for my starter and I am using a glass fermentor in addition to a plastic one. I am already dedicating the plastic equipment to sour beer brewing, but glass should be able to be cleaned and used for non-sour beers, correct?

I did a long PBW soak of the flask, but are there any other steps I should take on the flask and eventually the fermentor to avoid cross-contamination?

Thanks!

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Hi Tyler. Don't think to much on it brother. As long as all your equipment is cleaned & sanitized you should be just fine.

 

[Jag75]

That's why I just stick to co pitch sours . You don't have to worry about that stuff.

 

[RufusBrewer]

Glass is an excellent candidate for chlorine. Pour chlorine full strength into the glass container and swish around. Rinse well with tap water. You do not have to worry about any lingering germs, nasties, pathogens, etc.

Chlorine is cheap, easy to acquire and very effective.

There is some debate about chlorine on plastics and metals. Since the OP mentions glass, I can avoid that.

 

[Bilsch]

Hypochlorous acid (vinegar and bleach) or peracetic acid.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Hypochlorous acid (vinegar and bleach) or peracetic acid.

Could you expand a little on the bleach+vinegar thing?

 

[Bilsch]

Could you expand a little on the bleach+vinegar thing?

Sure but there is lots of info on it from previous threads.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/bleach-and-vinegar-solution-danger.666732/

 

[Jayjay1976]

Sure but there is lots of info on it from previous threads.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/bleach-and-vinegar-solution-danger.666732/

That's exactly what I was looking for, thank you. After reading the thread, I think I'll just stick with StarSan.

 

[jcav]

You could also use IO-Star (iodine). Used as directed it will kill everything even wild yeast and molds. This might be a good option when fermenting sours.

John

 

[Bilsch]

Remember the title of this thread is “Sterilizing glass” and only the two solutions I mentioned are capable of that. Starsan in this context is a joke and iodophor is only somewhat better.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Remember the title of this thread is “Sterilizing glass” and only the two solutions I mentioned are capable of that. Starsan in this context is a joke and iodophor is only somewhat better.

Yeah good point. I never use glass, I use fermonsters which are PET. After a batch I always fill up my fermenters with hot tap water and a generous splash of bleach and let it soak an hour or so. Thats why I was curious about the vinegar part..

I have no worries about lingering residual chlorine because the fermenter typically sits dry for a week or more before the next batch so it can dissipate. If I'm still risking it let me know!

 

[PCABrewing]

Yeah good point. I never use glass, I use fermonsters which are PET. After a batch I always fill up my fermenters with hot tap water and a generous splash of bleach and let it soak an hour or so. Thats why I was curious about the vinegar part..

I have no worries about lingering residual chlorine because the fermenter typically sits dry for a week or more before the next batch so it can dissipate. If I'm still risking it let me know!

From what I was told by a person who was in the food service business, bleach in hot water dissipates very fast, like 10-15 minutes. One of the things the health inspector would check was the temp of the solution they were using to sanitize. If it was warmer than luke-warm they got a notice.

So you have probably little to no chlorine left by the time you dump the solution.

 

[Jag75]

From what I was told by a person who was in the food service business, bleach in hot water dissipates very fast, like 10-15 minutes. One of the things the health inspector would check was the temp of the solution they were using to sanitize. If it was warmer than luke-warm they got a notice.

So you have probably little to no chlorine left by the time you dump the solution.

No kidding! I didn't know that . Learn something new everyday.

 

[Bilsch]

Yeah good point. I never use glass, I use fermonsters which are PET. After a batch I always fill up my fermenters with hot tap water and a generous splash of bleach and let it soak an hour or so. Thats why I was curious about the vinegar part..

I have no worries about lingering residual chlorine because the fermenter typically sits dry for a week or more before the next batch so it can dissipate. If I'm still risking it let me know!

I’d take a moment and listen to the podcast mentioned in the thread I posted. Skip ahead to the time listed and learn about hypochlorite and hypochlorus acid. It really is worth knowing especially if you use bleach for any sanitation purposes.