Proper Iodophor Concentration for Sterilization

Okay, so I definitely have something unwelcome living in my primary and ruining my beers That said, does anyone know the correct sterilization concentration of iodophor for 6.5 gallons? I want to soak the carboy and try to kill off whatever is in there. Thoughts?

 

My completely unscientific 'from the hip' answer would be half the normal dilution; however, if you have a bug that is ruining beers, go scorched earth with bleach.

 

1ml per gallon.

 

Can you translate this into teaspoons or tablespoons per gallon. I have a digital scale, but would like to just use tsp/tbs to dispense idophor with.

Thanks!

Salute!

 

Actually the directions on my bottle of iodaphor says 1ml per liter. That'd be about 4 ml/gallon and 5 ml is about 1 US teaspon. So multiply that by 5 and there yah go - 5 teaspoons - if you want a full soak that is. Seems like over kill. +1 on the bleach btw. I like to mix it up. Keeps the nasties guessing.

 

Tanks for the response on the tsp. conversion.

Salute!

 

It also depends on the % of concentrate. Revvy uses 1%. I could only find .5% (thanks meth lab peoples). With .5%, I use three tsp/two gallon.

 

Is this a glass carboy or a Better Bottle (plastic)? If glass and you are doing normal sanitizing (note: not "sterilization" as in your post title), then I'd look somewhere else for the source of the problem.

Carefully review all of your procedures, including your water source if you are topping up. You could be getting an infection from spoons or other stirrers or airlocks or bungs or hydrometers or thief or anything else that comes in contact with your wort.

Normal concentration of Iodophor for sanitizing is 12.5 PPM. That is 1/4 ounce (1.5 teaspoons) in 2.5 gallons, or 1/2 ounce (one tablespoon) in 5 gallons. You really don't need to use more than a half gallon to sanitize a carboy (1.5 ml to 1/2 gallon of water, or a little more than 1/4 teaspoon).

 

This really depends on the concentration of the stock solution. The amounts you give are too much if you are using B-T-F Iodophor. It should be 3 ml (1/10th US ounce) per gallon for 12.5 PPM. So for 5 gallons, 15 ml which is one tablespooon. That is three teaspoons, not five.

 

What problems are you having with your beers?

 

I do not think there is a published sterilization rate for iodophor. I'd have to go back and list to that BB podcast to see if he says anything about sterilization.

 

If there is something living in your primary and is resisting your normal sanitizing techniques (2-5 min contact with iodophor?) then it's likely a cleaning/sanitizing issue and not a sanitizing issue alone and I'm not sure a long soak in iodophor will help.

Most sanitizers won't penetrate deep into caked on gunk and films so anything living within the gunk and film will be protected. So the issue may be more with the way you clean rather than the way you sanitize. How do you typically clean your primary?

 

IIRC, Iodophor will not sterilize anything, only sanitize which may not be good enough for you. I think the best thing you could do, aside from backing it in an oven, would be a bleach soak. I Tablespoon of bleach, and 1 tablespoon of plain white vinegar makes a deadly mixture in 5 gallons of beer (DON'T MIX TOGETHER, mix into the water separately unless you want to asphyxiate). Let that soak a while and you may be good to go, but I still don't think you are going to get sterilization without heat. 350 for 3 hours will kill anything and everything and result in 100% sterilization.

 

Bleach will not sterilize either. You can only really sterilize in a lab type setting.

 

Sterilization (microbiology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sterilization refers to any process that effectively kills or eliminates transmissible agents (such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, spore forms, etc.) from a surface, equipment, article of food or medication, or biological culture medium.[1][2] Sterilization does not, however, remove prions. Sterilization can be achieved through application of heat, chemicals, irradiation, high pressure or filtration.

Chlorine bleach is another accepted liquid sterilizing agent. Household bleach consists of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. It is usually diluted to 1/10 immediately before use; however to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis it should be diluted only 1/5, and 1/2.5 (1 part bleach and 1.5 parts water) to inactivate prions. The dilution factor must take into account the volume of any liquid waste that it is being used to sterilize.[11] Bleach will kill many organisms immediately, but for full sterilization it should be allowed to react for 20 minutes. Bleach will kill many, but not all spores. It is highly corrosive and may corrode even stainless steel surgical instruments.

Bleach decomposes over time when exposed to air, so fresh solutions should be made daily