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Sanitizing lead time

Discussion in 'Equipment/Sanitation' started by r8rphan, Sep 24, 2016.

 

  1. #1
    r8rphan

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Sep 24, 2016
    I'm taking my new system (eBIAB) for it's first brew tomorrow.... On my old system, I would put five gallons of sanitizer water in the keggle, then drain it through the CFC to the two carboys... Shake the carboys, and then dump the sanitizer in a bucket for sanitizing everything else through the brew day...

    I would do this just before I started the boil (I used to do the mash the day before and collect it in three buckets)..

    But now I am using an RO filter and I need to run it for a couple hours before the mash so that I have enough strike water.. Ideally, I'd like to do that tonight... However, if I do it tonight, I have to sanitize the 40' of tubing from the pump to the 60L speidel fermenter before that...

    I'm thinking of sanitizing all of that now, closing the ball valves at the head of the tubing (at the pump), and leaving the star-san mix in the fermenter until during the boil... at which time, I'd dump say 3-4 gallons of it into a bucket, shake the speidel around and then dump the rest into the bucket...

    This means the tubing between the pump and the fermenter would get sanitized almost 24 hours before the cooled/sterilized post boil wort is pumped into the fermenter....

    The CFC I can sanitize by just pumping boiling wort through it for the last 10-20 mins of the boil....

    Is this a bad idea?

    I'm getting kinda old and jacked up in the joints and I'm doing everything I can to avoid carrying buckets of water up a ladder and dumping them into the keggle... which was 'one' of the goals in this new build....

    So, am I asking for trouble if I sanitize the tubing that far in advance?

    Would it make things safer if I left the tubing actually 'full' of sanitizer water over night and then dumping it into the fermenter during the boil?
     
  2. #2
    IslandLizard

    Progressive Brewing Staff Member  

    Posted Sep 24, 2016
    Leave the sanitizer in the tubing for 24 hours, it should be fine. Empty before you start pumping it to the fermentor.

    Now Starsan will leave a milky/chalky residue if left in equipment/hoses for a few days or longer.
     
    r8rphan likes this.
  3. #3
    r8rphan

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Sep 24, 2016
    That goes away with use/cleaning though, right? Like if I run some water with oxyclean through it, or even let it soak for a bit in oxyclean?
     
  4. #4
    day_trippr

    We live in interesting times...

    Posted Sep 24, 2016
    I've found when Oxy leaves a whitish haze it's due to carbonates in the water left behind. Swirl standard Star San mix or some diluted white vinegar and it'll eat those deposits in seconds and leave the vessel clear.

    I've never used Oxyclean on hoses so I can't say for sure the same technique will work but it's surely worth a shot...

    Cheers!
     
    r8rphan likes this.
  5. #5
    IslandLizard

    Progressive Brewing Staff Member  

    Posted Sep 24, 2016
    I always leave my vinyl racking hoses in a bucket with Starsan, they never get dried.

    They become semi-opaque over time, and after a few days to a week in the Starsan a milky/powdery residue forms on the bottom of the bucket, inside measuring cups, inside the hoses, and anything else dwelling on the bottom. I'm not sure if it simply rinses out inside the tubing all the way. I always run a long draw brush through them for all security, and the milky Starsan or water comes out. Then a dunk in the Starsan and they're ready to use.

    For 24 hours, you have nothing to worry about, just drain them or pump/recirculate Starsan through it, then push the wort through.
     
    r8rphan likes this.
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