2 Questions about sanitation

[kenpotf]

All,

I find myself not being able to get my racking cane completely submerged along with other equipment that I need to sanitize because I don't have/can't find a large enough tub. What do you use and how much starsan do you need to use to be able to sanitize one time? I thought about getting a rubbermaid tub that would fit my equipment, but that seems like a lot of starsan to waste.

Also, if you bottle, do you reuse commercial beer bottles that you've purchased or do you get new ones every time? How do you sanitize your bottles? I used the dishwasher the last time, but I'm not 100% confident that I'm getting water in the bottles. Is there a better way to do it?

Thanks!

 

[Ace_Club]

All,

I find myself not being able to get my racking cane completely submerged along with other equipment that I need to sanitize because I don't have/can't find a large enough tub. What do you use and how much starsan do you need to use to be able to sanitize one time? I thought about getting a rubbermaid tub that would fit my equipment, but that seems like a lot of starsan to waste.

Also, if you bottle, do you reuse commercial beer bottles that you've purchased or do you get new ones every time? How do you sanitize your bottles? I used the dishwasher the last time, but I'm not 100% confident that I'm getting water in the bottles. Is there a better way to do it?

Thanks!

For the racking cane, I just sanitize half and then flip it after a minute and sanitize the other half. Works no problem.

For bottling, I reuse the commercial bottles multiple times. For sanitizing, I fill each with a bit of star san, shake and then dump.

 

[dutchoven]

I keep 5 gallons of starsan mixed in a bucket and sanitize half of my cane at a time. I also keep a spray bottle of SS around for touching up miscellaneous surfaces.

I keg but have a stock of bottles for some styles. I soak in the SS bucket, 12 at a time, then dry upside down in 12 pack boxes with clean towel under the bottles. Bottles can be reused.

 

[borto1990]

go to your local home depot-ish type place. I picked up the cheap, plastic wall paper trays. they are long enough for my biggest cane and only a couple bucks and you only have to fill them a few inches high!

 

[FightingBob]

On brew days, I mix up some star san and then put some in a two liter spray bottle. Works for sanitizing in a pinch or those longer items like a racking cane.

 

[BetterSense]

Sanitizing the top of the racking cane is the kind of thing you keep a spray bottle of starsan around for.

I don't think dishwashers can be trusted to squirt up into bottles. You have to use a bottle cleaner, vinator or bottle brush to really clean them. I only clean bottles once; after that I just rinse them out, dry them on the bottle tree and store them somewhere clean. When its time to rebottle I just dunk in sanitizer. The only time I actually clean bottles is when someone gives me empty bottles, otherwise it's just rinse and sanitize.

 

[kenpotf]

Thanks for the replies. I have a vinator that I use, but I thought I need to clean/sanitize them every time. As far as the bucket of starsan, do you keep it in there all of the time or do you mix starsan in the bucket for the one use? And I have a spray bottle that I use to spray things that I can't fit or sometimes I use my hands to move starsan solution around the object that I can't fit (like the racking cane). I've also been taking the racking cane itself, and I'm not sure if this is okay, and putting the end in the starsan and pumping it like I was siphoning beer into the bottling bucket to get the starsan in the tube.

 

[dutchoven]

I keep my starsan until it gets overly cloudy or dirty ... Lasts a month or more.