Bacteria in Tubing

[C-Rider]

If you soak your tubing in Star San for 20 min or so should that not take care of any bacteria that may be present?

I know one thing for sure is store them in your freezer. It's to cold there, I do that w/the hydration blatter that goes in my hiking back pack.

 

[johnnybrew]

If you soak your tubing in Star San for 20 min or so should that not take care of any bacteria that may be present?

I know one thing for sure is store them in your freezer. It's to cold there, I do that w/the hydration blatter that goes in my hiking back pack.

Just a few seconds in StarSan will do the trick, as long as the tube is clean. If there is gunk in there, first clean it out, then soak it in StarSan.

 

[xoltri]

The freezer won't kill the bacteria. Starsan will, but it's a sanitizer not a cleaner. So if your tubing is dirty the bacteria can still hide in the dirt.

What I do is soak the tubing in oxy clean, then rinse and spray with StarSan. StarSan only needs a contact time of 30 seconds to be effective.

If the tubing gets really bad, just throw it out and buy new. It's cheap.

 

[BryceL]

I like to clean my kegs with PBW then hook it up to the CO2 and pump it out through my lines. Then I take the keg out and rise well, fill with starsan soulution and then hook it back up and pump that through my lines. Works well for me.

 

[irunxcjm]

Yeah, freezing won't kill them. In fact, at the lab I work in, we freeze back bacteria to use as controls for when we ID unknowns. We unfreeze them and they grow just fine.

 

[xoltri]

They exposed bacteria on the outside of the space station for a year and a half and many of them were still alive after that. So yeah, household freezer is not gonna do it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11039206

 

[johnnybrew]

Yeah, freezing won't kill them. In fact, at the lab I work in, we freeze back bacteria to use as controls for when we ID unknowns. We unfreeze them and they grow just fine.

Exactly. Back in the day when I was in a lab we did the same. We added a little preservative (DMSO), though.

On your backpack/camel bladder, you can likely use StarSan on that too. Just make sure the bladder won't be ruined. As mentioned above, the key is to clean first, then sanitize.

Like others here, I use hot water to rinse out my kegs; followed by hot water and OxyClean; then a bunch of hot water rinses; ending with StarSan. I put the cover on and pressurize each time - drawing the liquid out through my tap line. I won't open it after the StarSan and store it pressurized after emptying the StarSan. Same with the tap line; I empty the StarSan out of the line and then store it with residual inside until I use it again.

 

[C-Rider]

The freezer won't kill the bacteria. Starsan will, but it's a sanitizer not a cleaner. So if your tubing is dirty the bacteria can still hide in the dirt.

What I do is soak the tubing in oxy clean, then rinse and spray with StarSan. StarSan only needs a contact time of 30 seconds to be effective.

If the tubing gets really bad, just throw it out and buy new. It's cheap.

Ok, let me edit the statement. After use, clean, sanitize and then freeze. That should stop anything from beginning to grow, yes/no?

 

[AnOldUR]

Skip the freezing.

Hit everything with a spray bottle of StarSan right before use.

Use it while still wet.

 

[BradleyBrew]

Make sure you wash your tubing almost immediately after each use and hang them up to dry... avoid the dry gunk and never worry about it again... Just sanitize, use, and enjoy some brew

 

[bruin_ale]

Ok, let me edit the statement. After use, clean, sanitize and then freeze. That should stop anything from beginning to grow, yes/no?

Nothing will grow if there is no nutrient there. Clean/Sanitize and let them dry out - then before you use them re-sanitize. No need to freeze them.