Cleaner/Sanitizer recommended by Brewmaster

[Monk]

I was talking with the brewmaster of the nearby brewpub today and got some very explicit advice from him. He said for sanitation I should use a caustic cleaner and rinse it real well in the bathtub. Then use Iodophor as usually. I don't think I've had any trouble with sanitation (I've had a bit of ring around the bottleneck, but I think it's sediment), but I feel like I should follow his advice. He obviously knows what he's talking about, right?

His reasoning for suggesting caustic was that bleach doesn't kill all the organic matter.

What do you all think about this? And what cleaners would you recommend? I usually use a bleach mix to soak my glass carboy and then rinse it out really well with very hot water. I then sanitize with iodophor.

monk

 

[Catfish]

Caustics are great at disolving organic matter... like you and me. Try some Oxy Clean or PBW. As for sanitation Iodaphor or Star San, both have their proponents. I like Star San but that's me.

 

[Blender]

I use PBW for cleaning and it works good. It dissolves most of the mess left behind in the carboy after fermentation without brushing but I do that for good measure. I follow with iodaphor for sanitizing.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

For removing beer bottle labels and cleaning any kind of dried or caked sediment, I use TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) followed by a thorough rinse. When it's time to brew or bottle, Star San is my sanitizer of choice.

 

[Monk]

Yuri - How do you mix the TSP for soaking a carboy?

monk