Cleaning agent

[IslandLizard]

...carboy brush for carboys? But past that...non-abrasive sponges?

If you're using glass carboys, you'll need that carboy brush. You also need a bottle brush, for your bottles and other narrow vessels.

Non-abrasive sponges and a soft nylon hand brush. Use a large bucket or a plastic tote for your starsan.

The most useful piece of sanitation equipment is a spray bottle for your Starsan working solution. Spray anything that can't be easily immersed. I always fill my spray bottle when I make a fresh solution.

other useful things on the list are:
bottle filler (plastic tube with spring activated valve on bottom)
hydrometer
hydrometer test jar
bottle capper
turkey baster or even better, a (wine) thief

 

[rydia131]

When u guys are overnight soaking your fermenters carboys etc. do you make a huge batch of cleaner/sanitizer? And fill them/something else all the way up and toss all your equipment into it for he soak? Or is it enough to make smaller batches of liquids and just make sure it touches all surfaces before it sits overnight?

 

[wailingguitar]

When u guys are overnight soaking your fermenters carboys etc. do you make a huge batch of cleaner/sanitizer? And fill them/something else all the way up and toss all your equipment into it for he soak? Or is it enough to make smaller batches of liquids and just make sure it touches all surfaces before it sits overnight?

Other than the fermenters themselves, all I have is hose and air locks... those can go in the bucket during the bleach soak (I usually use bleach for ferms, pbw for kegs, but change up once and a while because of what I have on hand). I don't have racking canes since I have spigots in all of my fermenters. I do disassemble the spigots and give them a short bleach soak in a smaller container before reassembly and the over night soak with the bucket full of bleach solution. The next day, maybe two days later or whatever depending on my schedule, I rinse and put the vessel away. When I am ready to use it, I mix about a gallon in the bucket, use a soft cloth to wipe down all the interior surfaces and most of the exterior, drain the solution through the spigot, then rinse thoroughly. I then mix a solution of iodophor and do essentially the same thing, sans final rinse of course. I wrap some cellophane tightly around the drain spigot to assure it remains clean and sanitary. Before draining to keg post ferment, I will spray it liberally with iodophor solution out of a squirt bottle.