Regarding cleaning

[Brettgvdp]

I understand the importance of cleaning and I take it very seriously, but then again, if it is not necessary to use what little Craftclean I have left, I'd rather not. I had used my auto siphon for my mead and cleaned it thoroughly after. Then I put it somewhere clean and never touched it again. My question is: I am about to take a reading of my beer to check whether or not it is ready for bottling - is it necessary to clean my auto siphon once again even though it had already been cleaned a few days ago?

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

Yes. Anything "cleaned" of physical debris should also be "sanitized" if it touches the beer post-boil.

Will using a non-sanitized tool post-boil give you an infection 100% of the time? No, of course not. But it reduces the likelihood of an infection which could ruin the batch.

 

[hotbeer]

It's more about how much risk you are willing to take.

Also, clean and sanitized are not the same thing. I clean my stuff after using it. I sanitize my stuff immediately before using it. The things we use for cleaners and sanitizers are not usually the same thing.

Unless it's something that is only being used prior to the wort being cooled. Then just what ever standard of cleanliness that doesn't make you gag is acceptable.

Assuming you aren't offering a glass of it to me!

 

[Panderson1]

If you cleaned it thoroughly and put it away somewhere else clean, i think you're ggod... as long as you spray it with some Star San (or something similar) before using it.

 

[Jim R]

I wouldn't "clean" that auto siphon again but I would definitely run sanitizer through it right before I used it which just takes a minute or so.

 

[Yesfan]

Have to agree with the majority. If you've not used it since you cleaned it last, just hit it with sanitizer.

I usually do a rinse, wash, rinse, sanitize with lines, siphons, etc. that's post boil.