Sanitation. How Do You Sanitize The "Tools"

[fizzix]

I'm reading till my eyes bleed and beginning to understand the basics of this terrific hobby.
Sanitize! ..is the key word and I'm wondering how one sanitizes tools like hoses, stirrer, and syphon cane and anything of bulk like bottles, etc.

I've seen those who use a spray bottle of StarSan and that's fine.

I have a spare 6.5-gallon bucket and thinking of filling it enough with a StarSan solution
for all these parts.

Wasteful? Inefficient? Good idea?

 

[Smellyglove]

Good idea.

I have 3.5L jars where i soak hoses and smaller stuff. When it comes to a siphone you can just pump it around within a jar or whatever.

 

[triethylborane]

I make up 5 gallons of star san and store it in a glass carboy. I check pH every time I pull from the carboy to fill either a bucket or a spray bottle.

If I use a bucket and dunk stuff in it, I usually return the remaining star san to the carboy.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I use a bucket, and just make sure it maintains the threshold pH to be effective. At the brewery where I worked (Goose Island) here and there were split 55 gallon drums filled with iodophor solution, soaking ss fittings and so forth. You don't need a long Star San soak. I immersed, and drained/dried via a small ceiling hook of some sort. I put the airtight lid back on after use.

 

[UncleAvis]

I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with starsan per bottle direction. If it starts to get milky I dump it and refresh. That is apparently an indicator of a rise in pH. I also use a spray bottle keep a spray bottle filled from the bucket. As with anything homebrewing you can make it as complicated as you like.

 

[fizzix]

Thank you, folks! Especially the cloudy/pH tip.

 

[jekeane]

One of the big home improvement stores sell a long wallpaper paint tray type thing I see a lot of people using. It is like 4” y’all and 30” long so it holds racking canes nicely.

I use a bucket and a spray bottle

 

[Konadog]

5 gallon bucket for hoses on brew day, and a spray bottle during for little things. Use the 5 gallons later for transfer and kegs.

 

[Calder]

I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with starsan per bottle direction. If it starts to get milky I dump it and refresh. That is apparently an indicator of a rise in pH. I also use a spray bottle keep a spray bottle filled from the bucket. As with anything homebrewing you can make it as complicated as you like.

Milky is not necessarily an indicator of a rise in ph. I have 2 water sources, I think they change with the season. With one source it is milky right from the start, and with the other, it stays clear for months.


After use, I clean (rinse), and then run sanitizer through hoses, and let dry. Prior to next use I run sanitizer thru the hoses again. The key is to never let them dry before rinsing/cleaning, otherwise it gets extremely difficult to clean.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I used to fill a 5 gallon bucket up and rinse all the tools, then throw it away at the end of the brew/bottling day. Since then, I have gone to just using a spray bottle made fresh for the occasion. Less wasteful, and it tastes like the beer is actually better...haha.

 

[fizzix]

OOoooh I like that wallpaper tray idea! That racking cane I've got is unwieldy to be jamming into a bucket.

BTW... I can see why Homebrew Talk comes so heavily recommended. Knowledgeable, friendly members, and it's very dynamic.
Some sites are like ghost towns where you see the last member activity was weeks ago. Glad I joined up here.

If I can take my thread further off-topic: I was given a Brewer's Best Red Ale extract kit this past Tuesday.
Tomorrow (Saturday) will be my first foray into brewing. Ever.
I have more confidence after coming here, and for that wealth I say "Thank You" all again.
I may not be a beer brewer yet. But brother you should believe I'm a beer drinker!

 

[AZBeer]

I used to fill a 5 gallon bucket up and rinse all the tools, then throw it away at the end of the brew/bottling day. Since then, I have gone to just using a spray bottle made fresh for the occasion. Less wasteful, and it tastes like the beer is actually better...haha.

I do the same. Everything gets sprayed really well, and for my fermentor it gets sprayed really well and swirled around then drained. Hoses get sprayed on the outside, and then I spray a good amount of starsan in the hose and swirl it around to make sure the surfaces get covered completed, then drain. Bottles get cleaned with PBT, then on bottling day get the spray/ swirl/ drain treatment.

Nothing wrong with doing a big bucket, but not the most efficient use of starsan IMHO.

I also use RO/DI water to make it. Mine eventually gets cloudy, but I check it with my pH meter before every use. Cloudy can mean it is no good, but it also may not. Checking the pH is the only way to know for sure.

 

[helibrewer]

I bought a busing tote, you know, those gray plastic totes that busboys use in restaurants....It is great for hoses and anything else, I just toss stuff in there during brew day, easy to slide around the garage too.

 

[myndflyte]

I fill up my 5 gallon fermenter and make a batch of starsan in there on brew day. After that, I dump it into my 10 gallon cooler mash tun and store it to sanitize tools and hoses later on in the process. It stores just fine until the next brew day.

 

[auburntsts]

I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with starsan per bottle direction. If it starts to get milky I dump it and refresh. That is apparently an indicator of a rise in pH. I also use a spray bottle keep a spray bottle filled from the bucket. As with anything homebrewing you can make it as complicated as you like.

The cloudiness is caused by the StarSan interacting with the minerals (mainly Calcium IIRC) in the water and does not necessarily indicate a rise in pH or a reduction in the solution's sanitizing properties. The only sure way to tell is to test the solution's pH. I'm of the mind it's a non-issue

 

[myndflyte]

If I dumped starsan as soon as it turned milky, I'd have to dump it before my brew day was over.

 

[MHBT]

Its not necessary but i use distilled water to mix star san..i throw 6ml in a gallon and that gallon is more then enough for a batch for me..i put maybe a half a gallon in my fermenter and the other half for other things like tubing etc and pour it back into the gallon jug for next round, never had a problem

 

[C-Rider]

When I transfer from fermenter to bottling bucket I rinse the pump AS SOON as the transfer is done. I use clear water/then soap water and then again clear water. Once that hose get dried beer in it it will never be clean again. I learned the hard way. Even had to replace the siphon.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

i use a plastic garmet tote: they are like 3' long, 1.5' wide and about 6" deep, with a lid. Mix up 5 gallons of starsan and put it on my brew shelf and it lasts for at last 3 months. I can put hoses, racking canes, the works in it no problem.

 

[InTheBasement]

Here is the way I look at it. I buy the 32 ounce bottle of star san. It costs $29.99. That's about 94 cents per ounce. One ounce makes 5 gallons of solution. I make a 5 gallon bucket each brew day. I use it for that day and for any bottling activities until the next brew day. Then I throw the 5 gallons out and make new. Is it wasteful? Probably. What is the cost of that waste? Less than a dollar. Considering I am spending anywhere from $25 to $70 for the ingredients for the beer I am about to brew, it seems that wasting less than one dollar on sanitizer is a very good policy. No point in taking the chance over 94 cents.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Realize too that everything BEFORE the boil process does not actually require sanitizing, but should be clean as your kitchen utensils (it will be sanitized during the boil).
Everything that touches the wort, or beer AFTER the boil MUST be as sanitary as possible. Starsan, or Iodophor on everything.

Small pumps (either fountain, or brewing) are excellent for pumping sanitizer through things like hoses and chillers.

 

[fizzix]

Here is the way I look at it. I buy the 32 ounce bottle of star san. It costs $29.99. That's about 94 cents per ounce. One ounce makes 5 gallons of solution. I make a 5 gallon bucket each brew day. I use it for that day and for any bottling activities until the next brew day. Then I throw the 5 gallons out and make new. Is it wasteful? Probably. What is the cost of that waste? Less than a dollar. Considering I am spending anywhere from $25 to $70 for the ingredients for the beer I am about to brew, it seems that wasting less than one dollar on sanitizer is a very good policy. No point in taking the chance over 94 cents.

You must be a mind reader. That was my next question.

 

[Horseflesh]

I bought a busing tote, you know, those gray plastic totes that busboys use in restaurants....It is great for hoses and anything else, I just toss stuff in there during brew day, easy to slide around the garage too.

Bus tubs are cheap and handy, I have about 4 to hold various bits of brew gear. You can also find coated-wire racks that will fit inside, so your clean stuff can drip dry.

 

[triethylborane]

Here is the way I look at it. I buy the 32 ounce bottle of star san. It costs $29.99. That's about 94 cents per ounce. One ounce makes 5 gallons of solution. I make a 5 gallon bucket each brew day. I use it for that day and for any bottling activities until the next brew day. Then I throw the 5 gallons out and make new. Is it wasteful? Probably. What is the cost of that waste? Less than a dollar. Considering I am spending anywhere from $25 to $70 for the ingredients for the beer I am about to brew, it seems that wasting less than one dollar on sanitizer is a very good policy. No point in taking the chance over 94 cents.

If that is what you like to do, fine, but if you pH test the star san and it comes out 3 or less, there is no reason to dump. Its not taking a "chance" with the latter method.

And @Calder is correct, "milky" means nothing with respect to the sanitation properties of Star San.

 

[fizzix]

I see things can get as contentious here as the liquor forum where I'm a member.
Don't worry, I know how to filter "right" and "wrong" by the predominant responses.

 

[passedpawn]

I don't use starsan or any other sanitizer at all on brewday.

On my brewday, the ONLY thing that touches the wort after the boil is my carboys. But I always sanitize them and leave a cup of starsan solution in them, with the airlock on top, when I store them. So I just shake them up a good bit, dump out the starsan, and fill. It's an electric system with pumps, and I understand not all use them.

 

[helibrewer]

I sanitize my conical, plate chiller, and pre-chiller filter with heat. I use my RIMs tube to heat a few gallons of water in the fermenter and pump that through everything at 170F for 30 minutes, then everything is sealed. Fermenters are easy, use a sanitary air filter connected to the racking arm valve so the fermenter doesn't implode during cooling. The plate chiller and filter are sealed using a length of tubing connected to input and output, sealing it.

 

[stosh]

Although sanitize is a key word, you can't have sanitation without having clean equipment to start off with.

Hot water and PBW to clean everything (some use fragrance free Oxyclean). I soak hoses, auto siphons, bottles, air locks, bungs, etc and clean thoroughly.
I use a wash rag to wash things so as to reduce chances of any scratches in anything that could harbor harmful contaminants. I pump the PBW thru my auto siphon and hoses and rinse everything well.

Then I mix up 3-4 gallons of StarSan. I use a wallpaper tray, thanks to Beer and BBQ by larry on youtube, to sanitize auto siphons. air locks, and hoses. If I ever get to the point that I think my hoses could be the least bit questionable I will replace them (a simple way to make sure things are clean and helps put me at ease).

For bottles that still have labels on them and/or are exceptionally dirty, I use a big cooler. I mix 5 gallons of PBW and hot water. I stand the bottles up in the cooler and fill each with PBW. Dump any remaining cleaner in the cooler and mix up more cleaner. Enough to almost cover the bottles. I close the lid and let it sit overnight (sometimes 48 hours). If you have a good cooler the water will still be quite warm the next day and depending on the type of label used most labels will have fallen off or are loose enough to rinse off the bottle.

Before I drain anything I run a bottle brush thru each bottle. Sometimes I chuck up a bottle brush in a cordless drill depending how ambitious I am that day. Then rinse the crap out of everything.

I use StarSan and I don't fear the foam. Sometimes I will use the cooler from above as a container for my sanitizer during brew day. I give things a spritz of StarSan shortly before using them just for an added level of peace. I use the bulk StarSan to sanitize my bottles or you can use a vinator.

 

[fizzix]

I see your point, stosh. I've got PBW and you've convinced me that cleanliness is next to 'brewliness'.
I'm going to pound this cleaning & sanitizing discipline into my own head one way or another.​

 

[jalc6927]

I dump everything in my utility sink that’s filled with sanitized water, not full but 5-8 gallons of water

 

[stosh]

I see your point, stosh. I've got PBW and you've convinced me that cleanliness is next to 'brewliness'.
I'm going to pound this cleaning & sanitizing discipline into my own head one way or another.

Lol haven't heard that one before but if you approach it that way you should have few if any problems.