OVHA Chat

Hi folks,

I bought a kit from Northern Brewer and it came with an 8oz container of "Easy Clean " sanitizer. I've finished making one batch and I've gone though almost all of it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on locally available product(s) that do the job?

Thanks in advance.

Easy Clean- One pound package. No rinse cleaner/sanitizer. Similar to One-Step but 4% stronger. Oxygen based sanitizer. Dissolve one tablespoon powder to one gallon warm water. Wash surfaces with solution. Rinsing is not required but is recommended.
(this comes with most beer kits)

I think most of us use two separate products, one for cleaning and one for sanitizing.

I like PBW (Five Star, Power Brewery Wash ) for cleaning all my beer equipment.
PBW stands for Powdered Brewery Wash. This product is widely used in commercial breweries across the country. Use 1 - 2 ounces per gallon for cleaning boil kettles, or an ounce per gallon for fermenters, kegs and other brewing equipment. Soaking overnight will easily remove stubborn, caked on organic deposits without scrubbing. PBW is environmentally friendly, biodegradeable, and will not harm septic systems.

And Star san or Saniclean by Five Star for sanitizing.

STAR SAN is a low foaming blend of phosphoric acid and sulfonate oleic acid. This synergistic blend provides a unique killing system that is unaffected by excessive organic soils.
Broad Spectrum Bactericide and Fungicide, Not Affected by Organic Materials, No Rinse Requirement When Used at 300 ppm, Accepted by U.S.D.A. as a General Sanitizer in all Departments.
A dilution of 1 ounce to 5 gallons of water, STAR SAN will provide 300 ppm of sulfonate oleic acid. After 1 to 2 minutes contact time, drain sanitizing solution equipment thoroughly. Do not rinse.

SANICLEAN is a acid rinse, much like Star San, but low-foaming — this makes it great for CIP or pump applications as well as part soaking. Saniclean does not require a rinse when used at or below 200 ppm. Great for spray bottles, circulation sanitizing with a pump, or other applications where lots of foam is undesirable. Can also be used for soaking use 2 oz Saniclean per 4 gallons of water, allow hand-washed parts to soak for 5 minutes, then rinse with potable water.

Locally the CO-OP on N. Mill road has them but you will find any online Homebrew shop carries it also.

Some of our club searches:
http://www.ovha.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=359
http://www.ovha.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=282

That all said and done, John Palmer (How to Brew) has some online info on cleaning and sanitzing your equipment:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-2.html
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-3.html

I don't trust oxygen cleaners to sanitize well enough. I started brewing using bleach, but got tired of that very quickly, moved to One-Step (which I think is similar to what you have). Now I use Starsan for sanitizing, and I believe it's light years better.

For cleaning, a lot of times I use multiple hot water rinses and a sponge, followed by sanitation with Starsan before I put the equipment away. For carboys (I use better bottles, so I can't use brushes!) and for caked on stuff, I use Oxyclean, which is kinda similar to one-step. I use the kind that is perfume free, of course. I let that soak for an hour or so, but not for an extended time (like overnight) because it tends to leave a residue. Then, hot water rinses and an acid rinse (usually, again, Starsan).

Starsan is at the coop at Mill and St. Joe.
Oxyclean I get at Schnucks or Target.

I have to agree with Micheal, Oxyclean and Starsan are my two chemicals of choice. For my Better Bottles I use a Carboy Cleaner http://www.grapegrainandbeanstore.com/c ... n&key=5180 works wonders.

Definitely use StarSan or something similar, the oxygen based ones have never worked for me here. No problems in Canada, but here I get wild yeast every time I don't use StarSan.

Peter

Welcome!
What I have found out is that I need to be conscious of whether I need a sanitizer or a cleaner in any specific instance. First, it is very important to clean things as soon as you are done using them. Then, when you need to use them a quick sanitizing does the job!

+1 on Star San. I have a dedicated cornie keg on tap all the time. I Aldo keep a spray bottle too. It won't harm stainless steel, but does eat the plastic spray bottle nozzle, and cobra tap on the keg where they have to be changed out once a year. 75+ brews in 3 years without a single infection is my big thumbs up for Star San.
I use the generic oxyclean sold at the Dollar Tree. One scoop in 5-6 1/2 gallon carboy, or keg and your good to let soak for a long time. I've even let sit in an open carboy for over a month without any I'll effects. I did have a mineral build up once after letting set for over a month. It cleaned up easy enough with a vinegar rinse.
I let one step set once for a week and that water was really rank with some kind of funk. I thought the carboy was ruined. I wouldn't use it if it was given to me.

Just wanted to add avoid any sort or dish washer detergents, I keep a clean dedicated detergent free sponge to wipe down my brewstuff, bottle brushes, carboy brushes, airlock brushes work great for breaking stuff off the sides and bottoms of hard to reach places, avoid scratching the sides of anything plastic is clutch because it can trap bacteria, which is why you see alot of wooden mash paddles and no metal ones, things with handles like brew kettles work best if welded to the outside of the pot instead of a button in the inside that lets crud get trapped in it, and starsan works awesome, i use it on my brewkettle, then move it to the fermenter, then move it to the keg after a good soaking in the PBW which I also put a stopper in my stainless kitchen sink and soak it and scrub it to clean it, or anything stainless that needs to be cleaned.

A spray bottle and Star San are my best brewing friends (no offense to the club). I actually mix up a five gallon keg of Star San with distilled water (will last much longer) and carbonate it. I can then easily add some to carboys, my plastic wall paper tray (for sanitizing long objects like AutoSiphons/racking canes), go into the liquid side and gas side of cleaned kegs with short jumper (Male Male & Male Female), and fill my spray bottle from it. The nozzle on the picnic tap I have on that keg fits my transfer tubing so I run it through that too. Just don't forget and drink it!

Thank you all for the excellent advice!

I appreciate it; and more importantly, my beer will appreciate it

Loyd