Sanitising

[Nathan]

Hi guys, I just wanted to know a few different options for sanitising your equipment and bottles. I used powder stuff for the first brew and bleach for the second. The powder stuff from the HBS costs a bomb and the bleach I've heard mixed reports on. I know this has been covered to a degree in some other topics but there hasn't been a topic just on this. Thanks for your help.

[Oats]

G'Day Nathan

Istarted with the powder but my HBS make a stuff called brewshield with oxygen/silver ions that doesnt need rinsing afterwards?
I still rinse in boiling water though!
it was 5.95 for a little bottle but should last 10 brews..so 60c per brew at the most?
and the bueaty is its simple to use...just stick it in a spray botle (diluted) and away you go.

Cheers
Adam

[stewills]

hi Nathan,

I used the powdered stuff in my first brew..... but found that bleach was so much cheaper to use and i think it even cleans better... ( not too sure about that) but i have had 4 brews on now.. and i don't think i had a problem.. most of the people we know also use bleach so i guess it doesn;t really matter which one u use..

one thing though.. with bleach u got to rinse it out well.... i generally rinse it three to four times after i empty the bottle with the bleach concentrate...

my procedure is..: rinse the bottle after you drink the beer...

on bottling day... dilute half a cup of bleach with roughly 1 litre of water... then pour a little of the bleach into a bottle and shake it till it covers all area of the bottle.... then tip the liquid to the next bottle.. i use the same liquid for around 10 bottles.. then i use a little more bleach that i diluted in the first place.. ( one litre should be more than enough for you to clean 30 bottles and sanitise) some people use the same bleach for all their bottles.. but i tip it out after the 10th bottle..

then i rinse it as well as i can.. then sanitise it... then rinse it out really well.. then on the last rinse i just rinse with hot water... dun have a problem at all...

[Dogger Dan]

Bleach and hot water ,been using it for 15 years, haven't bombed a batch on bacteria yet touch wood

Dogger

[thehipone]

I'm a bleach guy too. I just mix up a big washing tub of bleach solution and submerge the bottles in it and let them sit for a few hours. Rinsing is more of a pain, you need to triple rinse to get the bleach out. I also use bleach to keep the fermenter sterile between batches. Fill it up with a solution and let it sit until you're ready for the next go.

[rain]

There're quite a few different bleach brands/types available, plus (duh) lemon scented, etc.
To those who do it this way: Have you a preferred brand/type??

[Franky]

unscented is the way to go I think... I susually go for the generic supermarket brands. What do you guys think?

[thehipone]

Cheapest unscented bleach. Scented is bad unless you're trying to get a lemon fresh ale.

[Super Max Power]

I clean and rinse my bottles then put them in the oven at 120 degC for 10min to sanitise. Let them cool back down before filling them. I have never have a bottle go pop yet.

[rain]

It would have been smart of me to mention the excessive use of water is one problem I'm trying to fix with my brewing.
I use rain-water for brews (and that's not too consistant - falling I mean) so town-water has to be the cleansing medium. I find I use a hell of a lot. This, too, is the reason I asked in another post about ways of maintaining sterile bottles between fills.

[Franky]

Well the sanitising in the oven sounds like the best water-saving option, but I have heard that it can weaken your bottles. Supermax, however, has never had a problem!

[the Baron]

G'day mate, I have always been using Milton (the brand name) as it is a sterilizer used to sterilize babys bottles, this means that it will sterilize adequatly, and also won't impart a flavour, and you don't have to waste water rinsing it out afterwards, just let soak for 1-2hr, tip it out and away you go (note: may be bit more expensive, but you know it is safe to drink even if you don't tip it all out, and is very easy to use)

[rain]

Of course M'Lord. Milton. It's been around since I knew how babies are created - I'm surprised it is still manufactured. But, tomorrow ........... .
Anyway, thanks.

[Longbeach Brewer]

I picked up e neat little gadget from my HBS last week. It's a bottle rinser
It holds about a litre of liquid. and has a manual pump in it that squirts the liquid up into the bottle.
All you do is prepare your sanitizing solution (I'm using sodium metabisulfite, but will change to bleach when it runs out...), add it to the rinser, tip your empty bottle upside down onto the nozzle and push down on the pump a couple of times. The sanitizing solution sprays up inside the bottle competely contacting every surface, then runs back into the reservoir ready to be pumped into the next bottle. There is plenty of volume in the reservoir to keep your solution fresh enough to sanitize all the bottles for your batch. After sanitizing your bottles, tip the sanitizer down the sink and rinse the reservoir out with fresh clean water, then fill it up again with water and let the tap just trickle into it to keep a continuous supply of fresh water, and give all your bottles another rinse or two with the water as described above.
I've only used it once so far, but it's saved me an hour or so rinsing bottles, and what must be bucketloads of water. Well worth the $30 it cost me

[guest]

Long beach, are u saying that this bottle rinser also rinses bottle after you sanitise it? cause i checked out other websites and it didn't say anything about bottle rinsers used as rinising bottles aside from sanitising.. so if you can clarify it.. it will be great

[Longbeach Brewer]

Yeah! The instructions on the box suggest it can be used to "rinse", "sterilize" and "season" (for wine bottling).
The helpful chap at Australian Home Brewing in Oakleigh Vic. suggested sanitizing first, then rinsing (simply by changing what the reservoir is filled with). As this was the method I used manually, I had no problem doing the same thing with the help of my new gizmo. To ensure a clean rinse, it's best to run fresh water into the reservoir as you rinse the bottles.

[Dogger Dan]

I have seen these, they come with a bottle tree to so can hang your bottles to drain if you get a fancy one. I have never used them personally

Dogger

[Evo]

Thought I'd tag this one on the end of a suitable thread. Doesn't warrant a new one. The question is, Sanitize, a product by Morgan's. Been using it for a while now with no problems so far. Now the thing is, I wash my fermenters and kegs out with boiling water then cold water. Get em nice and clean and let them dry. When it comes to using them I give them a spray with "Sanitize" shake it out and fill away.

Had a look on the bottle the other day and noticed the active ingredient was hydrogen peroxide. From memory, high school chemistry memory which was a long time ago, hydrogen peroxide being H2O2 has a very loose grip on that extra oxygen molecule, and after time alot of H2O2 turns into water and oxygen. This is a bit of a worry with me blindly using it thinking I'm doing good and spraying water (nice pure water) into my kegs and fermenters thinking I'm sterilising them.

So any of you chemical heads out there wanna put my worries to rest (or not) ?

[bmorey]

I have seen these, they come with a bottle tree to so can hang your bottles to drain if you get a fancy one. I have never used them personally

Dogger

The bottle tree is a separate purchase, and a superfluous one. No need to drain bottles after rinsing.

I've been using the AHB bottle steriliser/rinser for a couple of years. It was worth every cent - saves a lot of time and bother.

I've been using AHB Sterex and and at 2 scoops per batch it's not too dear, although a lot dearer than chlorine bleach. I think Miltown is only a chlorine bleach in an expensive package.

[db]

i've recently (my last 5 brews) switched to milton (well the homebrand equivilent anyways) & i'm yet to have a problem with it.. and at $2.50 a bottle (which makes up around 80litres) its great value.
i also use morgans sanitizer in a spray bottle for last minute bits & pieces that i've forgot to soak..