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am i even spelling that right? Okay, that's not the question ...
Got my better half to pick up sanitiser at LHBS (a new one) today - asked her to get my regular sodium metabisulphate powder which has raised me man and boy to the ludicrously reasonable brewer I am today
so she gets home with this dark fluid I've never seen, and says the lady in the shop said sodium metabisulphate was as deadly as nuclear waste or some such, and how I have to soak the bottles for 10 minutes in the Iodophor solution (I have a small sink - that's a lot of time soaking!)
Thanks, dear !
so can anyone help me out about how to use this stuff in the real world? thanks - B
kelbow wrote:so can anyone help me out about how to use this stuff in the real world? thanks - B
She did you a favour. Sodium met is crap cos it gives off gas which is bad for your lungs. And it's not as good a sanitiser as iodophor anyway. To use it, you mix it with water at the rate of 1mL per litre of water, which gives you a light amber liquid. This will sanitise surfaces effectively in 30 seconds (assuming they're properly clean). That's it.
Oh, and you can probably drink the solution (though not the concentrate). It's a no-rinse sanitiser, which means that if you let the stuff drip-dry you don't need to rinse it off.
Yep, rwh got it spot on.
Sodium Metabisulphate is from the dark ages. No respecting brewer uses it today, as it really is evil stuff.
And don't forget, no matter how well you sanitise with sodium met, you only sanitise to the standard of what you rinse it off with. Are you really happy to sanitise to the standard of your tap water?
Iodophor is excellent for washing bottles... and because you can dilute the concentrate 1:1000, you effectively get 250L of no-rinse for 7.95... excellent value... I just dont know how good it is to use on stainless and other metals.. but plastic and glass are tops...
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
Napisan Oxy action (the 25% w/w) and some boiling water is all I used for my metal gear. In fact it is the same for my fermentors, except that I also occasionaly rinse with water, bleach and vingear and always spray with Iodophor immediately before use.
For bottles I always rinse immediately after pouring the beer then upend into the dish draining rack. These are given a quick rinse with a bit of boiling water immediately before filling (Iodophor for the PET bottles).
matr wrote:While we're on the subject of sanitisers...
What is everyone's thought's on "Pink Neo"(Chlorinated Trisodium Phosphate)??? This is what I use.
Seems to do a good job??? No problems so far.
I alternate between Iodophor and Neo Pink and am very happy with results.
The reason I alternate is so that bugs and nasties can possibly get past one solution if used over and over, but mixing up the methods reduces this risk. I picked up this idea from Ed and Palmer after a bout of infected brews. Since using the two alternately I have had no issues with infections.
With my Iodophor I mix it, use within the hour and then chuck it out. It is so economical anyway I see no reason to stretch it's use at all.
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry.
Not sure about iodophor as i have never used it but my understanding is that when the colour fades its past its use by date.
With my method there is no decomposition of the active ingredients. The acid isnt going anywhere, nor is the surfactant. SO i can make up 10L, store in a cube at room temp and reuse until its takes on a colour or i spot floaties.
2.5L for $75. Will last a lifetime.
As for only 2 no rinse sanitisers - piffle.
Iodophor and starsan are brand names. The exact composition is a trade secret. Even the MSDS only gives part of the info which pisses me off as a scientist. Publish, not patent.
I used to use One-Shot from Grumpys and was able to keep made up solutions of that for more than a month!
Provided you clean things before sanitising them it lasts ages.
*bump*
Are any of the above available at the supermarket? I had a bottle of brewshield stuff from brewcraft, but that ran out (and was expensive, from memory), and I'm too lazy to drive far for cleaning equipment.
I need something to clean both bottles & fermenter, & it appears Iodophor is the pick of the bunch?
As a side note, the mrs got me a bottle tree for my birthday last year, highly excellent present. All it took was a walk through a hbs with me pointing out how useful it would be, over and over and over.
