Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

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Mattpc
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Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Mattpc » Wed May 11, 2016 11:54 am

My default procedure for anything that touches my beer is clean it with chemi pro oxi or pbw, rinse and then finally star san. My question is this.. If I have an auto syphon that I have previously put away having rinsed it, when I come to using it a few weeks later, if it looks clean can I just star san it or do I really need to chemi pro oxi, rinse, star san?

I don't want to take risks but also I don't want to completely overkill my cleaning routine as it's a pain, time consuming and costly!

barry44

Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by barry44 » Wed May 11, 2016 12:02 pm

i generally rinse my auto syphon and then run starsan from one vessel to another trough it, i store my starsan in a couple of 5 litre ashbeck bottles.

It also gets a spray down as well with no issues yet.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Troutman47 » Wed May 11, 2016 12:11 pm

I've got other equipment out like hydrometers and just sprayed it and dropped it into the FV and never had a problem.

Even my bottles, once I've emptied one I rinse with hot water, let it cool, spray inside with Starsan place a plastic cap on top (thats been sprayed as well) and it's ready for filling again.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Jocky » Wed May 11, 2016 12:14 pm

No you don't need to reclean if it's already clean.
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Dennis King
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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Dennis King » Wed May 11, 2016 1:31 pm

I just make sure everything is properly cleaned after use the sterilize before use.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Mattpc » Wed May 11, 2016 1:33 pm

and by properly cleaned do you mean you use a cleaner like oxi pro after using it, rinse, then let dry. Then when you come to use it, rinse again and star san? Or do you have some other procedure?

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Dennis King
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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Dennis King » Wed May 11, 2016 1:37 pm

Mattpc wrote:and by properly cleaned do you mean you use a cleaner like oxi pro after using it, rinse, then let dry. Then when you come to use it, rinse again and star san? Or do you have some other procedure?
Yep.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by FUBAR » Wed May 11, 2016 3:33 pm

I follow the same procedure as Dennis, if items are cleaned, rinsed & thoroughly dried before storing somewhere clean I see no problem just sanitising before use.
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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Jocky » Wed May 11, 2016 3:36 pm

After use: clean with oxi or PBW then rinse. You don't need to starsan at this point, although as I have moderately hard water I like to wipe everything stainless steel down with some citric acid after rinsing.

Before use: check you cleaned it properly last time, then sanitise.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by scotsloon » Wed May 11, 2016 3:51 pm

I keep my tubes submerged in a covered brew bucket with 2 campden tabs and about 1 gallon of water. This keeps them nice and clean when not in use. If I use them I just rinse them again under the tap. Change the campden water every month or so.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Hanglow » Wed May 11, 2016 4:22 pm

I clean, rinse, star san, leave. No need to clean again unless its been open to the elements and I can't think of anything that is as I keep all my equipment in closed fermenting buckets with half a litre of star san in them.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Kev888 » Wed May 11, 2016 10:00 pm

Once you've cleaned away physical deposits once then that is usually job done; it doesn't need re-doing unless it gets dirty again for some reason (say crud gets in or biological life forms somehow build up an obvious physical presence). The key thing is that its clean enough for your subsequent disinfectant/sanitizer (starsan in your case) to get directly at all the surfaces; having to penetrate any organic gunk or other porous things makes it far less certain.

WRT disinfecting/sanitising then thats worth doing/repeating shortly before use. Unless the equipment was completely sterile and completely sealed when you put it away, things can grow given a chance. Its quite hard for homebrewers to fully sterilize many pieces of equipment, and time can allow things that escape to regain strength. In some cases equipment can be stored in disinfectants, but many such potions have drawbacks such as a tendency to attack metal objects, scale things up, and/or become ineffective after a short period of time.
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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Mattpc » Wed May 11, 2016 10:30 pm

Wow I'm really touched by the time people have taken to explain what they do. It all makes perfect sense. I like the route of cleaning and then re sanitizing.

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by Fil » Thu May 12, 2016 8:55 am

i will admit i go ott a bit but everything gets cleaned on the way into use and on the way out into storage. I wont sanitise when putting things away,
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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Re: Do I need to reclean as well as Starsan?

Post by orlando » Thu May 12, 2016 8:59 am

There just isn't a downside to a robust, read paranoid, cleaning regime. Time and time again I read "I do X and have never had a problem", well I taste enough home brew to significantly doubt many of those claims.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

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Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

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