Home Brew Forum

...but today I will come close!! Went to man cave today with the intention of bottling the duchess esb that I dry hopped a week ago...and there's*&%$$ aceter growth all over it.
this despite boiling hopsock before dry hopping
Can't face a lambic,so consigned to great drip tray in the sky
Some of you who have seen the man cave may be unsurprised,however my sanitation regime is good ie clean and scrub with oxy, spray with starsan to store,then on brewday another rinse and starsans again just before use.

So today went made on cleaning...boiling hot water scourers. The works. Made up a 6 gal solution of starsan, fv 1 now full of it then will do fv2+3
Am going to replace.all my silicon tubing and little bottler
bottled the choccy brew instead. Gutted

'Tis a sad day

I anticipate you will still have trouble. Starsan is not man enough a cleaner.

What size is your silicon tubing ?

Err 1/4 inch I think Barney. Although I also have a 15 mm siphon and hop filter made of john guest push fits and barrier pipe I use for quick siphons

That gets a boiling water rinse and starsan as well but I must admit the 1/4 inch one has always been a bugger to clean

bit of fishing line or similar, loop at the end of it, some pull thru material in the loop ( i like glasses cleaner but use what you've got ) then pull it thru like you're cleaning a gun barrel. got the idea from, err, cleaning a gun barrel.

works for me any way

Dave

Unlucky. Acetobacter is such a PIA

I think heat is the best killer for acetobacter.
Look at floydmeddler's posts on it as he had a real problem.

I try to use separate kit for Lambic and mainstream brews.

If I'm unsure of silicon tube I pasteurise at 85C for about 30mins.
But be careful with other tubing / kit. PVC will go stiff and white.

Lambic FV get filled with bleach solution then rinsed with boiling water from kettle.
After a couple of further cold rinses I swill with a solution of sodium metabisulphite to clear up any remaining bleach.

Thanks for good advice fellas. Have replaced all silicon, which I reckon was actual source,and will incorporate your ideas. Oh well its a learning curve. Got bigger bore as well so easier to clean

Starsan isn't supposed to be a 'cleaner' especially at no-rinse levels of 1.6ml/litre - it's a sanitiser for things that are already visually clean as in free of clag, crud, trub, uunske, and general gunk. Also, it needs to be made up with soft water. Carbonate rich water stops it working. If you make it up and it goes hazy, or does so after a bit, it's shagged. So either soften your water by the usual methods, or use soft spring water - Tesco's Ashbeck Spring is soft enough, and dirt cheap. Chuck 8mls Starsan into a 5 Litre bottle of it at about £1.19 and the job's a good'un.

Please note - I dunno if you already know this info, probably do. I haven't been back on these boards for long enough to know who already knows what - so, apologies if it's teaching Grandma to suck eggs, but it might be useful info if you don't.

I generally clean with caustic soda, rinse, then sanitise with Starsan. No probs so far.

Never does any harm to get a gentle reminder Steve. In truth I think its easy to become a bit complacent about cleaning regimes especially when starsan is such s good Sanitizer. And as I don't know the Ph of my local water,but for live 200 yards from tescos, the hint about ashbeck is handy, cheers

Cheers, Timbo. Yeah, have a look at the mineral composition on the bottle - it's about the lowest I've ever seen for carbonate and general mineral content on bottled water. Very handy for our purposes

For cleaning stubborn stuff like trub caked inside FV blow off tubes, you'd have to go some way to beat caustic soda. I use the pure caustic crystals, 500g packs for not a lot...for tough stuff make it up with water to somewhere between their recommended levels for 'general cleaning', and 'drain clearing' strength depending on your level of bravery, soak your tubing in that for a bit, and the muck will virtually float off. Rubber gloves a must.

i.m.e. caustic is far the best cleaner,as steve said, followed by thorough rinsing with hot water and a goodly dose of 75-1 5% peracetic acid to nuetralise the caustic and contact sterilise the line

Is that the same stuff as washing soda?
Thanks for input guys

The only thing you need to worry about when using starsan is that once it is made up the pH is less than 3, it is the acidity of the solution that is important, not whether it is cloudy or not.

timbo41 wrote:Is that the same stuff as washing soda?
Thanks for input guys

Washing soda is mainly sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)- A good medium strength cleaner / water softener


Caustic soda is a much more aggressive chemical. Its sodium hydroxide (NaOH) which is very, very corrosive and alkali. Sometimes used as a drain cleaner as it tends to break down most organic materials. (including skin etc)(ph ~13)
Nasty stuff where rubber gloves & eye protection are essential.