After coming across the various cleaners/'sterilisers' and reading a fair few forum posts ive come to the conclusion of .........being very confused.
Ok so i know the general argument of sterilisers vs sanitisers (and why we aren't sterilising but merely 'sanitising'), but if the 'cleaner/sterilisers' e.g. vwp and the like don't actually sterilise, how can they be sold as such?
Or is it that they sterilise partially (i.e. kill off most nasties) - and this is what the americans would call sanitised?
Now am i correct in thinking that:
Youngs
Bruclean
VWP
etc...
All work in the same way? (Chlorine donors for sterilising + non caustic detergent for cleaning?)
How effective are they at sterilising?
Then there is oxyclean and chemipro oxi, do people just use these as cleaners/detergents?
(I read the post about needing about 20 times as much for chemipro to be a good steriliser)
How does chemipro oxi compare to vwp etc? (i only ask as it states it is no rinse - thus would be a no rinse cleaner/steriliser)
After cleaning with oxy/soda crystals etc, do people then use something along the lines of starsan for sterilisation?
So the available options are(?):
1. Use something like vwp etc to clean/sterilise in one (but need to rinse)
2. Use a cleaner + steriliser separately (probably with no rinse properties)
3. ...? (percarbonate etc ... or do these fall into category 2?)
Does the difference between 1 and 2 purely lie in the fact that people prefer no rinse sterilisers?
Or is the separate cleaning + steriliser combo more superior in its sterilising properties?
Im happy with my usage of vwp and youngs etc, i just wondered what other options are out there (read - cheapest
). Cheers
Kane
(Regardless of waht palmer and Zainasheff say) . . .although I will admit that we are really not looking for sterilisation for general brewing situations . . . yeast culture is much different
