Dirty Bin... DIRTY!

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bacchus

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I'm new (...hello!) I've introduced myself and my recent poor show at some ginger beer, I'm having another pop later this week when I get my bits and bobs through the post (thanks to hawkinspm for the recipe).

I THINK I did everything okay last time, but it tasted, well, not good. Thinking back the only thing I could think might of been the trouble is that I didn't clean the FV (look at me with my liberal use of acronym like I know what I'm typing about) well enough.

It was brand new, I gave it a DAM good scrub with WUL (washing up liquid) and sponge pad, I thought that'd be OK (okay)?

I'm reminded of the days when peasents would brew some hooch in a hollowed out dog carcass and it'd turn out okay... but maybe not :hmm:

Should I sterilise (we do have a small load of baby Milton knocking around still) EVERYTHING or can i get away with just being clean.

If I do need to, is sterilising powders the only way to go, or can I rinse with boiling water or something cheaper?


THANK YOOOOU
 
You NEED to sterilise. If money is is issue use THIN bleach (about 35p a bottle) and use about a CAP FULL in the bucket after cleaning with a non scented cleaner (I prefer the oxy clean types at about £1 a tub).

You then wash out with clean water until you can no longer smell bleach.
 
As hairybiker says, you NEED to sterilise.

Thin bleach or Milton have their place but I only use them on glassware, and use the powders from the HBS on plastics.

Don't scrub your bucket too hard and use a non-abrasive pad, otherwise you are only providing scratches which the germs you are trying to eradicate will love to make their homes in.

99% of the time you will probably get away with ‘thoroughly clean’, but any brew represents an investment of time and money so it pays to develop good habits from the start.
 
Moley said:
As hairybiker says
hairybiker said:
You NEED to sterilise
you NEED to sterilise.
Actually you NEED to disinfect unless you are putting everything in an autoclave for 15 minutes at 120ºC you are not going to be able to sterilise . . . Its a subtle difference, sterilise means that there is zero viable organisms, disinfect means that you have knocked back the viable population of organisms to a very low, acceptable, level. IIRC we aim for the M3 level, which is that we try and kill off the original population on our clean surfaces to 1000 times what it was before we started.

Don't use Milton, use a disinfecting agent specifically designed for brewing they are easily available from places like Wilkos, even our morrisons have some, if you don't have a nearby LHBS. Don't clean with washing up liquid . . . For deep cleaning one of the Oxy action type cleaners is much more effective . . .use one without a fragrance something like Whizz or Astonish (Whizz is available from Tescos) one scoop in 5l of hot water, and swish it around the surface with a clean (dedicated brewery) microfibre cloth. . . . once it is clean then disinfect . . . and if you like rinse with a kettle of boiling water poured down the sides.
 


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