Non-Hardware brewing essentials?

[r-evans]

Don't be put off my the price of Starsan. You use it in such little quantity that 1 bottle of the concentrate will last for years!
I also bought a 5l bottle of water from the supermarket (c. ���£2) - use the water in the brewing or just make up the bottle into 5l diluted Starsan. Great for use in large quantity for sanitising FVs or corny kegs etc.
... and don't worry when it goes cloudy. As long as the PH is still low then it'll still work. You'll need some PH strips for this - dirt cheap off fleabay will be fine for this!

Other than that..
Patience - definitely.
Method - get the process correct and repeatable every time.
Resilience - eventually something will go wrong and you'll lose a batch to infection.

and most importantly... enjoy it!
Cheers!
DA

Cheers. Good idea. How long does the Starsan last once mixed with water?

Anybody know? Once I've cleaned with Starsan can I bottle it and use again in say a month?

 

[Rogermort]

Anybody know? Once I've cleaned with Starsan can I bottle it and use again in say a month?

Yes. I've been using and reusing the same FV of diluted Starsan for months.


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[Fil]

starsan is an acid sanitiser so as long as its ph is 2.5-3 (iirc ) then its still active. going cloudy can indicate its spent however a ph test is the only way to be sure.

application of starsan via a trigger spray bottle can result in a very small degree of waste.

I personally dont reuse, but apply mostly with a spray gun, i do keep a bowl for finger dipping and keeping small items like tube taps, airlocks, corny/bottle lids when kegging /bottling, which gets discarded post use.

 

[Rikki]

hi Everyone,
just wondering when you makeup sterilizing solution how long can you keep using it, is there a shelf life and need to be discarded.

regards Rik.

 

[Ale]

On the subject of Spray-Bottles, I have spent good money on buying empty ones that have broken after one or two fills.

As a result, I now buy "Flash With Bleach" spray-bottles (99p at my local pound-store).

I pour the Flash down the toilet (it gives a super shine to the bowl), rinse out the Spray-Bottle with copious amounts of water and "Voila!" a Spray-Bottle that actually lasts.

It's a bit fiddly to get into them (cut off the fancy top cover and you can get at the holdfasts with a small screwdriver) but after that re-filling with bleach or other sanitiser is easy-peasy. :thumb: :thumb:

Even bottles like that have a limited life. What I do is use them for general household cleaning and when they run out keep the bottle. That way you are saving your £1 each time and have a continuous supply. I dont use flash but the one I use you can twist the top off with a little bit of force.

 

[Ale]

DONT USE FERMENTATION BUCKETS (that you plan to ferment in) as Storage containers for anything that could scratch the inside, In fact simply Dont store kit in current fermentation vessels. A tiny scratch is all thats needed to hide an unwanted nasty and protect it from cleaning and sanitation schedules.

And the last thing you want to spot when filling a FV with valuable wort is a scratch in the FV wall as it will keep you up at nights worrying about the brew (or is that just me ??)

I switched to using FV's with narrow necks to stop the temptation of ruining another FV and relegating it to dedicated storage or gardening duties

I use garden trubs for starage. Cheap and strong. I carry one to the bath ith all my bits in and do all my washing and steralising in it. Last summer I also stood my FV in it with water and a t shirt over the FV to wick water and help cooling. Kept my beer at about 20°C even when it was really hot outside. If I didnt have my fridge I would do the same this summer with a fan connected to the cooling plug.