Sterilisation tips

[blackdouglas]

I'm quite meticulous when it comes to this, and probably do it more than I need to. better to err on the side of caution.

It's quite a laborious task in my house though, mainly because the taps in my sink are really low and the only way to get water into the bucket is by using a second vessel, which I also sterilise first, and this is quite a cumbersome and time consuming task.

When I have used the bucket/barrel I put it in the shower first to rinse it out, then I put some sterilisation powder in and fill it up and leave it over night.

Is it OK to use an old shower head though, which has limescale growing on and perhaps bacteria inside?

I then fill it up to 5L and put a couple of teaspoons in again and leave it, with the siphoning tube and stirring spoon inside for a night. I also shake it about, and turn it on it's side so that the fluid is making contact with the whole of the insides. Then I rinse it out.

It's difficult to get the fluid inside the siphon tube though without sucking on it, which is obviously dangerous. Anyone got any tips on how to do this effectively?

Should I take the tap off the barrel and soak every time/once in a while?

Am I doing this right?

Are there any advantages/disadvantages to leaving the solution in the bucket for a number of days?

 

[bobsbeer]

What you are doing is fine if a bit OTT. You only need to sanitise once. As for your shower head I wouldn't worry. Any bacteria is being destroyed by adding your steraliser. I usually do all my steralising in the kitchen sink with thin bleach and tap water. I never boil water that gets added to brews unless I want it hot. There are lots of threads about steralising/sanitising and those who go to extreme lengths to get rid of every pathogen known to man, and a few more for good measure. As long as you keep everything clean and sanitised you will be fine. Don't worry.

 

[blackdouglas]

Thanks. I worked out a good way to sterilise the pipe. Just do it in a tub, with rubber gloves on. that way you can persuade the water to go inside easier

 

[PD]

If you are using plastic PET bottles its easy chuck em in the bath add steriliser chuck in everything else your going to use leave 4 hours approx make sure the water gets well into the bottles. Then empty bath water refill with clean water and leave for one hour giving all the bottles a good shake and swirl. Empty bath put bottle drainer in bath and load it with your nice clean bottles. No hassel and you can have a couple of bacon butties walk the dog or whatever while its happening. :clap:

 

[blackdouglas]

Only problem with that theory is I don't have a bath. Thinking of buying something for this purpose, once my alcohol tax returns start to come through : I have all the bottle which will need a good soaking as they have been in storage for nearly 2 years.

 

[bobsbeer]

Get something like a baby bath. That should do it.

 

[PD]

you don't have to get a baby apparently...... :shock:

 

[blackdouglas]

Baby bath sounds good, and fairly cheap. Will keep a look out for some cheap plastic containers.

 

[blackdouglas]

I read that it is best to sterilise things just before you use them.

Just put some fluid in the barrel so sterilising that now, better to empty it and rinse it and keep the lid on until it's ready to use, or leave the steriliser in there and rinse it out just before?

 

[blackdouglas]

Just realised, I have a whole stack of those plastic boxes you use for moving house and storing things under your bed. Why didn't I think of that before? problem solved. Bottle brew coming next, hopefully.

Also just thought those glass and plastic recycling boxes you get from the council would be ideal for this, if only there weren't holes in the bottom... sure they could be plugged with something though...

 

[blackdouglas]

17p a 2L bottle of sparkling water from tesco, so that works out at about £2 for enough bottles for my next brew, starting next week. Can I use the water in them? Does it matter if it is carbonated? Probably. Are the still ones just as good for holding the pressure in?

Do I need to sterilise them? Is it possible to just buy say 12 bottles, empty them into the fermentation bucket and then fill them back up again with the beer when it's ready and store in a dark cupboard?

Seems like a really easy and inexpensive way to do it.

I plan to try this next week so I can build up a stock of ready to drink beer, which will save me money that I can then use to buy the equipment needed for proper bottling.

 

[TRXnMe]

Hmmm

You need oxygen, not CO2 in the water for good fermentation, so you'd need to get the gas out of the water before using it, also well worth checking the ingredients to make sure there aren't any oddities in the stuff.

Otherwise, you're right, it's a cheap way to get pure water and pressure bottles for the resulting brew :)

My wife drinks a lot of diet coke, pepsi max etc, I hang onto the bottles as she empties them to use for still cider, not sure about using a 2 litre bottle for beer, that's almost 4 pints and I like to have the odd one or two, rather than the knocking off 4 at a time.

 

[blackdouglas]

Same here, but with a barrel/bottle rotation thing going on it could work. Besides, it's all I can afford at the moment.

Are you saying that it's good to slosh the water about when starting the brew then? I was thinking that maybe less sloshing would be ideal because that oxygenates the water, doesn't it?

 

[TRXnMe]

From what I've read the initial wort needs to have lots of oxygen in it for primary fermentation to be effective, yeast can ferment in a 0 oxygen atmosphere, but this can cause them to get stressed and might lead to odd flavours, if I understood that bit right :)

However, once primary fermentation is complete you don't want to get any more oxygen into the brew or it will oxidise and go off quickly.

I always take care wen syphoning off and once in the keg I add a quick whiff of CO2 to put a 'blanket' over the beer while secondary fermentation takes place and carbonates the beer that way.