Cleaning your brewing gear

WITHOUT ANY doubt, the main reason more people don’t brew at home, or stop after a couple of batches, is the arduous task of cleaning and sanitising, especially when it comes to bottles.

Which is why kegging is rapidly gaining massive popularity!

For cleaning, I have used a number of products and methods over the years and wish I had come across the ones I now use a lot sooner.

The first rule to remember is: you can’t sanitise your gear until it’s clean.

The best everyday cleaner I’ve come across is sodium percarbonate.

Soak your fermenter in this overnight and it will do the hard part for you. It is a fantastic cleaner for removing yeast, tannins and protein build-up.

Sodium percarbonate uses active oxygen to penetrate carbon or protein soils and has a high kill rate on a wide range of micro-organisms making it an effective sanitiser as well as cleaner.

I even use a teaspoon in half a sink to wash my favourite beer glasses, as dirty glasses won’t hold or keep pushing up a nice frothy head.

It is also non-rinse but I like to rinse it out with my sanitiser of choice, a phosphoric-based product called Starsan, which is a 100% food grade non-rinse sanitiser.

To say a little goes a long way is an understatement. 1.5ml per litre is all you need. The best part is, it can be reused. It only needs a contact time of 30 seconds, therefore it is perfect to make up a solution in a spray bottle.

This phosphoric acid blend provides a unique microorganism killing system, unaffected by organic soils and delivering a high foaming formulation with optimum coverage and penetration.

Please note the foam is okay! Pour your wort directly onto the foam, as this is a foaming non-rinse formulation. The formula can be metabolised by the yeast and will act as a nutrient that will actually assist yeast growth.

Follow this procedure and it will not impart any off-odours or flavours.

Unlike other harsh chemical sanitisers, Starsan is non-staining, stainless steel safe, and stable over a wide range of temperatures.

Starsan is an American product but it can be found in Aussie home brew shops under the name Stellarsan, with the same active ingredient and a lot cheaper as well.

You can find these two products in most good homebrew shops or online. I use a number of other products when needed, but rely on these two the most. Both can be used without gloves.

If stuck, use an oxy cleaner from a supermarket such as Napisan. This has about 30% sodium percarbonate as an active ingredient, but it needs to be rinsed well. The same goes for bleach if you’re stuck and need a sanitiser for brew day. Bleach needs to be rinsed well and is not safe on your hands.

A few tips

To save a little time and effort on bottling day, have your fresh ingredients ready to go. As soon as you clean and sanitise your fermenter, pitch a fresh brew straight away.

A bottlebrush can be cut off beneath the handle and placed in a cordless drill.

Keep your spray bottle of Starsan on the kitchen bench where it’s handy at all times.

Dissolve your sodium percarbonate in hot water to start activation. Starsan can be mixed cold as well as warm.

After you’ve cleaned your favourite beer glasses with sodium percarbonate, chuck your dishcloth in the solution for half an hour and watch as it becomes clean. Until next time, good brewing!