Sanitation

I have read online and book after book how important sanitation is for wine and beer making. Is rinsing everything in extremely hot water adequate or do I need to use a wash made for sanitizing?

dantrubak said:

I have read online and book after book how important sanitation is for wine and beer making. Is rinsing everything in extremely hot water adequate or do I need to use a wash made for sanitizing?

Click to expand...

Hot water will not get it done. There are things like your thermometer, hydrometer, plastic parts (hoses), and such that don't like extremely hot water.

It will prove to be an inadequate sanitizer in wine making. I would drop that idea completely.

Most of us use a solution of 3 tablespoons of Kmeta to one gallon of water.
I also use StarSan for sanitizing. It works great for spraying it directly on things like wine thiefs, stirring spoons/rods, my hands, ..etc.

The Kmeta solution works best when the item to be sanitized can be sealed inside a container with the fumes of the solution. It sanitizes by its fumes.

StarSan is a contact sanitizer, which works well in any situation where the soltion can be sprayed directly onto whatever needs sanitizing.

Put both solutions in a spray bottle and have it handy around your wine making equipment.

Whatever you use, never use chlorine bleach in a wine making environment. It can react with bottle corks and severely taint your wines.

There are really two steps to protecting your wine from dirt and "bugs," cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning removes visible dirt whereas sanitizing removes other and invisible organisms that can spoil your wine. Cleaning is done with hot water and detergent (many of us use OxyClean or equivalent) and sanitizing is done with a Postasium Metabisulfite solution.

"Extremely hot water" is very likely to cause damage to glass carboys and hydrometers.

Steve

Iodophor works well. I had always used for sanitizing my beer kegs, and now I use it for winemaking. It will stain tubing and stoppers a little, but the stain goes away when I once again soak them in oxyclean. 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Contact time is 1-2 minutes.

It's a huge help if you clean all of your tools and carboys as soon as you are through with them. Use a good bottle brush and soapy water to remove all debris that may be stuck on them. Rinse well and dry.

Spray them off with a water and sulfite solution.

Remember to clean your work area often including the handles on your faucet. Practice cleanliness and using the proper ingredients and you'll be fine.

cpfan said:

"Extremely hot water" is very likely to cause damage to glass carboys and hydrometers.

Steve

Click to expand...

Steve, I am always eager to learn. How can very extremely water harm a glass carboy? What do you define as "extremely hot water?"

Rocky said:

Steve, I am always eager to learn. How can very extremely water harm a glass carboy? What do you define as "extremely hot water?"

Click to expand...

Large temperature changes will often cause a carboy to crack. The original poster said "extremely hot water". I'm pretty sure that will be a large temp change. It may not crack the carboy every time, but sooner rather than later, I suspect.

The Mexican carboys that I use have the following notice on their base "Do Not Bump or Heat".

Steve

Even setting a carboy, (empty or full) on concrete can crack or shatter a carboy. There is nothing to give. Always set them down on a rubber matt, chunk of carpet, cardboard or even a lid from a juice bucket. Set them down gently.

I wash my carboys in warm soapy water and rinse the same way. Never cold, never hot.

Ignore this advice and you can't imagine how sick you will feel when a full carboy cracks and your precious wine spills all over the floor. Many on here can confirm this. Even breaking a hydrometer can piss you off.

Thanks, Steve and Steve. Never too old to learn, but I am getting close!

I stayed at a Holiday Inn select last night.

Thanks everybody! So what is the best spray on, rinse, wipe off sanitizer I can use?

Rocky said:

There are really two steps to protecting your wine from dirt and "bugs," cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning removes visible dirt whereas sanitizing removes other and invisible organisms that can spoil your wine. Cleaning is done with hot water and detergent (many of us use OxyClean or equivalent) and sanitizing is done with a Postasium Metabisulfite solution.

Click to expand...

I often see the reference to OxyClean when there's talk of sanitizing and cleaning but this is a stain remover right?

Which of the following products are you specifically talking about?

OxyClean Canada

Thanks

Giovannino, when I say OxyClean, I am talking about the powder shown in the "Around the House" box. If you have Walmart stores in Canada, they sell an equivalent generic product for much less than the brand.

dantrubak said:

Thanks everybody! So what is the best spray on, rinse, wipe off sanitizer I can use?

Click to expand...

StarSan. It is a contact sanitizer and not a sanitize-by-fumes, like Kmeta.
It works great for spraying on anything, including your hands.

robie said:

StarSan. It is a contact sanitizer and not a sanitize-by-fumes, like Kmeta.
It works great for spraying on anything, including your hands.

Click to expand...

Uffda I can't get all this straight. Kmetta with acid is a contact sanitizer though...RIGHT?????

shoebiedoo said:

Uffda I can't get all this straight. Kmetta with acid is a contact sanitizer though...RIGHT?????

Click to expand...

I answered a question that appeared earlier in this thread.

He asked what is a good spray on, rinse off sanitizer.
StarSan is a great one for contact sanitizing.

A sanitizer made with Kmeta works best when the item being sanitized is enclosed in some kind of container, so the item can set in the Kmeta fumes. Because it sanitizes best with fumes, it is not the best contact sanitizer for wine making.

For something like a large stirring rod, siphon rood, spoon or your hands, which don't easily fit inside a closed container, a true contract sanitizer, like StarSan, can be sprayed directly on the item. It takes about 30 seconds for the sanitizer to work. After that, although some people don't rinse it off, I always rinse off the sanitizer. An 8 ounce bottle of StarSan will make enough solution to last several years.

I keep a spray bottle of both types of sanitizer at hand. Can't imagine not having both types of sanitizers.

Yeah, I saw the question. I've been using One Step which is in my spray bottle right now. I was going to replace it with the kmetta/acid solution....maybe I'll hold off on that Idea <grin>

shoebiedoo said:

Yeah, I saw the question. I've been using One Step which is in my spray bottle right now. I was going to replace it with the kmetta/acid solution....maybe I'll hold off on that Idea <grin>

Click to expand...

I have never used One Step, but lots of wine makers do.

I just looked One Step up on the internet. The ad says it is a cleanser/sanitizer (sanitizes with Hydrogen Peroxide), but some folks on the internet don't seem to consider it a very thorough sanitizer.

Would be interesting to get other's opinion on this one. I just don't know one way or the other.

Rocky said:

Giovannino, when I say OxyClean, I am talking about the powder shown in the "Around the House" box. If you have Walmart stores in Canada, they sell an equivalent generic product for much less than the brand.

Click to expand...

Rocky, thanks for the reply. It seems, even though they have it on their website that "tub" is not carried at either Walmart (yup, we got 'em here too) or any of the other major retailers i.e. Loblaw's etc.

Is the one pictured below the correct one? Presumably, I mix it according to the instructions for hard surfaces - I think a scoopful per gallon of water. Thanks.

Q: How much water does a normal wash tub hold.