critteral said:every time I start to clean and mumble under my breath how much i dislike cleaning, I think of my grand father and his brother that used to make wine in the old claw foot bathtub and they never had problems
But God help me if I ever don't sanitize good enough!.
grapeman said:With proper shortcut methods you don't need that much cleaning. When you empty a carboy, rinse it out immediately. At most it might require a quick brushing with a carboy brush and rinse it. Then put about a cup of a good strong k-meta solution in it, pop the airlock on it and you are ready to use the next time. Just remember to empty it before refilling. Buy a rubbermaid storage tub large enough to hold the auto-siphon, racking canes and spoon and hoses. Store them in that and keep a few inches of k-meta in it. When you need them, take the out shake the k-meta out and they are ready to use.
Anybody else have some shortcuts for him? There are lots of them. We hate to tell new winemakers this, but a lot of the trouble you go through is not critical most of the time- just don't get sloppy and unclean.
I say it is not cutting corners when I and others do things to minimize contamination by using smarter sanitation practices. You can actually keep your winemaking products more sterile by having the S02 contact them rather than simply running k-meta over them. The gasses kill or at least prevent bacterial infection while contact with it is not as effective. Yes we need sanitation, but there are ways to make it easier and quicker.
I also totally agree with the concept of cleaning stuff right after use. But my observation is that most people don't do that. I understand the temptation not to, after you are tired out from a day of bottling or whatever. Yet it is the absolutely easiest time to get the items clean and have them ready for the next use.
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