Wine Making Area

[Mr Robusto]

Unfortunalty i do not have a sink in my garage. How does everyone go about keeping all their equipment clean? Can you use a new garden hose and the cleaning chemicals? If you do, where do you pour out or rinse at?

 

[redwineleo]

I have my winemaking area in my basement...no sink in the area either. I don't worry about my equipment until just before I need to use it. Then I'll usually use my primary fermenting bucket to put some water and easy clean in. Clean everything I'll need, then dump and make up a solution of K-meta in the same fermenter, again keeping all of my "tools" in it. It's some running back and forth to a sink a ways away, but no sacrifice is too small for the end result. Others on the forum have suggested a tube with one end open to put your paddle, etc. in. Next time I'm going to use a wallpaper tray (new of course) to keep my tools and sanitizing solution in while working. I use the floor drain in my basement to dump into.

 

[docbee]

Luckily I have one of those big "mud sinks" in the laundry area. If I didn't then I think that I would use a faucet adapter in the kitchen sink with a short hose for my cleaning. Usually I use the adapter with a bottle washer for a pressure spray cleaning with very hot water. My carboys are then filled with cold water and add bleach at just between 2-4 oz in a 6 gal carboy and let soak for at least 30 min while I clean other equipment. The other equipment is rinsed thoroughly and then placed inside a 5 gal bucket and lidwith about 1/2 gal of sanitizer (3 TBS K meta/gallon) and allow the fumes to sanitize the equipment. (Great use for the MM All Juice buckets) Then I empty the carboys from the chlorine water and very thorough rinsing with bottle washer. Then place about 1/2 gal sanitizer in carboy, cover top with my hand and spin the sanitzer around holding the carboy sidesway to get good contact all over including the top opening. Then I leave the sanizer in carboy and cover the top to allow the fumes to do its work. My autosiphon and tubing I have purchased a storage bin and lid from Wally World that is long enoughand place thesanitizer in that.


Once the sanitizer touches any equipment nothing else (including water) touches it until I have finished with it. Very important is to do avery thorough cleaning once you are done so that the next time you use it cleaning is simple and just a good sanitization is needed. Soon as I rack out a fermenter or a carboy It is cleanned and then allowed to soak in the chlorine water for at least 24 - 48 hours to make sure all debris is removed.


Once I have finished the sanitizing stage then the sanitizer is poured back into the gallon apple juice jugs with a funnel and sealled up for next time.


The kitchen sink and counters, if cleaned ,should be a fine area to work in. Just try to keep things covered up or in the sanitizer until you are actually using it.