cleaning / sanitising materials

[brenmurph]

VWP and the W5 ARE agressive cleaners/sanitizers - they are a mix of sanitisers ( Chlorine, VWP and Atomic oxygen, W5 ) combined with strongish alkalis (VWP, Not sure, no info yet.  W5 is Sodium per-Carbonate that breaks down into Oxygen and Sodium Carbonate aka. Washing Soda)

will, what effect will some ( trace) of sodium carbonate have in a beer? if sodium percarbonate was used as a no rinse sanitiser?

[Jacob]

What about IPA? Have any of you guys used it?

Sent from my engineering tricorder.

[RichC]

@Will I assumed they were all 'contact' sanitisers? I thought any of those products would need physical contact with bacteria to neutralise it and I assumed heat was the only no-contact sanitiser around so in that regard Starsan differs only from vwp and w5 in that its a no rinse sanitiser and they are cleaning products?

[Will_D]

VWP and the W5 ARE agressive cleaners/sanitizers - they are a mix of sanitisers ( Chlorine, VWP and Atomic oxygen, W5 ) combined with strongish alkalis (VWP, Not sure, no info yet.  W5 is Sodium per-Carbonate that breaks down into Oxygen and Sodium Carbonate aka. Washing Soda)

will, what effect will some ( trace) of sodium carbonate have in a beer? if sodium percarbonate was used as a no rinse sanitiser?

It would alter the pH upwards towards alkaline. It is not a food grade product though, however a trace of it in a large amount of beer would do no harm.

Both W5 and VWP are cleaners meant to soak containers and remove the staining so often associated with brewing in plastic and glass!

A good rinse is recommended.

I use W5 at the end of the brew day wash up and then store containers/fermenter with a little water and a campden tablet or two added.

Do not trust Starsan for long term storage! Some of mine showed mould growth!

When ready to use, rinse out the campden water, spray with Starsan, wait 30 secoonds, drain and cover and you are good to go!

[Dunkel]

I'll be bottling my beer. Assuming the bottles are clean (I'll be using VWP then rinsing), could I just use Sodium Metabisulphite as a sterilising agent before bottling? Being a lazy so-and-so (motivationally challenged), I'm looking for the easiest way possible, so ideally no-rinse. That Videne sounds ideal, but not sure if it's available here.

[Dunkel]

Aha! I was asking a nurse friend about this Videne, and she's given me a sample (about 50 ml) to try. According to the UK brewing forum, about 1.5 ml in a litre of water should provide an instant contact, no-rinse sanitizer for bottles. It's based on Iodine, and the concentrated stuff (which is used neat or diluted in hospitals) smells a bit Germoliney, but at this dilution it shouldn't be a problem in the finished beer. I'll let you know ...

[barkar]

I use videne to sanitise , Ye can get a 500ml bottle for 15yo yos in any chemists, the dilution quoted is what i use although I still like to rinse with boiled water to be sure

[Ozbrewer]

I only use sodium metabisulphate. Been using it for the last 15 years and never had a problem. It's cheap and does the job.

I also have a bottling tree and the pump thing on the top. I use the sodium metabisulphate in the solution to rinse bottles before bottling. Leave to drain and then bottle.

I use the chlorine based cleaners for soaking and removing crud from bottles that have been left to sit with the yeast in it unti it goes hard and mouldy. Some people just don't respect the bottles of the homebrewer.