This month (June 2024) Steve Smith gave us a presentation and led a discussion on one of the most important things in brewing, cleaning and sanitisation.
Because there’s nothing more boring than dumping a dozen batches of beer that’s not up to scratch • This is all about making better beer, and if you can nail this part, then you make it easier for yourself to produce any recipe successfully
is 90% cleaning • First clean, then sanitise Some definitions • Cleaned - to be free from dirt, stain and organic matter • Sanitised - 90-99.999% removal of micro-organisms • Disinfected - 99.9999% removal • Sterilised - 100% removal of all bacteria, can deactivate spores
flavours in your beer • All main off flavours can be caused by poor sanitation • Can also affect yeast health and cause fermentation issues • Learn to recognise off flavours and what causes them • Become a BJCP judge, it will help you make better beer
beer like nothing else” – John Palmer, How To Brew “Clean and sanitise. Clean and sanitise…” – Steve Crider, founder and brewer at 2nd Shift in St Louis, Missouri (from Craft Beer & Brewing video course, ‘How to Fix Sh*t in Your Brewery’) “Sanitation is critical to brewing good beer.“ – Brad Smith, Beersmith Also: every book, website, brewer… Andy Parker, “head of cleaning”, Elusive Brewing
PBW - non-caustic, alkaline (pH11) cleaner. 25g in 5 litres of 40-60°C water to soak. (For CIP circulation 60-80°C for 30 minutes.) Shelf life 24 hours Star San - phosphoric acid based (pH less than 3) sanitiser. 15ml in 10 litres cold (for bottling) or warm water. Contact time 2 minutes, drain and air dry. Shelf life weeks, months Io Star - Iodine - sanitiser. Kills more bugs than Star San, including diastaticus and brett 15ml in 10 litres, works better in cold water. Contact time 2 minutes, drain and air dry. Shelf life 24 hours or until colour fades Alternate between sanitisers - keep the bugs guessing.…
or surfactants are able to dissolve both oil/grease/crap and water. They make cleaning a breeze This guy explains it well Same applies to brewing gear It’s how PBW works Sanitiser chemistry Low pH penetrates the cell walls to disrupts and kills them
off flavours, contamination, I picked apart my cleaning sanitation and storage, and found out a few things on the way. I stuck to the manufacturer's instructions for dilution/strength, temperature, contact time Paid attention to one thing at a time, eg, today cleaning, tomorrow sanitising, day after dry and store Join me on my journey of discovery, see if you can spot where I or any of us are going right or can identify where to pay more attention. Also any glaring errors or omissions, do shout out
– sterile • Wort is boiled – sterile • Braumeister parts (mash pipe, plates) have reached 78°C during mash out - pasteurised/sanitised • Cleaned with the immersion chiller water into the sink, drained and dried • Braumeister kettle (tap, pump) dismantled, cleaned with hot water, drained and air dried • Reassemble when dry and store clean and dry • Every dozen brews or so a CIP with PBW at 60°C
rinse: hottest shower setting, rinse outside, blast inside. Gentle elbow grease with non-abrasive microfibre cloth or Scrub Daddy to remove visible yeast debris 2 PBW soak: Shake, rattle and roll. Rotate a quarter every half an hour (burp occasionally to release oxygen) 3 Hot rinse: swish, shake and tip out - twice. Squeaky clean, drain and dry. 4 Sanitise: Star San or Io Star (iodophor). Couple of litres from the day’s solution. Shake, rattle and roll; drain, air dry, store covered to keep out bugs and dust
emptying 2 Hot rinse: hottest shower setting, rinse outside, blast inside up under the rim. Shake to swish up yeast slurry, empty. Repeat twice more 3 PBW soak: Fill half with PBW, put liquid post in big opening, invert into bucket with all the other parts. Leave overnight 4 Cold rinse: Drain and rinse keg twice. Drain and rinse bucket of parts twice. Prepare to sanitise 4 Sanitise: Star San or Io Star (iodophor). Couple of litres from the day’s solution. Shake, rattle and roll; drain, air dry, store covered to keep out bugs and dust
sanitiser. Soak for 2 minutes 2 Reassemble the posts, dip tubes, screw back on to the keg 3 Pour in a litre of sanitiser, clamp lid shut 4 Invert a few times to get sanitiser everywhere, shark and spin it horizontally 5 Remove lid, drain and air dry upside down 6 Lid on, pressurise and store Air dry because rinsing can contaminate and a dry cloth can contaminate
sodium carbonate can break down fats into soap and glycerol in a process called saponification. Sodium carbonate acts as a surfactant, reducing the surface tension of water to allow greasy substances to be broken off into smaller droplets by a detergent, yet it is versatile on several surfaces in a brewery such as stainless and glass. It also has less of an environmental impact, making it ideal for eco-conscious cleaning practices. • Sodium metasilicate: This agent takes what sodium carbonate can do and amps it up with some dissolving of minerals. • Sodium lauryl sulfate: Helping water penetrate and wet surfaces more effectively as well as disrupting bonds that hold soil together, this compound is excellent for solubilizing substances, removing stains, and addressing microbial issues. Sodium lauryl sulfate is used in combination with other cleaning agents to boost effectiveness.
other chemical unless you know what you’re doing. Chlorine gas. Work in well ventilated area or outdoors Use thin bleach, eg Asda Just Essentials Add bleach to water Add vinegar to diluted bleach Keep pH above 6pH otherwise risk of chlorine gas In Brewing Radio podcast March 29 2007. Sanitising with bleach and star san Star San inventor Charlie Talley in chemicals business before, explains how bleach works American Society for Microbiology Study 2006 finding “Diluted bleach at an alkaline (pH 11) is a relatively poor disinfectant, killed 2.5% dried bacterial spores after 20 mins. But acidified diluted bleach (pH 6) killed all the spores on all surfaces”
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