Sanitize

[Digby]

I'd like a bit of help breaking down the sanitizing process please.


I sanitize everything before it touches the wine. But my sanitizing solution has sort of a sulphery smell.It makes me want to rinse the equipment after I smother it in sanitizer so my wine doesn't pick up this excess solution.


Could one of you more experienced types give me some tips on how you sanitize your equipment?


Cheers,


Digby

 

[earl]

Digby


I am absolutely not experienced but it sounds you are on the right track. I sanitize with Potassium Metabasulfite then just shake off the excess. After talking with George the little extra on the equipment does nothing to hurt the wine.


earl

 

[pkcook]

digby,


The potassium metabisulfite (K Meta, as it is sometimes referred) solution you soak your utensils in will not hurt your wine. Campden Tabletscontain between .50 and .55 grams of K Meta, along with sulphur, and you add this to your must prior to starting fermentation and then periodically during racking to keep away bacteria and the like that would ruin your wine.


For my first 10 batches of wine, I used only One Step and Straight A to cleanse and sanitize, but I now spray everything down prior to use with a K Meta solution before use just to make sure.

 

[Curt]

Digby,


If it ever stops smelling like sulfur throw it out. It should make your nose hairs curl.

 

[Sebastian]

Now I'm just using K-meta (making a kit), and it doesn't smell like sulpher at all...I'm basically just dousing everything with the k-meta soln and shaking it off as best i can. Is there a recommended contact time or a soak time, or is a dip in the soln sufficient? Sounds like most of you clean and sanitize both right before you use a tool as well as immediately after you've used it, that sound about right?





I'm about 5 days into racking my kit from the primary into the carbouy, which got me thinking about what wine i want to make next, which got me thinking to cleaning the carbouy. It's a big glass jug with a teeny weeny hole to get into it. What's the best m ethod of doing this? Rinse with water and the cleaner a few times, then toss in some sanitizer soln and swirl? Do you need to get in there with a brush of some sort and scrub 'er down?

 

[Funky Fish]

Your sanitizing solution from k-meta should be mixed up with about 3 tablespoons of k-meta per gallon of water, and it should smell strongly of sulfur. If it doesn't have a strong smell, it means that most of the sulfite has binded to oxygen and the overall strength of the solution has been decreased.


What I do with my sanitizing solution is put it in a spray bottle and spray the solution over all surfaces that may touch the wine.


As for cleaning a carboy - my best advice is to clean it as soon as it is empty. Use your carboy brush to scrub away tough buildup, if necessary, but don't let the crud dry out and become difficult to remove.

 

[smurfe]

I guess I am an over achiever. I rinse everything after sanitation even when I use no rinse Easy Clean (which I normally use). I like many others am thinking of switching to straight K-Meta.


I actually, and don't gasp, prefer to use unscented bleach and just rinse real well. I use strips that we have at work to test the chlorinelevels. (We have to sanitize the children's soppier cups at work) and it works just fine with no after taste or odor. A 10-1 solution works pretty good and has a low odor even before rinsing and is a whole lot cheaper but I am not recommending everyone switch to it, I am just saying I use it with good results.


Smurfe

 

[pkcook]

Smurfe,


I used unscented bleach for my first 5 batches. I would rinse and rinse and rinse just to make sure all the bleach residue was gone. It is a very effective sanitizer, you just have to be very careful to rinse very well.


I used Easy Clean and Straight A for the last 5 batches, and I just purchased a large container of Easy Clean from George, but after reading all the posts, I've started keeping a 1 quart spray bottle full of K Meta around and give everything a quick shot before stirring, filling, etc.


I just racked my red raspberry from the primary to the carboy tonight and cleaned everything with Straight A and rinsed and dipped in a 1 gallon K Meta batch I made up and poured back in a 1 gallon jug. As I understand it, as long as the smell is pungent, it will still sanitize.