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If you've been brewing for a while,
you know that 80% or more of your
brewing success
involves cleaning and sanitation.
And cleaning & sanitation are
really 2 steps, not one. Professional breweries follow this cleaning
/ sanitation regimen because they understand that there is not one
product on the market that affectively does all of this in one step.
You need a routine that will loosen up and wash away the organic &
inorganic grime and then, after the grime is gone, you need another
product to sanitize everything you just cleaned plus your work
surface. The ideal sanitizer is
something that you don't have to rinse off. You know how bleach
works - you rinse, sniff, rinse, sniff, rinse, sniff and hope you
got it all out of there. But did you know that every time you rinse
with tap water you run the risk of reintroducing bacteria which can
spoil your brew?
Fortunately, Five Star Chemicals
does provide products for every step of the process and they provide
these chemicals in affordable, homebrew size packaging. The
chemicals are PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) cleaner and StarSan
sanitizer. And unlike bleach and some other chemical compounds, both
of these cleaners are friendly to the Environment and can be flushed
down your drain.
In my opinion, there is no
cleaner better than PBW. The product cleans well and rinses well and
most importantly, is compatible with their StarSan product. PBW
ships in an easy to measure powder and the product can be mixed with
hot or cold water. PBW is universal in that you can mix a light
batch for light duty cleaning or a heavier batch for soaking dirty,
grimy items like the inside of a Corny keg that has had dried soda
sitting inside for 10 years. Additionally, unlike other alkali
cleaners on the market, PBW was built specifically for the brewer
and is also highly oxygenated, allowing it to out perform everything
else out there.
Click Here for a complete PBW data
sheet including directions, how to mix, etc.
StarSan is an FDA registered
acid-based sanitizer, but don't let the word "acid" scare
you off. Professional brewers know that some acid is essential in
your routine to clear all organics from your gear.
With StarSan, the acid is Phosphoric Acid, the same acid
used as an ingredient in most colas including Coca-Cola and
Pepsi-Cola. The product is a
contact sanitizer that can be mixed and used in a spray bottle or
mixed by the gallon and used as you would any other sanitizer on
brew day. One huge advantage that StarSan has over the competition
is that, at recommended dilution, it is approved by the FDA as a
rinse free sanitizer. In other words, it's perfectly OK to spray
down the inside of your fermenter with StarSan, dump out the excess
and then pour your wort right in.
Click Here for a
complete StarSan data sheet including directions, how to mix, etc. |
