Homebrew

Santa got me the 23 litre Coopers DIY kit for Christmas just to see how I like doing it.

What's best type of unscented bleach to use to sanitise the gear post-brew that's friendly to the equipment in the kit (I haven't opened it up yet but assuming it'll be PET?)
 
Cultured_Bogan said:
Santa got me the 23 litre Coopers DIY kit for Christmas just to see how I like doing it.

What's best type of unscented bleach to use to sanitise the gear post-brew that's friendly to the equipment in the kit (I haven't opened it up yet but assuming it'll be PET?)
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Find a local brew place mate. My heat pad cost about $15 and temp controller about $50. Kegland is a good site too.
 
Cultured_Bogan said:
Santa got me the 23 litre Coopers DIY kit for Christmas just to see how I like doing it.

What's best type of unscented bleach to use to sanitise the gear post-brew that's friendly to the equipment in the kit (I haven't opened it up yet but assuming it'll be PET?)
Click to expand...
Hey CB, go to a pharmacy and buy a tallish bottle of Betadine. Get a large bucket, fill it with water and put a few capsful in until it is a mid brown colour. Get a spray bottle and fill it up too.

Everything, including your hands that's going to come close to your beer (or wort) gets either dunked in the bucket or sprayed. It is no rinse so all good.

Of course there are brand name sanitisers you can buy from a brew shop but they tend to be dearer. Don't bother with sodium metabisulphite - it's not a sanitiser and will destroy your nostrils 🙂
 
gallagher said:
Find a local brew place mate. My heat pad cost about $15 and temp controller about $50. Kegland is a good site too.
Click to expand...

All good, I went scrounging at work and found a second hand controller that we will never reuse. I've wired a 2m long compressor crankcase heater to it which I'll serpentine around the brewing tank and programmed it to maintain at 22°C +/- 1.5°C which will look at an ambient temp probe. Cost me nothing in the end.
 
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Mac said:
Some of you might be interested in this story (or not lol).

Years ago, on a hot summers day, a mate and his friend called in on a motorbike ride around NE Vic. I asked if they wanted a beer and told them it was home brew. They both said they'd been brewing the Cooper's kits which they liked and would love one.

I went to the shed and poured 3 schooners from a keg I had in the shed. It was a Marzen (Octoberfest) lager.

They loved it - best beer they'd ever tasted apparently, and they decided to come around and help on the next brew day.

I do 90L batches which gives me about 4x19L kegs. That's where my mate's obsession started.

He is a gun diesel mechanic, welder, electronics guru - anything mechanical he is brilliant at.

At the time I was milling 15 kg of grain by hand - it took ages. Not long after, he asked me to come to his place and help with a brew he was doing. He'd built all the gear - electronic grain mill that did in 2 mins what it used to take me half an hour to do, a 100L boiler, two 40L hot water urns, a temp controlled fridge, a large, copper tube coil with hose fitments to cool the wort, and a stir plate for the yeast that he had grown up for a few days.

Fast forward 5 years. He asked me to come and help with his first "big" batch, using the recipes we'd worked out together.

He had imported a Chinese brew system worth north of $100k and was about to open a brewery in NE Vic!

I helped him with his first 3-4 batches. Each brew length was 2,000L! He had 4x500L fermenters, digital temp control on each, full glycol cooling system, filters, etc, etc. Thank God he knew where all the pumps and hoses went because I had no idea!

He ran a successful brewery until a few things happened. Bushfires buggered the tourist industry, then Covid did the same, then his wife died, then he got crook. He ended up selling it.

There's still a robust porter on tap at the brewery that I developed - Philthy Phil's Porter!!
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Great story mate. Pretty decent effort by your mate to go from DIY kits to running his own brewery. I'd love to be able to get to that stage, I know a fridgie so at least that part of it will be cheap.
 
Mac said:
Hey CB, go to a pharmacy and buy a tallish bottle of Betadine. Get a large bucket, fill it with water and put a few capsful in until it is a mid brown colour. Get a spray bottle and fill it up too.

Everything, including your hands that's going to come close to your beer (or wort) gets either dunked in the bucket or sprayed. It is no rinse so all good.

Of course there are brand name sanitisers you can buy from a brew shop but they tend to be dearer. Don't bother with sodium metabisulphite - it's not a sanitiser and will destroy your nostrils 🙂
Click to expand...
That's great Mac. Do you sterilise your fermenter and kegs in that solution too.
 
Cultured_Bogan said:
All good, I went scrounging at work and found a second hand controller that we will never reuse. I've wired a 2m long compressor crankcase heater to it which I'll serpentine around the brewing tank and programmed it to maintain at 22°C +/- 1.5°C which will look at an ambient temp probe. Cost me nothing in the end.
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Show off ! 😛
 
Gallagher.

Yep, everything. You only need a 1/2 to one litre to do a 20L fermenter and the same in a keg - tip it in, swish it all around and drain it. Don't rinse. Every time you touch something or run something out of a tap - use a spray bottle to clean it. Every time.

CB

As far as "large buckets" go, I just go down to my local charcoal chicken place that does salads as well. They buy mayonnaise in 20L buckets - the best buckets you'll ever get. Takes a bit of time to wash them out but they have the wire handle with the plastic coating and the more you get the more you'll want! When you are all-grain brewing you can transfer the hot water to the grain in them as well.

They've got no use for the buckets either and are usually happy to get rid of them 🙂

Also CB, instead of setting your temp controller to 22*C set it to 18*C (for an ale). If you are using dry yeast the packet will often give you an optimum temp of approx 22*C - it's too high.

You get what they call "fusel alcohols" in the fermentation which is what gives the "home brew headache". 18*C might take a day or two longer but the end result is worth it.
 
Mac said:
Gallagher.

Yep, everything. You only need a 1/2 to one litre to do a 20L fermenter and the same in a keg - tip it in, swish it all around and drain it. Don't rinse. Every time you touch something or run something out of a tap - use a spray bottle to clean it. Every time.

CB

As far as "large buckets" go, I just go down to my local charcoal chicken place that does salads as well. They buy mayonnaise in 20L buckets - the best buckets you'll ever get. Takes a bit of time to wash them out but they have the wire handle with the plastic coating and the more you get the more you'll want! When you are all-grain brewing you can transfer the hot water to the grain in them as well.

They've got no use for the buckets either and are usually happy to get rid of them 🙂

Also CB, instead of setting your temp controller to 22*C set it to 18*C (for an ale). If you are using dry yeast the packet will often give you an optimum temp of approx 22*C - it's too high.

You get what they call "fusel alcohols" in the fermentation which is what gives the "home brew headache". 18*C might take a day or two longer but the end result is worth it.
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That's awesome , cheers
 
Mac said:
Gallagher.

Yep, everything. You only need a 1/2 to one litre to do a 20L fermenter and the same in a keg - tip it in, swish it all around and drain it. Don't rinse. Every time you touch something or run something out of a tap - use a spray bottle to clean it. Every time.

CB

As far as "large buckets" go, I just go down to my local charcoal chicken place that does salads as well. They buy mayonnaise in 20L buckets - the best buckets you'll ever get. Takes a bit of time to wash them out but they have the wire handle with the plastic coating and the more you get the more you'll want! When you are all-grain brewing you can transfer the hot water to the grain in them as well.

They've got no use for the buckets either and are usually happy to get rid of them 🙂

Also CB, instead of setting your temp controller to 22*C set it to 18*C (for an ale). If you are using dry yeast the packet will often give you an optimum temp of approx 22*C - it's too high.

You get what they call "fusel alcohols" in the fermentation which is what gives the "home brew headache". 18*C might take a day or two longer but the end result is worth it.
Click to expand...
Wicked thanks Mac 👍👍
 
Mac said:
By the way CB. You can keep reusing the sanitiser solution - if you are sanitising say, a clean keg, swish it around in the keg and tip it back into the bucket. Eventually you will see the colour of the betadine solution go lighter in colour - that is the time to change it or add more betadine.
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Yeah cool.

So it has zero impact on the taste or fermentation process if you don't rinse it?
 
None at all, as long as you drain it well. Over time it may discolour tubing, funnel etc but that is purely cosmetic.
 
Here is a link to the iconic John Palmer's book "How To Brew" (1st edition) that is free to read. He has updated it a few times over the years, so it's best to use this one as an overall description of brewing rather than a current bible.

There are quite a few American quirks that don't translate to Australia, but just take in the overall view and it will help your brewing.

Introduction - How to Brew

howtobrew.com howtobrew.com
 
No rinse. If you want to (not really necessary) you could rinse with boiling water - kegs OK but plastic doesn't like boiling water. Make sure you get the betadine to touch everything you are sanitising. So slosh it around - it will foam up a bit but that's fine.
 
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