Quick question:

[cerevisia]

What do you good people use to sterilize your brew buckets/carboys/brewing equipment etc?

[Mike Neilson]

Clean with PBW or Napisan than sanatise with Iodophor or Starsan.

[denimglen]

As above to sanitise, but Napisan (or generic equivalent - unscented), and Starsan.

Autoclave (ie pressure cooker) for sterilising.

[MrC]

I use the blue brewcraft cleaning powder for washing and starsan for sterilising.

[cerevisia]

I used to use the red brewcarft stuff until they deleted it. :(

[denimglen]

The sanitiser? I think that was sodium metabisulphite wasn't it? If so it's kind of a sub-par as a sanitiser, it doesn't actually kill anything, just stuns the cells.

I'd recommend Starsan or iodophor, neither need to be rinsed and do a good job of annihilating most stuff, both seem expensive at first but a little goes a long way.

[Glynn Foster]

Did anyone buy that commercial brewers sterilizer from Craig's SOBA mail? Scared the bejeezus out of me with the discussion of proper handling conditions. I currently have the blue and red brewcraft crap, and desperate to get something proper, but still unsure of the Iodaphor vs Starsan debate.

[cerevisia]

Yeah I used to use the Sodium Metabisulphite until it was deleted.

Starsan or iodophor? Where can I get hold of these?

[denimglen]

I get starsan from Brewers Coop in AK - I think most homebrew stores are selling it now. Iodophor is kinda hard to get a hold of in less than 20ishL (concentrate), there's a guy on trademe selling it in smaller amounts though and libertybrewing.co.nz sells it in 1000mL lots.

I'd go Starsan over Iodophor.

[MrC]

I got my starsan from GE. It's Here

[cerevisia]

Oh hey thanks! I'll definitely have to pick some up come payday - til then I guess I can always use bleach to clean out my fermenter. Just not too sure how much I should use..