Cleaning Fermenting bucket

just finished my first large brew of Cider. After bottling I simply used a couple of washes of hot water and cloth wiping to clean it out. It looks spotless Before I brew my next batch I will of course soak it and all equipment in Starsan solution. My question is was water and elbow grease enough of a clean, it does look as good as new or should I always use a cleaning agent?

you probably did a great job but a soak clean is a catch all option. generic unscented laundry oxi is a popular budget option 1-2scoops per 5gallons of warm water soaking for 20 minutes before a good rinse off should catch anything missed..

if you can close off the FV a small volume of starsan shaken to foam is a very effective and efficient use of the sanitiser, many folk simply apply it with a spray bottle..

Also if stashing away between brews ensure everything is bone dry, and dont seal up any vessels closed, a lil moisture and an enclosed area can lead to anearobic microbe heaven..

AND storing smaller bits inside brewbuckets, while it may seem like a good idea is a sure fire way to scratch the inner surface and give you doubts about hiding holes for nasty bugs, one reason i switched to 4" neck FV's which are much less tempting to use as storage vessels;

Scot_beer said:

just finished my first large brew of Cider. After bottling I simply used a couple of washes of hot water and cloth wiping to clean it out. It looks spotless Before I brew my next batch I will of course soak it and all equipment in Starsan solution. My question is was water and elbow grease enough of a clean, it does look as good as new or should I always use a cleaning agent?

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That's basically all I do.
Before use:- Good swill and wipe out. Boiling water on all the surfaces. Starsan.
After use:- Exactly the same except I air dry before I put away.
The only thing I don't do is scrub.
Perfectly adequate imo.

Boiling water and starsan here. On batch 23 with no issues so far. I have started to boil the tap spigot for 10 minutes in a pan as it's impossible to clean properly imo.

Hi!
I rinse out after use and store. Before the next use I deep clean with Oxi powder in hot water and a sponge, rinse well and then apply a no-rinse sanitiser.
The cleaning is sufficient to prepare the FV for brewing - the sanitiser is just to counteract the tap water, which isn't sanitary.

Bigcol49 said:

The cleaning is sufficient to prepare the FV for brewing - the sanitiser is just to counteract the tap water, which isn't sanitary.

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I would be interested to know why you believe tap water is not 'sanitary'.

The UK has one of the safest tap waters in the world.
I brew with mains water.
I use it to rinse.
And importantly I drink it straight from the tap, and have done all my life. Millions of others in the UK are the same.

The provision of tap water in the UK must meet the EU Drinking Water Directive which leads me to a quote from the Water UK site.....

The law requires that drinking water is wholesome and clean. It sets down maximum acceptable concentrations for a number of potential contaminants. In addition, there is a general clause, which requires:
"Water is free from any micro-organisms and parasites and from any substances which, in numbers or concentrations, constitute a potential danger to human health"

I just clean down with hot water and then make sure it's dry before putting it away.

When it next gets used it gets a rinse with hot water and then a good covering of no rinse sanitiser.

Pretty well much as all above really.
Wash out and dry off as soon as used. Rinse and sanatise before using again.No magic to it:thumb:

terrym said:

I would be interested to know why you believe tap water is not 'sanitary'.

The UK has one of the safest tap waters in the world.
I brew with mains water.
I use it to rinse.
And importantly I drink it straight from the tap, and have done all my life. Millions of others in the UK are the same.

The provision of tap water in the UK must meet the EU Drinking Water Directive which leads me to a quote from the Water UK site.....

The law requires that drinking water is wholesome and clean. It sets down maximum acceptable concentrations for a number of potential contaminants. In addition, there is a general clause, which requires:
"Water is free from any micro-organisms and parasites and from any substances which, in numbers or concentrations, constitute a potential danger to human health"

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Hi!
Thanks, terrym!
I thought that tap water wasn't clean enough for home brewing, but you've put me right.
I'm going to save money by not using a sanitiser. I'll deep clean, rinse and brew.
It'll save time and money.
Thanks for the advice!

Bigcol49 said:

Hi!
Thanks, terrym!
I thought that tap water wasn't clean enough for home brewing, but you've put me right.
I'm going to save money by not using a sanitiser. I'll deep clean, rinse and brew.
It'll save time and money.
Thanks for the advice!

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I think the hot water tap is less so and you'd need to remove chlorine, chloramine from it to avoid tcp type tastes.

I use cold tap water to clean my kit and starsan and bottled water to sanitize

Thanks for all the advice and confirmation, guess it was my OCD that kicked in. I have quickly discovered that having OCD does not go well with brewing I end up cleaning and sanatizing all the time! Though if it gets results like I had with first 2 brews it's worth it. Good tip about not sealing the lid fully though I did leave it to dry upside down overnight before putting lid on. I assume on lightly but not sealed is fine?