Cleaning question re: conicals

[Fly Creek]

There has been some good discussion the past few days about conicals, so I thought I would ask this as it has been on my mind for a while now. To those of you who brew using a conical, what is your preferred method of sanitizing the thing?

I have a 12-gallon model. What I have been doing is boiling the valves and then filling the fermenter with a warm B-brite solution. This seems to work fine, but also seems to be grossly inefficient insofar as wasting a lot of hot water and B-brite.

I have been contemplating making the swithch to Star San. I read somewhere that I can mix up a small amount in a spray bottle which leads me to believe that I could then spray all the surfaces and let it drain out the bottom and air dry. This seems like a better idea, but will it work?

As usual, any and all advice is appreciated.

J

[ray m]

I use StarSan in my V Vessel and it does just fine. I just fill mine up to the 5 gallon mark with water, then add the appropriate amount of StarSan. Shake it around to let it foam real good, so all areas of the fermenter are covered. Then I just let it drain out the ball valve after a few minutes, saving some for sanitizing the rest of my equipment.

[Payson]

I do the same as Ray M. I also save some for re-use.

[Blkandrust]

Originally posted by Payson
I do the same as Ray M. I also save some for re-use.




But would simply spraying the surface of the conical with a spraybottle work?Start at the top and work your way down.Then let sit for a while.

[ray m]

Hmmmm.....my concern there would be whether or not enough of the sanitizer contacted all of the interior surface of the conical, for a long enough period of time, to be effective.

I'm kind of anal about sanitation...I personally would not feel confident with that method. Why risk ruining a batch of beer, ESPECIALLY by fiddling with the sanitizing process?

[danno]

ray, you're being overly anal about it. once the surface gets wet, that's all you need to worry about, since it's going to take more than 2 minutes to dry. when I'm sanitizing carboys and cornies, I only make up 1 gallon, shake it all around, then pour into the next one. the wetting (and the bubbles) will be there far longer than the two minute contact time...

the only time I make up 5 gallons of Star San at once is when I brew, so I can pump it through my tubing and CFC for two continuous minutes...

[ray m]

Oh, there's no doubt I'm being anal about it!! My process has been that I usually let the conical soak with StarSan for 20 minutes or so, then drain it and let the rest of my equipment soak in it.

I think this comes from the experience I've had with my neighbor next-door, because his sanitation methodology is very slip-shod, and he has had a rampant lacto infection his last 7 to 8 beers. I would just rather have the piece of mind that, if something did go wrong, I can't blame my sani procedure.:)