I did not realise hard water would affect ChemSan's effectiveness. Googling around, ChemSan is still effective provided the solution remains below pH 3.5. I don't have any way to test pH, though. I live in an area deemed "moderately hard", found by entering one's postcode into the local water authority's website. Average pH is 7.35. What is your water hardness/pH? I have made around 12 brews. I sterilise the bucket using bleach spray (then thoroughly rinse with cold tap water), then do an additional rinse with ChemSan solution. For the bottles, I only use ChemSan solution. I have never had an infection and all my brews have turned out great. So, I suspect ChemSan is fine even in hard water areas, though one may wish to use a tiny bit bit more ChemSan in their solution to keep the pH down. According to ChemSan's instructions, sanitation is achieved with a 2-minute contact time. I have never let my bottles/equipment dry after using ChemSan. A common phrase you will hear amongst brewers is, "Don't fear the foam!", which I have found through experience to be correct. I did not know about the bottle squeeze trick to get ChemSan into the measurement chamber, so thanks for that! That will save me some faffing with rotating the bottle. 😁
i pour out 10ml into a small measuring jug to ensure i get the correct amount as im never sure i will dispense it accurately direct from the bottle lol
Thanks for the vid. I always use chemsan for everything that's going touch my brew, i mix up 5ltr water to 10ml chemsan in a bucket and drop everything in, leave it for 10 min then remove and pour any excess off back into the bucket. After i've used and cleaned the implements or demijohns, i give them the same treatment before putting them away, but ensure everything is thoroughly rinsed with cold water first to ensure theres no soap in there. I have never had any issues doing it this way. I replace the mixture in the bucket when it starts to lose it's foaminess when i give it a shake before use, maybe after a few weeks or a month, do you think this is a correct period of time to keep it in the bucket, or should i change more or less often? cheers
I do something similar. I have a 5-litre plastic measuring jug and pour in 10ml ChemSan (ensuring some water is in there first so the acid does not directly contact the plastic) then fill it up to 5 litres. I dump the hydrometer and any other equipment directly into the jug and leave it for a couple of minutes, then take the equipment out. This is all done using heavy duty black rubber gloves. I would not want the solution contacting skin as he does in this video (I've had dermatitis from such chemicals before). I also dump my hands with the gloves on into the solution to sanitise the gloves before anything else. Then I pour a small amount of the solution into each of the 30 or so bottles using the jug, in a plugged sink so any solution that misses remains in the sink. Give the bottles a shake to coat the interior, then leave for a couple of minutes. I then pour the solution out of each bottle and give the head of each bottle a dunk in the solution in the sink to sanitise the head and neck of the bottles. I pour some solution into a ceramic bowl containing the 30 or so bottle caps and leave them to sanitise, too. I use the remaining solution to rinse out the fermentation bucket at the after giving it a good scrub. It's a neat little system. I don't rinse out the bottles after sanitising with ChemSan as the small amount of foam left in each does not matter and does not impart any off-flavours. I have read from "some guys on the internet" that the trace of ChemSan left in each bottle actually breaks down into yeast nutrient, which helps with bottle conditioning. "I replace the mixture in the bucket when it starts to lose it's foaminess when i give it a shake before use, maybe after a few weeks or a month, do you think this is a correct period of time to keep it in the bucket, or should i change more or less often?" Personally, I would be worried about the acid breaking down in the bucket over this period of time, and would make a new mixture for each process. ChemSan is quite cheap if you buy the larger volumes so using more doesn't matter to me.
Thanks Davin
I did not realise hard water would affect ChemSan's effectiveness. Googling around, ChemSan is still effective provided the solution remains below pH 3.5. I don't have any way to test pH, though.
I live in an area deemed "moderately hard", found by entering one's postcode into the local water authority's website. Average pH is 7.35. What is your water hardness/pH?
I have made around 12 brews. I sterilise the bucket using bleach spray (then thoroughly rinse with cold tap water), then do an additional rinse with ChemSan solution. For the bottles, I only use ChemSan solution. I have never had an infection and all my brews have turned out great. So, I suspect ChemSan is fine even in hard water areas, though one may wish to use a tiny bit bit more ChemSan in their solution to keep the pH down.
According to ChemSan's instructions, sanitation is achieved with a 2-minute contact time. I have never let my bottles/equipment dry after using ChemSan. A common phrase you will hear amongst brewers is, "Don't fear the foam!", which I have found through experience to be correct.
I did not know about the bottle squeeze trick to get ChemSan into the measurement chamber, so thanks for that! That will save me some faffing with rotating the bottle. 😁
i pour out 10ml into a small measuring jug to ensure i get the correct amount as im never sure i will dispense it accurately direct from the bottle lol
Thanks for the vid. I always use chemsan for everything that's going touch my brew, i mix up 5ltr water to 10ml chemsan in a bucket and drop everything in, leave it for 10 min then remove and pour any excess off back into the bucket. After i've used and cleaned the implements or demijohns, i give them the same treatment before putting them away, but ensure everything is thoroughly rinsed with cold water first to ensure theres no soap in there. I have never had any issues doing it this way. I replace the mixture in the bucket when it starts to lose it's foaminess when i give it a shake before use, maybe after a few weeks or a month, do you think this is a correct period of time to keep it in the bucket, or should i change more or less often? cheers
I do something similar. I have a 5-litre plastic measuring jug and pour in 10ml ChemSan (ensuring some water is in there first so the acid does not directly contact the plastic) then fill it up to 5 litres. I dump the hydrometer and any other equipment directly into the jug and leave it for a couple of minutes, then take the equipment out. This is all done using heavy duty black rubber gloves. I would not want the solution contacting skin as he does in this video (I've had dermatitis from such chemicals before). I also dump my hands with the gloves on into the solution to sanitise the gloves before anything else.
Then I pour a small amount of the solution into each of the 30 or so bottles using the jug, in a plugged sink so any solution that misses remains in the sink. Give the bottles a shake to coat the interior, then leave for a couple of minutes. I then pour the solution out of each bottle and give the head of each bottle a dunk in the solution in the sink to sanitise the head and neck of the bottles. I pour some solution into a ceramic bowl containing the 30 or so bottle caps and leave them to sanitise, too. I use the remaining solution to rinse out the fermentation bucket at the after giving it a good scrub. It's a neat little system.
I don't rinse out the bottles after sanitising with ChemSan as the small amount of foam left in each does not matter and does not impart any off-flavours. I have read from "some guys on the internet" that the trace of ChemSan left in each bottle actually breaks down into yeast nutrient, which helps with bottle conditioning.
"I replace the mixture in the bucket when it starts to lose it's foaminess when i give it a shake before use, maybe after a few weeks or a month, do you think this is a correct period of time to keep it in the bucket, or should i change more or less often?"
Personally, I would be worried about the acid breaking down in the bucket over this period of time, and would make a new mixture for each process. ChemSan is quite cheap if you buy the larger volumes so using more doesn't matter to me.