Welcome to the second segment of our beginner’s guide to cider making: Cleaning. While cleaning might not be the most glamorous or exciting step in many ways it is the most important. However as straight forward as it may seem, it can be somewhat confusing. There is a huge array of available chemicals but precious little information regarding the best practices. Fear not, this article delves into which chemicals you really need, which to avoid, and why. If you don’t have any equipment to clean and/or missed the previous installment of our beginner’s guide to cider making you can check that out here: https://socialcider.org/beginners-guide-to-cider-making-equipment/
Why Cleanliness Matters
Beyond the obvious reasons for keeping things clean, when dealing with fermented beverages cleanliness is imperative for preventing spoilage at all stages. Bacterial or yeast contamination can easily ruin a beverage if you’re not diligent. However if you properly clean and sanitize every piece of equipment prior to use, the likelihood of spoilage can be drastically reduced.
Terminology: Cleaning vs. Sanitizing vs. Sterilizing
There are three terms commonly used in reference to degrees of cleanliness: cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing. These terms are often confused and are not interchangeable.
Cleaning
Cleaning is simply the process of mechanically or chemically removing ALL visible grime, soil, residues, allergens…etc.
Sanitizing
Sanitizing is a reduction of the number of viable microorganisms to an acceptable and safe level. Follow up cleaning with sanitizing. Surfaces that are not clean will impede the effectiveness of sanitizing agents.
Sterilizing
Sterilizing removes ALL viable microorganisms. Again, sanitizing reduces the population of microorganisms but does not fully eliminate them.
So which of the three applies to home brewing?
For the purposes of home brewing/cider making cleaning and sanitizing are sufficient. Not even professional liquor producers go to the extent of sterilizing because it requires the use of extraordinary measures. it’s not possible or practical to keep a facility sterile unless it is a hermetically sealed lab.
More Terminology: pH & Caustic
pH
As a science class refresher: pH is a measure of acidity ranging from 0-14. Neutral solution like distilled water have a pH of 7. Acidic solutions have a pH of less than 7. Basic (alkali) solutions have a pH greater than 7. pH can also be thought of in terms of the strength of an acid or base. So the closer a solution is to the extreme ends of the scale, the more potent it is.
Caustic
A caustic chemical is one which is able to burn and/or dissolve organic tissues. The term Caustic only applies to alkali (basic) substances, not acids. If you forge all this, just think of the movie ‘Fight Club’. When Brad Pitt gives Edward Norton a chemical burn, he uses Lye which is alkali and caustic.
Cleaning Chemicals to buy
As previously discussed in the first segment of our beginner’s guide to cider making https://socialcider.org/beginners-guide-to-cider-making-equipment you’re going to need a caustic (alkaline) cleaner and an acid sanitizer. I would recommend checking out 5 Star Chemicals they make a caustic cleaner called Powdered brewery wash and a Sanitizer called star San. Both products are very effective if used appropriately. As for quantities, on a home use scale 4-8 lbs (1.8-3.6 kg) of PBW and 12-16 oz (360-480 ml) will last you a year or two. As a bonus 12-16 oz (360-480 ml) Star San containers have measurements on the side. https://www.fivestarchemicals.com/
Cleaning Chemicals to avoid
I would strongly suggest avoiding single-step cleansers. In short, professional liquor manufacturers don’t use cleansers, they use a combination of boiling water, caustic cleaners and acid sanitizers. For cider making at home caustic cleaners and acid sanitizers are much more effective than a single-step cleanser.
Public Service Announcement
Please wear gloves and protective eye wear when handling chemicals. A breather mask is also a good idea when handling powdered caustic chemicals as they can be quite dusty. Just be wary, high concentration of any caustic chemical may cause skin burns if handled improperly. High concentrations of (undiluted) acid sanitizer may stain clothing and skin with prolonged contact. Use chemicals at your own risk, read the instructions and safety protocols. Be safe and always add water first chemicals second! I am in no way liable or responsible for the outcome of your chemical use or misuse.
Contact Time
Just before you get started, all relevant chemicals have minimum contact times. For best results make sure you read and follow the instructions of the chemical manufacturers and immerse your equipment in the solutions for the specified time frame.
4 Step Cleaning Method
Alright, so the most effective way of cleaning and sanitizing (not sterilizing) your equipment is to follow 4 simple steps every time, no matter which piece of equipment.
Step 1: Rinse
Much like doing the dishes, the first step is simply to thoroughly rinse everything with tap water. Easy enough. Your goal here is to wash off as much soil as possible before the next step.
Step 2: Caustic Soak (and) Scrub
Once your equipment is well rinsed it can be fully immersed in a properly mixed caustic solution. This is where your powdered brewery wash (PBW) comes into play. The easiest way to go about using PBW is to have a 5 gallon (18.9L) bucket available. I would recommend filling the bucket with 3 gallons (11.37L) of water and then following up with PBW. The reason for going with a 3/5 full bucket is that you’ll be able to reach the bottom of the bucket with gloves on, thus avoiding direct contact with the PBW. PBW is a skin irritant and may dry out your skin and cause a minor rash with prolonged exposure.
Soaking equipment in a caustic solution is really quite effective on it’s own, however scrubbing can speed up the process. If you’re going to do so wear gloves and don’t use abrasive sponges or scotch-brite pads on plastic equipment. Scratching plastic equipment creates surfaces for bacteria and fungi to cling-to and hide.
PBW Instructions
Remember water first then chemicals. Use 1-2 oz (30-60mL) PBW per gallon (3.79L) water. Mix well into 30-180F (54-82C) water for 25-30 minutes. Note PBW is more efficient at the specified temperatures but it also works with water at room temperature. In practice soaking things overnight at room temperature is safer and practical. For the worst soils and protein buildups use 2-4oz (60-120mL) PBW per gallon (3.79L) water. Don’t use PBW with Teflon products and if you dunk your bare hands in a PBW solution, rinse them thoroughly with fresh water.
Step 3: Rinse Again
Keep your gloves on so as to avoid contact with your caustic solution. Again rinse equipment thoroughly. If there are any visible deposits at all, revisit step 2 and either mix up a stronger solution of caustic or scrub as needed. Any deposits, soils, or proteins left over will prevent the sanitizer from doing it’s job properly in the next step.
Step 4: Sanitize
Sanitizing is the final step. Star San, the sanitizer of choice is rinse free, meaning that following use it simply needs to drained from the equipment and you’re good to go. Much like the caustic step, this step is easiest to perform with a CLEAN 5 gallon (18.9L) bucket. Star San is extremely foamy which is great for contact time but it also take a long time to disperse, so keep that in mind. Make sure you fill your bucket with water and then gently mix in Star San or it will foam like bubble bath and then stay that way for an inordinate amount of time. Unlike PBW, when diluted in solution Star San is gentle on the hands. However I still recommend wearing gloves especially with undiluted Star San.
Star San Instructions
Make sure surfaces are completely clean of all visible soils. Mix 1 oz (30 ml) of Star San per gallon (3.79L) of water. The recommended contact time for home brew use is 5 minutes, however the absolute minimum is only 30 seconds. I would stick with 5 minutes whenever possible. Star San does not need to be rinsed off, but it does need to be drained. If there is a considerable amount of Star San foam it’s probably a good idea to let the foam liquefy overnight and then drain it. For Star San to remain effective the pH must remain at 3 or below, if you have a pH meter you can test this.
Additional Tips & Tricks
There you have it, cleaning and sanitizing in a nutshell. I have a few extra pointers to make your life easier in regards to cleaning so you can learn from my mistakes rather than repeating them.
Differentiating Star San & PBW in solution
When freshly mixed into solution Star San and PBW are almost visually identical, however there are a few easy ways to tell them apart. PBW can foam a bit but the foam disperses fairly quickly. Star San foams like crazy and the foam can take 48 hours to fully disperse. Overtime Star San has a tendency to become cloudy, PBW remains relatively clear. Star San has a phosphoric/sulfuric scent to it due to phosphoric acid, PBW is fairly scent free.
However the easiest way to tell PBW and Star San apart is by using your (un-gloved) hand. I don’t recommend dunking your hand into unknown chemicals of course, but if you did happen to do so…Star San in solution has the texture of water. PBW in solution has an oily, greasy texture. You’ll know the difference immediately. If you should happen to dunk your hand in PBW it’s best to rinse it off with clean water asap!
Marking your Buckets
To avoid guessing which bucket is home to which chemical solution it’s a really good idea to get some masking tape and a jiffy pen to label your 5 gallon (18.9) buckets. It’s an even better idea to mark down the date on which the solution was mixed.
How long are cleaning solutions good for?
Star San
Good question. Allegedly Star San is good for up to 3-4 weeks when mixed in the correct ratio and stored in a sealed container. In theory if the pH is 3> it is still good. Realistically it’s probably a good idea to dump a Star San solution after a week or two. As you accidentally mix in water and grime into the your Star San bucket the solution becomes more diluted. As for undiluted Star San in the original packaging with the lid on…I don’t think there is an expiry date.
PBW
PBW is an interesting one, much like Oxyclean PBW uses active oxygen as the primary means of cleaning. After 24-48 hours PBW will lose about 50% of it’s effectiveness. Stored out of solution PBW will last a year or more.
Final thoughts on Cleaning
That’s it for cleaning and sanitizing. My hope is that this article was comprehensive enough so that you don’t have to weed through forums to find out what you need to know. Stay tuned next week for the third installment of our beginner’s guide as we delve into the fun stuff, ingredients! If you missed the previous article on equipment here it is: https://socialcider.org/beginners-guide-to-cider-making-equipment/ Cheers!