How To Clean Your Home Brew Equipment.

You know what they say, Dirty Gear = Dirty Beer!

If you want to make great tasting beer at home, cleanliness is one of the most important factors for success. 

Absolutely everything your precious beer touches must be cleaned and sanitised.

Before you start your brew day it is important to know that sanitising and cleaning are two separate things. You need to clean first, then sanitise.

You can’t sanitise brewing equipment that isn’t clean!

Cleaning

The cleaning process is relatively straight forward, give everything a good wash - like you would your pots and pans, using a specialist brewing cleaner like LoSuds  or Sodium Percarbonate (don’t use dishwashing liquid, it leaves a residue which isn’t good for your beer) and a soft cloth or brush. 

Fill your fermenter up with a couple of litres of water and then add your cleaning detergent to the water, pop the lid on, slosh it around, then add any other equipment like your tap and grommet and let it soak for one to two hours, 

Then clean the inside of the fermenter and other equipment with a soft brush. 

Once you are done, tip out the water and rinse. 

Make sure you also clean any other equipment like your bottles (you can do this in the bathtub or a big bucket) and kegs. 

Sanitising

To prevent your precious brew from becoming infected, it’s important to sanitise. 

We recommend a good foaming sanitiser like Atomic 15 or Morgans Sanitizer.

Mix with water, following the directions on the packet.

You can put all your into the fermenter with the sanitiser solution and water, slosh it around and get everything out. Easy peasy.

 A pair of (sanitised) long handle tongs goes a long way too when fishing equipment out of your fermenter.

There is no need to rinse off the sanitiser solution. Don’t fear the foam - it won’t hurt you or your beer!

Pro Tip - fill a handheld spray bottle with sanitiser mix for quick and easy sanitising throughout the brew day.

 Once everything is properly cleaned and sanitised, you are ready to brew! 

Want to know more about how to prep for your brew day - check out our video.