Sanitising with sulphite and PET

[laviscus]

I recently picked up some kit from my local home brew shop and being a newbie I asked the owner for advice as has been making his own beer and wine for years.

I know a lot of people here use sodium metabisulphite for sanitising and I asked if he recommended it. He said that it's not recommended for PET FV vessels as it attacks the plastic and can create pitting where bacteria can hide. Is this overly cautious or a real concern.

[mcblades]

I can't be certain that you won't cause pitting. I have been using sulphite for sanitising my better bottles, plastic fermenters, etc.. for the last 3 years. I haven't had an infection problem yet (touch wood), and all my better bottles are still in use. I think scrubbing with abrasives is more likely to cause pitting. The routine I follow is to wash out the BB as soon as I've finished racking using hot water (<60C or it'll deform the plastic) fairy liquid (stains can be removed using oxy clean though I haven't tried this). rinse with plenty of water and spray 10% sulphite into the fermenter (about 50ml), wrap the neck in clingfilm and store until needed.

[lockwood1956]

I always use sulphite solution in HDPE fermenters and better bottles, and have never had an issue (also touching wood)

regards
bob

[Gaztops]

I normally use bleach to sanitise my 7 gallon fermenters by filling them up with 3 gallons of hot water and 3 tablespoons of bleach, but it is recommended to use a 10 % solution of Sodium Metabisulphate.

Do I spray this solution to the inside of my fermenters wait five minutes then rinse, or add 5 mls to every gallon of hot water and roll them around a bit. (with the lids on).

Gary

[rjb222]

Sulphite will corrode stainless steel leaves a hard to remove stain and pits just generally messes it up. There is no issue though using it in glass or plastic pet or HDPE. There are better and safer sanitizers to use these days though. That being said each and every sanitizer has it's own cautions and warning with it they are chemicals after all and need to be respected as such.

[Cellar_Rat]

I normally use bleach to sanitise my 7 gallon fermenters by filling them up with 3 gallons of hot water and 3 tablespoons of bleach, but it is recommended to use a 10 % solution of Sodium Metabisulphate.

Do I spray this solution to the inside of my fermenters wait five minutes then rinse, or add 5 mls to every gallon of hot water and roll them around a bit. (with the lids on).

Gary

NOOOOOOOO

Bleach (indeed any chlorine is a banned substance) is BANNED in my cellar. If not rinsed 10000000000000000000000000% away can cause TCA in finished wine. QUACKING spraying it - atomising it - near wine - cripes this is the stuff of horror movies.


aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggg........................

[goldseal]

Never had a problem with sulphite - I have a dozen or so Better Bottles and similar.

[Gaztops]

So I should put 5 mls of a 10% solution of Sodium Metabisulphate with every gallon of hot water.

Thanks for all the replys.

Gary

[oliver90owner]

every gallon of hot water

I never put anywhere near that in a fermenter. If it wets the sides (I give them a good shake) and SO2 is obvious, it will be sanitised. I use sulphur dioxide to 'sanitise' stored frames to avoid wax moth damage. It kills most things.

I normally sanitise ready for the next fermentation, and remove the solution and rinse when needed. I also store my racking kit, air locks, etc in a similar fashion.

[rjb222]

So I should put 5 mls of a 10% solution of Sodium Metabisulphate with every gallon of hot water.

Thanks for all the replys.

Gary

No pour 1/4 cup of 10% solution into fermenter put on the lid and walk away for twenty minutes. It is the gas coming off the solution that does the sanitizing not the liquid you pour in. If you put your 10% solution into more water you are just diluting it so do not use the hot water thing as all that does is encourage bacteria growth.

[Delmonteman]

Besides gaztops, 45ml of bleach in 13.5l of water doesn't seem enough chlorine to sanitise by my calculations. I understand you need 5ml of 5% sodium hypochlorite solution (i.e. bleach) per litre to sanitise. Defo go the sulphite route, it's so much easier...

[Cellar_Rat]

The sanitiser is a chemical effect hot or cold water doesn't make a difference.

[Gaztops]

Thankyou to all, i really appreciate your help.

I now know what I'm doing, just need a few more things and I should have my first batch of wine No 1 on the go very soon.

Thanks again fellas.

[NorthernWiner]

Good article here:

http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/article/indices/13-cleaningsanitation/413-keep-it-clean

For cleaning, I use a commercial detergent product called "B-Brite" myself, but there are a lot of similar products available as described in the article. For sanitizing, I use sulphite solution.

[Gaztops]

Besides gaztops, 45ml of bleach in 13.5l of water doesn't seem enough chlorine to sanitise by my calculations. I understand you need 5ml of 5% sodium hypochlorite solution (i.e. bleach) per litre to sanitise. Defo go the sulphite route, it's so much easier...

When I was using bleach I filled the fermenter only half way up added the bleach, then I put the lid on and tipped the tub onto it's side and left it for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes I rolled the tub over onto the other side and left it for another 20 minutes. You are all correct about the rinsing out, it does take lots of water to get rid of the bleach smell.