new all grain setup

[smeggedup]

hi all

i'm just building my first all grain setup and was wondering how best to sanitise all the pipes, pumps, valves and the rest of the stuff.
does it need doing everytime i brew ?
whats the best stuff (cheapist) to use and where to get it from ?

cheers all

[floydmeddler]

The only pipe I really worry about is the one that runs the wort into the fermenter. I sanitise that before I run off with Star San. Other times I don't use Star San and run 85c water through it instead. Other than that, the other pipes just get a rinse before and after use as any thing that passes through them gets boiled later.

I also drain off an re-ad a litre or so of boiling wort from the boiler before I chill - this sterilises the tap before run off through the sanitised piping.

Hope this helps!

[Kev888]

As Floyd, i also bother most about any pipes used post-boil. I clean them very thoroughly immediately after use before anything can dry on, first by back-flushing with a hose to shift any particles and then circulating cleaning fluid around the system (in my case with with a percarbonate-based cleaner) with the pump, and then clean water to rinse. Before use the next time i flush and then circulate a starsan or bleach solution (followed by a thorough rinse in the case of bleach).

But i'm still a little concerned about it, i'd found mould growing in the pipes once before a brew day - even though they'd been stored full of water and capped I must have allowed some air in as well - and no cleaning solution I have shifted this; its my understanding that the effectiveness of sanitisers must be in question where there's stuff they'd have to penetrate. So now I'm beginning to rinse with starsan instead after cleaning (and fact i leave the starsan in the system between brews) but my pipes are plastic so it won't attack them, not sure i'd do that with copper...

That seems to have done the trick, no more mould, but I may also make a design change in the future when i re-jig my system. If my pump could take boiling liquid I could circulate boiling wort to sanitise it and the tubing very effectively indeed, I'd struggle to £justify the March May 809-PL-HS pump that some others use for this, but I could manage the solar project pump (and a suitable 12v power supply), which can also take boiling water. Its slower and 'really' tiny so I'm not sure how it'd compare long term and getting clogged and so on but I know others do use them successfully, and there's an option for a slightly more powerful 14watt one these days.

Cheers
kev

[smeggedup]

thanks guys
its alot clearer now