| If you wish to become a real pro at home beer | | | | found that ammonia is good for cleaning your bottles |
| brewing then you must make the effort to clean and | | | | but make sure that you give all your equipment a |
| sanitize all your home brewing equipment from your | | | | very thorough Hot water rinse. |
| bottles thru to your Beer Fermenter and everything | | | | With the iodine-based product be careful as it will |
| in between. Excellent cleaning habits and a very clean | | | | stain any plastic equipment as well as your skin, so |
| environment are the keys to making successful | | | | wear gloves. I find that chlorine is excellent to use |
| home made beer. | | | | but it can cause corrosion on any stainless steel |
| | | | | brewing equipment. Please do not ever mix these |
| There are three main steps you need to take, one is | | | | chemicals together as they could release a very toxic |
| simply to clean your equipment, the other is to | | | | gas! |
| sanitize everything that will come into contact with | | | | |
| your beer and finally to sterilize. | | | | To start the process of sterilizing your beer brewing |
| | | | | equipment you will need a large sterilized sink or tub |
| Cleaning is done to simply remove all the dust dirt | | | | so that you can completely immerse the equipment |
| and stains that are visible on your home brewing | | | | and give it a good soak. Make sure that you always |
| equipment which includes all your bottles. Sanitizing is | | | | use soft clean sponges on all your equipment as any |
| the process of removing or eliminating the invisible | | | | abrasive type cleaners will only scratch your plastic |
| bacteria and micro-organisms that can ruin your home | | | | and stainless equipment. If you follow the instructions |
| brew beer. Sterilizing or boiling your wort at a very | | | | from the manufacture closely you should not have |
| high temperature for an hour or more is another way | | | | any problems. |
| to maintain a clean environment for the brewing | | | | Be very careful not to use hot water with Chlorine |
| process. | | | | based products as the heat can cause gas to be |
| | | | | released. |
| Having a very clean and dust proof environment to | | | | |
| work and store all this equipment is another crucial | | | | Once your home made beer is ready you will need to |
| factor in determining the success of your home | | | | clean and sterilize the bottles. Using a large basin and |
| brew. Its no use doing all this cleaning if the area that | | | | the correct amount of sanitizer, immerse all your |
| you rinse and drain all the equipment is contaminated | | | | bottles, making sure that there are no air bubbles. |
| as all your hard work could come undone very | | | | Leave for over thirty or forty minutes before you |
| quickly. It goes without saying that dogs and cats are | | | | clean with a bottle brush and then, rinse twice and |
| a big no no! | | | | drain. Making sure that the environment is as clean as |
| | | | | possible, you don't want anything to go wrong now. |
| There are a number of different chemicals that can | | | | You are not finished yet. Remember to sanitize the |
| be used for this cleaning process ranging from | | | | bottle caps by boiling for about ten minutes or |
| iodine-based, chlorine based to ammonia based as | | | | soaking in a iodine based solution depending on what |
| well as some environmentally friendly cleaners. I've | | | | type of cap you are using. Good Luck! |