How to clean and sanitize your brewery equipment?

Beer has been brewed for thousands of years, much of it before people knew about bacteria or sanitation. Sometimes the beer tastes good, sometimes it doesn’t. Over time, brewers learn what practices seem to make good beer. During the brewing process, we always tell you to sanitize your equipment before using it to ensure your beer doesn’t become contaminated.

Why Clean and Sanitize Brewery Equipment?

Because no one wants microbial invasion ruining their beer! Regular cleaning and sanitizing of your brewing and fermentation equipment is essential to ensure the quality and safety of your preparations. Unwanted microorganisms can grow on equipment that has not been cleaned and disinfected. This can affect the quality of the fermentation and even lead to health risks.

It is also important to maintain a good level of hygiene to promote the growth of the microorganisms required during the fermentation process (lactic acid bacteria, yeast, koji, etc.) and to avoid competition between the culture and undesired microorganisms.

In some cases, cleaning alone may be enough to drop potential contaminants, while in other cases, disinfecting the equipment is necessary. This will prevent any risk of contamination and ensure a successful fermentation.

How to keep brewery equipment clean?

There are many ways to keep your equipment clean. Assuming you rinse your device afterward. Dish soap is not designed with beer in mind, and if not rinsed it can affect the taste of the final product. If you choose to use dish soap, be sure to use an unscented one. Cleaning does not equal disinfecting and vice versa. You cannot disinfect equipment that is not clean. Cleaning is only a prerequisite for proper disinfection. There are no all-in-one solutions or shortcuts to cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning is great at removing dirt and residue, but it is not effective at removing lingering bacteria, wild yeast, or any other microorganisms.

Soak small equipment

Not everyone has access to CIP (clean-in-place) practices. Depending on your setup, it’s not a bad idea to take all the equipment apart and soak it in a solution of hot water and brewery cleaning fluid overnight. This helps break down all kinds of hidden junk in hard-to-reach places.

Kettle

A quick rinse of my kettle with a brewery sprayer to remove excess sludge and pour it down the drain.
Fill the kettle with water (enough to cover the filter and false bottom, set the filter to approximately 150°F, and add the recommended amount of brewery cleaning solution. Recirculate or stir to combine.
After heating, turn off the element and let the kettle soak overnight.
The next day, I dumped the kettle, flushed the entire system with fresh hot water, and was ready to brew again. Never had to scrub anything, even the charred heating element.

Fermenter

Whether it’s a plastic keg, a glass carboy, or a stainless steel conical keg, it should be hot-soaked in a beer cleaning solution after each batch. Barrel fermenters are great because you can fill them with small parts and then fill them with hot water and a cleaning solution and clean the fermenter itself and all the parts.

Larger conical fermenters only make sense for CIP with spray balls. Spray balls are pump-driven cleaning devices that spray high-pressure water/cleaning agents inside a closed container. This is an easy way to make sure every interior surface of your fermenter is soaked or wiped with cleaner. Pressure and water can also help break down more stubborn clausen. CIP is very effective and also saves water.

A pump and pipes are used to circulate hot brewery cleaning fluid from the bottom pour valve to the top of the fermenter. This works great for cleaning water tanks, which can be harder to clean due to their larger size. Once you start using a fermenter larger than 20 gallons, CIP is the only practical cleaning method.

keg

The keg cleaning process involves breaking down all keg components between batches and soaking them in hot water/brewery cleaning solution overnight. This will be followed by an more soak in hot fresh water to ensure all cleaning residue is removed. Sometimes, a liquid quick disconnect can be used to do the same thing for dispensing beer.

Cleaning of beer brewing equipment hoses

Most hoses are rubber and pose a threat to connecting pipes. People are used to thinking about the internal state of the hose from the outside, which is often a big mistake. The interior of the pipe is very demanding and difficult to clean. Internal cracks and minor damage are difficult to spot. Pipes can only be cleaned with weak alkali. Oxidizing acids such as nitric acid and copper ions will aggravate the aging of pipes, so remember that pipes and copper pipes cannot be cleaned together. The quality of rubber often varies, and some rubber tubes can impart specific flavors to beer, especially if the inside of the tube is damaged or aged. So, individuals need to check whether the pipes are suitable for food products.

What is the difference between cleaning and disinfecting?

There is a big difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaners remove dirt, debris and scale from surfaces on containers, hoses or tools. While they make the device look clean, they are not designed to disinfect your device. Disinfectants, , have specific germicidal (bacterial-killing) properties. In some cases, hot water and a little scrubbing can remove all visible dirt from homemade equipment. In these cases, you don’t need a specialized cleaner. But some types of beer scale, such as Claussen’s beer scale, can be quite difficult to remove. In other cases, you are faced with the challenge of cleaning surfaces that cannot be inspected. In these and other cases, the use of specialized cleaners is recommended.

in conclusion

Cleaning and sanitizing brewery equipment is the least glamorous part of the brewing experience. The best cleaning solutions are safe and must the least amount of time, money, and effort to achieve the goals at hand without sacrificing the quality of the final product. Once acceptable cleaning and sanitizing methods are implemented, many breweries tend to struggle. Trying new things sometimes requires a lot of faith, especially if you haven’t had any problems yet. If you want to brew professional, delicious beer, you also have to clean and sanitize like a pro.

Get a turnkey solution for brewery equipment

If you plan to open or expand the brewery, you can contact Micet Craft directly. Our engineers will design and manufacture brewery equipment according to your brewing process. Of course, we will also provide you with a complete turnkey solution. Also, if you plan to expand the brewery, we will provide you with customized solutions.