Cleaning sour equipment

[PhillyBrewer]

How do you safely clean sour equipment (eg. glass carboys, carboy caps, etc.) without potentially contaminating cleaning equipment and also preventing future batches using the same carboy from being contaminated?

[lunchbox]

I believe that it's recommended that anything plastic that is used for sours should be used only for sours.

[PhillyBrewer]

Indeed. I guess I should have a second carboy brush specifically for sours. How can I clean glass to make sure it's totally free of bugs?

[Bugeater]

Indeed. I guess I should have a second carboy brush specifically for sours. How can I clean glass to make sure it's totally free of bugs?

You clean and sanitize it exactly the same way you do for any other brew. Those bugs aren't anymore resistant to normal cleaning and sanitizing than any other unwanted micro organism that might normally get into your system. Do be suspect of the plastics. Tubing is cheap, so it shouldn't be any problem to keep a separate set of that for the sours.

Wayne

[jeffjm]

When I did a Berliner Weiss over the summer, I asked my LHBS the exact same question. They recommended repeating your normal cleaning and sanitizing steps a couple of times. I wound up letting my carboy sit overnight with a mild bleach solution, rinsing it, refilling it again with the same solution, and rinsing again the next day.

Separate tubing, as already mentioned, is a good idea.

[PhillyBrewer]

Great to know. Thanks Wayne.

[PhillyBrewer]

So would you say I'd need a second (plastic) bottle washer? I'd imagine I need a second carboy brush.

[brewinhard]

Philly-

Beyond having separate plastic autosiphons, wine theifs, and tubing, I do use the same glass carboys for my regular beers as I do my sours. I simply PBW them pretty well with hot water and let them sit for a good week or two with the PBW. Rinse very well with hot water on brewday, then starsan the crap out of em' and they are good to go.

If you use a good amount of PBW, you shouldn't even need a carboy brush as those can also scratch your glass harboring bugs. PBW and hot water will clean them for you given time and patience. As far as a separate bottle washer is concerned I would think it is not necessary as you are going to sanitize your bottles anyway after cleaning them so you should be fine. But if you are worried then by all means by another one. What's $6 for your peace of mind, right?

-Brewinhard