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BACKGROUND
The best breweries in the world ensure total cleanliness. As
every brewer knows, brewery fermentations are essentially the
controlled growing of a single strain of yeast. Unfortunately the
conditions for the brewery yeast are also perfect for unwanted
bacterial (and other microbes) growth, which can spoil the
beverage. This is why cleaning and sanitising are so important.
So to ensure it is only the yeast we pitch into the wort/must
that grows, we need to both clean off all organic residues and
then sanitise the cleaned surfaces. The cleaner the surfaces the
easier it is for the sanitiser to do its job on these unseen micro-
organisms that may be there.
As long as we clean and sanitise the brewery well, it’s not so
critical if the utensils are not 100% clean. So use common
sense, but jugs, spoons, scissors, can openers and the table
surface you use do not need to be totally sterile. It is more the
bugs that can hide inside the brewery and create a home for
themselves in some hidden corner that create the problem in
the beverage during fermentation or after it is produced.
THE WILLIAMSWARN BREWERY DETERGENT
The detergent used in Stage 1 can be any popular dishwashing
powder, although the WilliamsWarn Brewery Detergent is
formulated to work well with brewery residue and cold water.
However, it is optimal to use 1 Litre of water that is as warm as
you can handle on your hands, in order to assist dissolving the
residue from the previous brew.
Detergent is used to remove solid material off the surfaces
ahead of the sanitising agent that follows in the next step.
WilliamsWarn Brewery Detergent contains a mixture of alkaline
cleaning chemicals, water softener, non-ionic surfactants and a
small measure of sanitising agent as well.
The most important part to clean in the brewery is the yeast
ring that is visible after each brew. By dipping the non-scratch
sponge in the liquid detergent and rubbing onto the yeast ring,
it should come off reasonable easily. If parts of the yeast ring
have dried, those areas may need a bit of extra effort to scrub
off. The detergent will get dirty as you clean but it will still have
a good cleaning ability regardless.
The detergent will then need a good rinse off with water to
remove it from the surfaces.
THE WARM WATER USED
The WilliamsWarn Brewery Detergent can be used in cold water
but warm water is always better to help dissolve organic material
like the yeast ring and beverage residue.
If you have a hot water system close to a temperature of
60°C/140°F this will work well.
Otherwise the easiest way to make approximately 60°C/140°F
water is to mix 50:50 ambient water from the tap with boiled
water from a kitchen kettle. Ambient water will fluctuate with
the seasons and geographical locations but even a range from
10°C to 30°C (50°F to 86°F) tap water will produce warm water
in the range of 55°C to 65°C (131°F to 149°F) once combined
with boiling water, which is fine for the purpose of cleaning
the vessel.
Once the warm water is put in the 2 Litre jug and the detergent
mixed and then added to the cone, the temperature will be
closer to 50°C/122°F, which should be acceptable for contact
with your hand and scrubbing the vessel with. However if
you find this too warm then you should use a colder water
temperature.
THE WILLIAMSWARN SANITISING AGENT: SODIUM
PERCARBONATE
The WilliamsWarn sanitising agent that follows the detergent is
Sodium Percarbonate. Sodium Percarbonate will react in water
to form Sodium Carbonate and Hydrogen Peroxide. It is the
Hydrogen Peroxide that works as an oxidiser on bacteria and
other undesirable microbes.
It requires a contact time of about 2 minutes after wetting, to
sanitise the cleaned surface.
After this contact time, the bulk liquid should be drained from
all surfaces but there is no need to rinse the sanitizer residue
off. This is because it is a no rinse sanitizer.
After a short period of time, it breaks down into oxygen and CO
2
,
both of which are naturally found in beer and other beverages.
PRESSURISING THE VESSEL DURING CLEANING AND
SANITISING.
The gas we add to the vessel in Stage 1 is just enough to push
the liquids out the draft tap and packaging line. If you find you
need more or less that that suggested then adjust as required.
We have found that 0.3bar/5psi is about the right level for what
is required, however if you find you need less, that is fine and
will save some gas.
We want some flow out the draft tap and filling line to help
clean the lines and we also want to have some soaking time in
these lines while we clean the vessel itself.
We also want to ensure these lines have a few minutes contact
time with the Sodium Percarbonate solution to sanitise them.
APPENDIX ONE:
CLEANING & SANITISING
