Sanitation in Mead Making
The most important part of brewing is sanitation. Anything that comes into contact with your brew should be sanitised to avoid contamination with stray bacteria and yeasts. Avoid any vessels with deep scratches. The scratches harbor bacteria and are nearly impossible to sanitize completely. The following is a sanitizing step by step:
1. Wash everything with soap and water, then rinse with copious amounts of water. If you have really stuck on gunk, I suggest PBW (Powdered Brewers Wash). If PBW can’t get it off, throw it away. It’s not worth the risk of contamination. PBW is only for cleaning, NOT sanitation. You will need to wash with lots of water after PBW contact.
2. Sanitize with a sanitizer of your choice. For ease of use, I like no-rinse sanitizers such as ChemSan. A few minutes of contact time and you’re good to go. You do not need to rinse after these sanitizers. In fact, rinsing would contaminate your gear all over again!
Protips:
-Put your sanitizer in a spray bottle for ease of use on small parts!
-Keep a bucket of sanitiser around to toss in bottle caps, spoons, and funnels.
-Remove grommets on swing top bottles to properly sanitize.
