Storage Cleaning Advice?

[Steve Gyldenvand]

So after almost 2 years of near-continuous brewing, I'm getting ready to suspend brewing operations for a time. We have just embarked on a home-improvement project, mostly involving a complete renovation of the living room in this 100+ year old farmhouse. With all the dust and detritus, not to mention the time demands involved, we've decided to hold off on brewing for the duration, probably something like 2 months (because I'm doing the work myself, and I'm less young than I used to be for some ridiculous reason.) 

The decision was kind of a spontaneous thing that came about as I was bottling my most recent batch today, and I got wondering if anyone has any "best practice" advice about cleaning/sanitizing preparatory to and subsequent to a brewing hiatus. At the moment, having thoroughly washed the droid, I am doing the 2-hour sanitizing with the droid-cleanse. Should I empty it and leave it at the end, or rinse it out? Should I redo the clean and and sanitize process again before I resume brewing? What say you all?

Edited to ask: Leave it plugged in or not?

Sláinte!

Edited Wednesday at 07:17 PM by Steve Gyldenvand

[Thagomizer]

My opinion is to drain the droid-cleanse solution, air dry, then seal for the duration.  Then re-sanitize the droid before resuming operations.

I would not leave it plugged in.  Unless you change your wi-fi situation, it should start right up again when you resume.  During my recovery from back surgery then hip replacement, both droids were unplugged for a few months and woke up immediately when I was ready to start brewing again.

[Steve Gyldenvand]

22 minutes ago, Thagomizer said:

My opinion is to drain the droid-cleanse solution, air dry, then seal for the duration

Thanks Thag. I should have asked about that specifically. Leaving the droid open to air has always seemed counterintuitive, as a surefire way to invite bacteria/mold/gremlins into the system, but trapping any moisture within would likely be worse.

Sláinte!

[BrewArt Team]

G 'Day @Steve Gyldenvand,

Good luck on the renovations, we can't wait to see how they turn out. We're expecting a dedicated brewing area 😁.

That's great advice from @Thagomizer but I thought I'd add my two cents for what it's worth. Clean your BeerDroid thoroughly, (you can sanitise if you like for an extra step). The main thing is to make sure it's completely dry before storing away. Remove the Tap and the Drain Plug take the Tap apart for storage. 
Always sanitise just before brewing. We can never knock out all wild yeast and bacteria by sanitising, but we're knocking them down to low levels so our yeast can out compete them in fermentation. The longer your equipment sits after sanitising the more opportunity the wild yeast/bacteria have to increase their cell count and out compete our brewers yeast. 

Best of luck with the renovations!
Cheers 

[Steve Gyldenvand]

7 hours ago, BrewArt Team said:

The main thing is to make sure it's completely dry before storing away. Remove the Tap and the Drain Plug take the Tap apart for storage. 
Always sanitise just before brewing. We can never knock out all wild yeast and bacteria by sanitising, but we're knocking them down to low levels so our yeast can out compete them in fermentation. The longer your equipment sits after sanitising the more opportunity the wild yeast/bacteria have to increase their cell count and out compete our brewers yeast. 

Good stuff, @BrewArt Team! Thanks!

Sláinte!

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

22 hours ago, BrewArt Team said:

G 'Day @Steve Gyldenvand,

Good luck on the renovations, we can't wait to see how they turn out. We're expecting a dedicated brewing area 😁.

That's great advice from @Thagomizer but I thought I'd add my two cents for what it's worth. Clean your BeerDroid thoroughly, (you can sanitise if you like for an extra step). The main thing is to make sure it's completely dry before storing away. Remove the Tap and the Drain Plug take the Tap apart for storage. 
Always sanitise just before brewing. We can never knock out all wild yeast and bacteria by sanitising, but we're knocking them down to low levels so our yeast can out compete them in fermentation. The longer your equipment sits after sanitising the more opportunity the wild yeast/bacteria have to increase their cell count and out compete our brewers yeast. 

Best of luck with the renovations!
Cheers 

@BrewArt Team can I ask, how exactly do you take the tap apart as I've tried before and been unable to figure it out.

No doubt it's operation error and deficiencies and not the engineering.

Thanks

[Thagomizer]

@BrewArt Team can I ask, how exactly do you take the tap apart as I've tried before and been unable to figure it out.

@Wazza_wantsbeer I'm so glad you asked.  It led me to experiment and I found out how to take apart the tap.  You just grab the toggle and twist counter-clockwise (Oops, that's anti-clockwise down under.)

The photo below shows the tap after the CCW rotation but before separating the parts:

The next photo shows the separated parts

Until I saw the suggestion from the BrewArt team, I was unaware that the tap could be taken apart.  By the way, it really needed it.  This will now be a standard procedure.

I learn more every day.

🙂 Happy brewing.

[Steve Gyldenvand]

FYI, the orange rubber "boot" comes off, and the internal spring and plunger come off of the tap handle. I also remove the o-rings when cleaning. Putting it back together can be a bit of a chore until you get the hang of it. Take your time and mess around with it. The first few times it can be intimidating, but pretty soon it gets easy.

Sláinte!

 

[Thagomizer]

Steve,

I looked at the way the orange "boot" is attached.  It appears that there is little opportunity for gremlins to get beyond the seal into the rest of the mechanism - which is external to the brew - unless the orange part somehow leaks.  You are to be commended for the perseverance needed to take it further apart and get it back together again.  I am going to experiment with my broken spigot (generously replaced by BrewArt about a year ago) until I can conveniently disassemble and re-assemble the rest of the spigot. Until then, I am scrubbing and sterilizing the parts as shown in my photos.

Good luck on the remodeling.  Is there any chance you get a dedicated brewing area? 😄

🙂 Happy brewing.

[BrewArt Team]

Thanks for sending those photos @Thagomizer.

The Tap should be taken apart and cleaned after each brew, and when storing it's best to leave apart.
You shouldn't need to remove the boot for cleaning and sanitising as the seal should be stopping any potential cross over. 

Cheers!

[Steve Gyldenvand]

1 hour ago, Thagomizer said:

Good luck on the remodeling.  Is there any chance you get a dedicated brewing area?

Unfortunately, this remodel is limited to the living/dining areas, so no dedicated brewing area this time 

Sláinte!

[Thagomizer]

1 hour ago, BrewArt Team said:

Thanks for sending those photos @Thagomizer.

The Tap should be taken apart and cleaned after each brew, and when storing it's best to leave apart.
You shouldn't need to remove the boot for cleaning and sanitising as the seal should be stopping any potential cross over. 

Cheers!

@BrewArt TeamThat's great to know.  It's what I surmised from the design.  No need to overdo things ---- but get the essentials done.

🙂 Cheers.