What do most commercial breweries/microbreweries do for sanitization?

Most of the brewers use their own methods and follow their own rituals of cleaning and sanitizing the breweries. These brewers make sure that they intensely sanitize the brewers to ensure that they are free form any type of bacteria. Different cleaning equipment is used along with different sanitizing chemicals to keep the brewers clean from fungus or microbial. They follow two steps to protect the brewers from bacteria. They clean the brewer first; this is done by using different equipment. The last step is to sanitize the brewer intensely by using sanitizing chemicals like Star san, bleach, Iodophor etc.

Most professional brewers use effective and efficient Clean-in-place techniques to reduce the hectic work load by cleaning the breweries intensely on a daily basis. Sanitizer is circulated in the brewer kettle to circulate the detergent by putting a spray ball on the fermenter of the kettle. Pumps and hoses are used to circulate the water and sanitizer in the brewery equipment to effectively clean the brewer in less time. It is a mechanical system of cleaning which is controlled by computers. These professionals also do manual cleaning of the small parts of the breweries. They make sure that they clean the outside of the kettle, the surroundings and the surface of the kettle manually.

  • How is sanitization and cleaning both important of brewery kettle?

We mostly get confused between sanitization and cleaning but the reality is that they both play an important role in cleaning the breweries. They both work together to nurture the yeast growing in the breweries. It is extremely crucial to make sure that the surface of the beer kettle is also free from and kind of microbial bacteria. If the surface is not clean, the fen gets stuck in the carboy and then the surface becomes uneven to be sanitized properly. This then leads to grow the fen or marshes in the beer kettle which becomes hazardous to consume.

That is why you need to intensely sanitize your breweries so that it is free and clean from any type of microbial. To keep your brewery equipment clean, you need to ensure a proper sanitization for it so that the bacteria cannot hide anywhere inside the corners. A two-step process should be followed for the cleaning. The first is to clean it thoroughly before pouring the beer, then to sanitize it by using different chemicals.

  • How can bacteria be prevented from the basic brewery equipment?

Bacteria can be caught from a lot many other things as well. It can be through scissors, and plastic, steel holders or utensils, knobs of the equipment and any other tiny piece on the equipment which you normally don’t realize. That is why it is extremely important to make sure that that you keep all the utensils you use for the beer kettle is also sanitized intensely. This is because bacteria can jump or travel rapidly from one thing to another, and when it gets involved it results in spreading like a fire.

So you should make a list of utensils you use for the brewers so that you can keep a check again and again, and do not forget to sanitize any other thing, because at times we forget those things which are very minute in the kettle. You just need to pay an extra attention towards the sanitization of the breweries in order to keep up with the cleanliness of the outside and inside of the equipment. The one of the best way to keep everything sanitized is to apply hand sanitizer so that there is no chance of even minute bacteria to jump in.

  • How to prevent from bacteria caused by air and water in the breweries?

There are gaps in the process and the equipment of the brewery. That is why; these gaps can cause infection which should be taken into consideration. We, most of the time, do not even notice that the air and water around us consists of different types of bacteria. When these are mixed in the breweries, they cause contamination of bacteria inside the kettle. It is recommended to clean the surface of the brewer with bleach so that it stays protected from all the germs.

It is therefore, very important to rinse the brewer with clean and clear water so that it reduces the risk of causing bacteria inside the brewer. Even brushes and scrubs can have germs in them as they are made up of plastic.