What would be the dilution in order to use isopropyl alcohol and water in a spray bottle as a no-rinse sanitizer? I wouldn't use it in vessels or tubing - more like as a spray for fermenter lids before removing them, thermometer stems, outside of airlocks or blow off tubes before removing them etc.
isopropyl alcohol as no-rinse sanitizer
- Thread starter jmf143
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I know that the maximum effectiveness of isopropyl alcohol is at 70%. That is why it is sold at that concentration in stores. Using the 90+% alcohol is actually less effective. That stuff is often used to fuel lamps.
So, use the 70% stuff undiluted. I do not know if it is effective in brewery use, but I suppose it should be.
So, use the 70% stuff undiluted. I do not know if it is effective in brewery use, but I suppose it should be.
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't use it as a spray. Especially for bucket lids / airlocks. Too big of a risk of it contaminating the beer. Isopropyl will wreck your liver. I use it as a topical sanitizer via alcahol wipes when I'm doing yeast starters. I wipe the rims of starter wort jars before I crack them, stuff like that, but it evaporates quickly and there is no risk of contaminating the beer. Also, keep in mind, it is extremely flammable and should be used with caution.
Ramitt
Well-Known Member
As cheap and easy as starsan is, there is really no reason not to use it.
Hoser_brewing
Well-Known Member
I have seen it use in at least one package brewery as step one of a sterilizing routine, of a sampling spigot on a bright tank, but it was completely removed in step two as they then hit it with a blowtorch. A little overkill, but better safe than stuck with 100 bbl of infected beer.
We use it all the time in the pharma industry at 70% as a disinfectant for our manufacturing suites, but we also then do testing to ensure it's all evaporated prior to using anything.
We use it all the time in the pharma industry at 70% as a disinfectant for our manufacturing suites, but we also then do testing to ensure it's all evaporated prior to using anything.
IPA in a spraybottle will flash very quickly. Not a good santitizer since it doesn't stick around long. I've got 70% and 91% here and they flash away very quickly.
So...a bottle of everclear diluted with boiled and/or distilled water to dilute to 70%?
Same situation, it evaporates very quickly, probably not a great sanitizer. With a surfactant that would spread it out, maybe.
I'm not an expert, but I use IPA to clean things often, and it disappears so quickly that I'd be surprised if it is an effective disinfectant for brewing.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I know it's used in medical practices as the standard way of cleaning flesh, so maybe I'm wrong.
I could have sworn the yeast book mentioned 70% ethanol as a sanitizer. I'll have to look.
FYI IPA is methanol. Same effect I think, but not for drinking.
Indeed. I looked at the book. It mentions that they use both isopropyl and ethanol (70% solution) as sanitizers in their lab. It didn't seem to say what they sanitize with them, though. Nor did it mention how they use them (i.e do they use them as a spray?).
I regularly use 70% ethanol as a sanitizer. I spray fermentor then wipe it down with a papertowl that I've also sprayed. It's effective in seconds. The expense is the only drawback as far as I can tell.
I can think of two reasons:
- I am extremely sensitive to starsan, and it gives me severe burns if it comes into contact with my skin (even if diluted).
- Have you ever tried sanitizing a carboy bung with it, and expecting it to stay in place?
-a.
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
E-Bot
Active Member
Just a clarification, isopropyl alcohol is not methanol. Assuming IPA is being used as a abbreviation for isopropyl alcohol.
Just a clarification, isopropyl alcohol is not methanol. Assuming IPA is being used as a abbreviation for isopropyl alcohol.
Hmmm, you're right. I've had it in my head for a long time that it was the same.
I'd be a better person if I didn't talk about things I'm not really knowledgable about, but it's gonna be hard changing now. Thanks for setting me straight.
Hoser_brewing
Well-Known Member
IPA will evaporate readily off a surface, as its boiling point (82ish) and low liquid-phase heat capacity (1.5, vs water's 4.2) make it easy to volatalize. I'm not sure of the exact contact time need for a full 6-log reduction in microbial cell count (one way to determine adequate sterilization), but when we use it to sterilize, we douse the walls and floors with the stuff, using specially designed mops to get complete coverage. It's effective enough to have full effect in the 30 seconds or so it takes to visually disappear.
Ramitt
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BiologistBrewer
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Ethanol is more effective and much more volatile than iso-propanol. I'd suggest steering towards that if you can. If you can get your hands on some grain alcohol that'd be a great sanitizer. At work we always use 200 proof ethanol to kill the bugs in the lab. Unfortunately, most of you don't have access to such alcohol .
.chickens4life
Well-Known Member
200 proof is good for cleaning tools and the like that can be immersed, but as was stated before 70% ethanol is much better as a sprayed sanitizer because it does not evaporate quite as quickly. have used it for years to clean works spaces before working with tissue cultures. didn't even think twice about it and have been using it for some parts of brewing from day one. i do still use starsan for carboys buckets and racking canes (alcohol does not evaporate so well out of those tubes).
-chickens
-chickens
This is pretty much what I do. Also a word of warning, 95-100% can overdry certain plastics and cause them to crack.
ColoHox
Compulsive Hand Washer
That is the truth. I have lost a thief and racking cane to this.
70% ethanol or isopropanol is an excellent sanitizer and routinely used in labs. For what it is worth, it is that evaporative or drying action you are looking for when using it to decontaminate. The evaporating alcohol dessicates contaminating bacteria.
Another reason why you have to let alcohol hand sanitizer dry on your hands, if you want that worthless product to have any effect.
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