Best Sanitization Method/Solution?

We’ve been using OneStep for sanitization, not sure on if we are going to continue with it. Seems pricey for what it is and heard good and bad from it. Seems like an entry level type product.

Been looking into other options StarSan or some Sulfite Citric Acid solution. Open to other recommendations as well.

What we would like:

  1. Something scalable for more batches and larger wine production.
  2. Ease of use and handling.
  3. Fewer steps, clean and sanitize and be done.
  4. Cost isn’t a huge concern.

As a side question…if something is sanitized and left to air dry. Say you come back to it a week later for use, should it be sanitized again?

Oxy-clean for cleaning, Star-San for sanitizing. I’ve never trusted OneStep to be an effective sanitizer.

Star-San really only works while the surface is wet (or any sanitizer, for that matter). Once it dries, airborne microbes can certainly get on your equipment and introduce the (ever so slight) risk of infection. If I’m concerned about something being sanitized, I always hit it with Star-San right before use.

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Me like to use the pbw powder. For cleaning. My. Carboys. My brewing kettle. Than rinse with fresh water. And use starsan for the. Final step of cleaning.

+1 PBW to clean & Star San to sanitize

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If you store your fermenters sealed or upside down they will remain sanitized. One nice thing about star san is that only require a short amount of time to be effective. A quick dunk and it’s sanitized before you can use it,

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I started out using One Step and never had a problem. It works well as a cleaner as well as sanitizer. Never had a problem. That said I also use Star San to sanitize. Short contact time and works. BTW they say “don’t fear the foam”. There will be foam left in your fermenter or on any equipment but it is harmless to your brew. Just drain off the liquid.

EDIT: I actually started out using B-brite to clean and bleach to sanitize. That was before we had all these wonderful chemicals.

Most of the popular cleaners will be just fine for your equipment–I favor PBW because it’s incredibly effective.

After that, you can use Star-San, but it’s overkill for wine, which has a low pH and high alcohol level. The standard home winemaking sanitising solution is metabisulfite. Dissolve 50 grams (3 tablespoons) of sulfite powder in a gallon of cool water and your good to go: put it in a spray bottle, dip stuff in it, rinse out carboys, etc, and either let them drip dry or rinse them after a minute. Solution keeps for a couple of months in a tightly sealed container.