homebrewandbeer.com

Hi All,

Im new to brewing- got my first kit a few weeks ago and have already laid two brews down...I'm loving it..its a great hobby...and this site is fantastic too!

I am wondering what people think about Neo Pink. I like the fact that it is a reasonably fast way to clean and sterilise, but I've also noticed that even after excessive rinsing there still seems to be that little lingering Neo Pink smell wafting about...which is a worry...I dont want any residual cleaner in my bottles. What do you guys think about Neo and/or cleaning in general?

I like it and use it all the time on kegs and fermenters.
Quick easy no hassel.

Simply fill the fermenter with cold water, two table spoons of the powder leave over night and clean as a whistle. Just rinse, it removes all the crap left over from the krausen, no need to scrubbing.

If rinsed well you won't have any problems.
My HBS calls it sterophos.

AC

12 years brewing, never used any sanitiser other than hot water. Never had a problem with kegs, fermentor or bottles.

Same here, used the pink stuff for my first 3 batches no problems. I did rinse my fermenter with boiling water just prior to pouring in my wart. I went thru the stuff fast so I thought it was too costly. I am thinking of using standard household bleach (unscented) as a better option. Anyway my .0002 cents worth - cheers.

Another good cleaning agent is a generic brand of Napi-San...the active ingredient is Sodium Percarbonate...if it can sanitise nappies, it will sanitise anything!!
Cheap & very effective, IMHO!

I don't like neopink. Bought one tub of it years ago, when I used it I found I developed and asthma-like inability to breathe. I didn't think that could be a good thing.

Since I have started this homebrew caper (not that long ago) I have tried to lessen my use of water and chemicals. I look at it in terms of water used divided by finished product. Filling and rinsing a ferm. is a lot of water. I have a cleaning agent from Brewcraft (they won't say what's in it) that I spray the ferm. with immediately after bottling/racking. Leave for awhile then give a gentle rub to the brewline and gently add water. I have a mist option on a cheap hose attachment that works well. You'd be suprised what you can achieve with some patience and gentle rubbing (boom boom). A further spray and rub and another, more vigorous, rinse seems to see everything off. Repeat the process close to brewtime and then sanitise with a no rinse sanitiser. Perhaps our more learned friends could help us out? Surely the water and chemical in the middle of the ferm. is doing squat? A solution made at the same potency and liberally sprayed on to the surface should be just as effective. It was on this site that some one put me on to the idea. It sounds logical to me. I am no big greeny but I just don't like the idea of doing something for nothing. Cleanser costs about $9.00 and has done about 4 brews - 2 fermenters (twice) and 50 bottles per brew with maybe one more to go.

I thought there was some reason you shouldnt use neo pink on kegs?

I use neo-pink to clean the really grubby bottles, but not as the regular sanitiser, for that I still use SO2.

Cheers,
Greg

Thanks all...there are as many different approaches as there are types of beer...which is one of the things that makes brewing so interesting! I like the approach of saving money by not using Neo and using something like Nappi-San instead.

Something Ive just noticed on my current brew...I didnt tighten the lid enough....the airlock didnt bubble...although fermantation had obviously begun (condensation on the lid, layer of crud forming at the top of the brew)....it didnt bubble for a day and a half...then I tightened the lid a bit more and bubbling began immediately. Am I at risk of an infected brew?

I doubt it, assuming your lid had at least enough seal for the ferment to keep some pressure inside. ie. allowing CO2 to escape without letting to much O2 in.

Lebowski wrote:I thought there was some reason you shouldnt use neo pink on kegs?

Neon pink has chlorine in it from memory that can eat into stainless steel, if rinsed out right away it is not so much of a problem I would not recommend soaking a keg with it though.

Just curious to know whether neon pink is the same as the bag of pink stuff i'm using now to clean bottles and fermenter? The stuff i'm using is called pink stain,and claims to be a detergent and a steriliser.It has to be rinsed thoroughly,but seems to clean the crud up pretty good.Has a very light chlorine smell to it and gives off toxic gas!

Sounds like it - so I **think** so...

Cheers,
Greg

Yeh sounds like the stuff, my HBS calls it sterophos and $8 for 1kg isn't too expensive when you only put one or two table spoons per fermenter.

Greg what do you use Sulpur Dioxide SO2?????
Cheers
AC

The SO2 powder - Sodium Metabisulphate. The sanitiser that cops abuse from most posters in most forums, yet has not let me down in over a decade of regular brewing.

Cheers,
Greg

Hey BeerFrenzy - to give my 2cents on one of your original questions - I put down a brew and also noticed a Neo Pink residual smell in the bottles (just before bottling) about a week (25/2) before your original post. After 2 bottles consumed - no noticeable Neo Pink taste or smell at all, and carbonation was good.

gregb wrote:The SO2 powder - Sodium Metabisulphate. The sanitiser that cops abuse from most posters in most forums, yet has not let me down in over a decade of regular brewing.

Cheers,
Greg

Have you noticed that Coopers have now dumped it in favour of Sodium Percarbonate?

You may be surprised to know that sodium bisulphite is actually dosed into commercial beers as a preservative, along with ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

The "meta" bit simply refers to its chemical structure....the position of the two bisulphite ions in relation to one another...... it's still just sodium bisulphite. They also use the stuff to preserve prawns onboard the trawlers - it keeps the heads from going black inside.

Neo pink has a fair amount of sodium hydroxide in it - notice how "slippery" it feels on your fingers.

Have you noticed that Coopers have now dumped it in favour of Sodium Percarbonate?

Yeah, but I've got a supply to get through.

Cheers,
Greg