Betadine discontinued: UK replacement for sanitizing brewing

Sorry for the crossposting --- feel free to reply to any one of the 3 groups, as I read them all.

I'm about to start back on some winemaking & homebrewing after a gap of several years, & my bottle of Betadine Antiseptic Solution (aqueous, povidone-iodine USP 10% w/v) is almost empty & has expired. I asked for a replacement at the local pharmacy & was told that it's been discontinued (searching the WWW agrees). I'm looking for something identical or similar under another name to use as a no-rinse sanitizer.

The closest things I've found are Vetadine & Vetasept, both sold for veterinary use. They look like the same thing as Betadine, but Vetadine is only sold in small bottles at a much higher price.

Comments?

Reply to
Adam Funk
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What's wrong with sodium metabisulphite?

Reply to
Tim Watts

I'm pretty sure I used to nick the Milton, in the days of nappy buckets.

Reply to
newshound

You have to rinse it off thoroughly. OTOH, you can soak clean equipment in the right dilution of Betadine for a few minutes, let it drip for a few minutes, & use it that way --- it's a lot easier.

Reply to
Adam Funk

Try "StarSan", it's a US product. I can't recall where I got mine, but GIYF.

I did try an iodine-based one, but it left a taste behind - ruined 45 bottles of beer :(

I only use it for bottling. For sanitising demijohns, fermenting buckets etc, I use the powder chlorine stuff (WPP IIRC).

Reply to
Jethro_uk

It's not "no rinse". Because I bottle my beer, trying to sanitise 45 bottles, and then rinse them is a PITA. Then I read in a forum about no- rinsing, and a bottle-washing pump. You fill the pumps bowl with 500ml of no-rinse sanitiser (StarSan), and press the bottle down onto a spout which sprays the inside. Leave to dry, bottle. Been doing this for over a year now, and it's perfect.

Reply to
Jethro_uk

Ah, here's the badger ...

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Reply to
Jethro_uk

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Reply to
Jethro_uk

Same here.

I happen to have a drawer from an older freezer whose holes are perfectly suited to holding upside-down beer bottles without touching the inside or the lip. For rinsing, I brought one of these from the US, then had to make my own adapter to fit it on a British garden tap.

But after using no-rinse Betadine solutions, I don't want to go back to rinsing even the other equipment, never mind the bottles. I'll look up StarSan --- thanks for the tip!

Reply to
Adam Funk

What's wrong with using a dishwasher? Surely a non-eco one will get up the temperatures required for sterilising?

Reply to
Fredxxx

Technically, it's not sterilising, it's "sanitising".

Fitting 45 500ml bottles in a dishwasher in one go ....

Reply to
Jethro_uk

...& the shortest programme on mine takes 45 minutes.

Reply to
Adam Funk

And I thought that brewing was a slow process!

I think mine might just take 45 x 500ml bottles, certainly in 2 batches!

Reply to
Fredxxx

I take it you put them in upside down? Each on one of the tines, f'rinstance?

How can you be sure that will get enough water in through the narrow opening to wash them out properly?

Reply to
Tim Streater

A trace of sod.meta. is surely fairly harmless though - it's a permitted food preservative, aka E223. Granted you don't want to nuke the yeast, but the same must apply to betadine.

Reply to
Tim Watts

Oven bake at a bit over 100C? Slow heat and slow cool to avoid cracking the glass.

OK it's not fast, but it's low hassle.

Reply to
Tim Watts

Tim Watts wrote in news:318v3b-bo3.ln1 @squidward.local.dionic.net:

I have heard that repeated baking will stress the glass. It's low hassle until all your bottles explode under low pressure.

Back to the original question: StarSan is a good, no rinse sanitizer. I don't know how hard it is to get in the UK.

Reply to
Bart Goddard

I've never bothered with sanitisers at all with my brewing using plastic barrel fermenters, just wash them out well with cold water using a plastic sponge to rub the grunge off and being very careful to only use the sponge for that and throw it out and get a new one when when its getting a bit well used. Never had any infected batches.

Don’t do wine tho.

Reply to
Rod Speed

I use the dishwasher for my glass bottles. Both what we call stubbys, 375 ml and longnecks, 750ml. Works fine.

With the 750ml PETS I use a little non scented bleach in the bottom, fill with water, let it stand overnight, rinse well with cold tap water. You do have to be careful to rinse well otherwise you can kill the secondary fermentation and end up with flat beer.

Reply to
Rod Speed

And? This *is* a UK group. The one I'm reading is, anyway. We don't normally do fizzy beer.

Reply to
John Williamson

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