Iodophor?

[djhcatony]

Just wondering if anyone uses the dilute solution Iodophor that brewers/beer makers use to sterilize maple equipment at season's end? I was thinking of trying some that I have on hand to clean buckets, pails, etc. Anyone using it? Thanks much!

[lpakiz]

I'm not positive what that substance is, but if it is an iodine derivative, STAY AWAY! I used iodine for a few years and could never pinpoint the occasional off-flavor. I never disinfect any more. Wash with sap, or clean water, rinse with sap or clean water and most important, let it dry completely.

[djhcatony]

Thanks for the tip! It is iodine based albeit highly diluted so you are likely on the money. Will avoid.

[BreezyHill]

It is near impossible to get the iodine residue out of plastic. We use it on the animals and it will stain a bucket easily. Works great as the animals don't mind it and it keeps them clean longer than bleach.

Use peroxide from your maple dealer to clean the lines. I fashioned a hand pump sprayer to inject solution into the lines and vac it out the next day for the summer and then in the fall will refill the taps. Worked great this season and easy to do. We have the sprayer in the sugar house and clean the tanks after each load with the solution and let set for 30 minutes if there is time and rinse, and refill. Headed to clean the glass releaser now. Warm days has a film on it last night.

Ben

[djhcatony]

Thanks Ben!

[Planethill]

I am a newb to syrup, but a serious home brewer. The sanitizer most used today by modern home brewers is not the old standby iodophor (which is iodine based), but "Star-San" which is an acid based, food safe sanitizer. It's actually "no rinse" for beer, but easily rinsed for syrup production.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/star-san.html





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[esetter]

Well said djhcatony , I was gonna recommend star san as well. I use it home brewing and sanitized my maple equipment with it last year. It is pretty economical too , 1.5-2oz will make 5 gallons. I usually leave a little of the foam in my kegs and fermenters and have never tasted it in a beer.

[DrTimPerkins]

Well said djhcatony , I was gonna recommend star san as well. I use it home brewing and sanitized my maple equipment with it last year. It is pretty economical too , 1.5-2oz will make 5 gallons. I usually leave a little of the foam in my kegs and fermenters and have never tasted it in a beer.

We've not tested Star San, so I cannot comment directly on how well it works (or not), however maple sap is very different from beer. A small amount of residue in maple sap is concentrated during processing, and the light flavor of maple (compared to beer) is not enough to mask some off-flavors. We do know that iodine has very interesting effects on maple sap and syrup though, and it can certainly produce off-flavors. Proceed with caution.

[Ghs57]

I used Star-San last year on my taps and some other equipment. Anecdotally, I did not detect anything. However, I may not have taste buds sensitive enough to detect it. I did rinse before using. It's a staple in the home winemaking hobby, but agree that in that usage there is no concentration during processing. And there again, the flavors of the wine may overpower and residual sanitizer left behind. (The strong flavor of my syrup from last season may also have overpowered any residual sanitizer)

[Evets]

I've used star-san on my maple supplies in the past with no adverse effects. In fact, I've tasted the foam just to see what it was like and found it to be basically flavorless, so..........