One of the most important aspects of making your own wine is keeping things clean and sanitary.
It’s important because wine is like a living thing. It needs to be protected from wild molds, bacteria, etc. Without proper care your wine can become overtaken by these foreign organisms and eventually spoiled.
Using a wine making sanitizer to cleanse your wine equipment is often overlooked or treated lightly by many home wine makers, and understandably so. It takes time and effort to be sanitary. Simply put: it’s extra work! Who wants to spend their time sanitizing their wine making equipment when all they really want to do is make some wine!
We understand. That’s why we set out to develop a product that addresses both of these issues: the ‘sanitizing’ and the ‘work’. What we’ve come up with is a wine sanitizer called ‘Basic A’ . It’s a very quick and effective sanitizer. But even more importantly, it’s very simple to use and requires very little effort on your part.
Basic A is not a chlorine. It’s an oxygenating cleanser. What this mean is that all the sanitizing is done while the wine equipment is air-drying. It’s actually the evaporation of the solution that causes the sanitizing action to happen. It’s a no-rinse cleanser.
Basic A wine making sanitizer is safe. So safe and eco-friendly that you don’t need to worry about any residues being left behind… because there aren’t any!
It works on any non-porous surface: glass, plastics, metals, porcelain and others. Just give Basic A one minute of contact time with your: fermenters, carboys, bottles, air-locks and other wine making materials, then allow to air-dry. No rinsing is required! It doesn’t get any easier than that.
Basic A wine making sanitizer comes in an 8 ounce jar that is sufficient for making 10 gallons of solution. Complete directions are included. Just dissolve 1 tablespoon to each gallon of warm water and you’re all set to go.
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.
I use Basic A, but I don’t air dry for 20 minutes before using a piece of glassware. I may use the glassware only a few minutes after I pour off the Basic A solution. Do you think that’s OK?
Thank you.
Franks, there is some sanitation power in the solution itself. This comes from the oxygen in the water combining with the Basic A. So some sanitation is done. But in the future, I would recommend that you let things air-dry a bit. It doesn’t need to dry completely, but some.
Question: When you mix up a gallon, how long is the shelf life OR how long can it set around before you use it???
Sound like BASIC A is a good idea.I’ve been using SULFIT all these yrs.
Margie, you need to use it within an our or so.
Thanks for this! I use Basic A religiously when cleaning my wine making equipment. I have noticed white residue in the siphon hose. Is that normal?