Iodophor age

General Homebrew Discussion
21

The first thing to consider is that Iodine is naturally a gas, like other halogens such as Chlorine.  Their natural tendency is to be a gas.  Iodophor is made from an Iodine complex that creates a concentrated, liquid, soluble form of Iodine.

Basic usage info:

Always mix BTF Iodophor into cool or lukewarm water.  The hotter the water, the faster the Iodine will gas into the atmosphere.

Mix rate: 1/2 ounce concentrate per 5 gallons of water; 1/4 ounce concentrate per 2.5 gallons of water; 1 tsp per 1.5 gallons of water.

Allow 2 minutes of contact time, drain, air dry.  No rinsing is required.

Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.  In a completely air tight container, this shelf life is likely far greater, but it’s pretty difficult to put an exact number on it for time.  There are things you can look for in solution color (amber vs. clear) and using Iodine test strips as a guide.  Personally, I mix a fresh solution in a small batch every time I have a brewery-related task, then discard and mix new when I’m doing something again.  It’s cheap enough per use to do this.

Other things that will degrade the solution:

-Residual alkaline detergents.  The Iodine complex and the Iodophor concentrate are acidic solutions.  Mixing into any water that has residual alkaline detergent will neutralize the solution.  I’ve run into people that have had issues running Iodophor through plate/counterflow chillers where there was residual alkaline detergent remaining in the system and it neutralizes the Iodophor solution.

-Excessive agitation or shaking

-UV light, so leave your solution in a dark place

As far as the concentrated product itself, National Chemicals suggests a two year shelf life for storage.  However, we have run into situations where clients have turned in product over 10 years old and it passes QA tests.  For best results, buy smaller containers and try to go through the bottles in about 2 years - or brew more!

22

My typical procedure, say, for a carboy is to fill about 1-2 gallons of Iodophor solution into the carboy, swirl to contact everything for about 30 seconds, dump the solution, then place on a rack to drip dry.  The time spent drying contributes to the “wet time” contact.

Initially, the product was designed as a 3rd sink sanitizer for beer glasses.  BTF stands for Bartender’s Friend.  In a 3rd sink, you would dunk the glass, immerse for up to 2 minutes, then place on a rack to dry.  You can treat your brewing gear and parts the same way as well.

23

I think you’ve mentioned to me before that protein contaminants will degrade mixed iodophor…basically if you put stuff in that hasn’t been cleaned first.  Am I remembering correctly?

24

Is Craftmeister Oxygen Brewery Wash considered alkaline?

I didn’t notice if you addressed spraying an Iodophor solution onto a surface.

25

They specifically make an alkaline wash so I’m pretty sure the oxygen isn’t.

26

Denny, you are correct.  Residual organic material does deactivate the solution, so always clean appropriately, rinse, then sanitize.

27

Yes, Craft Meister Oxygen Brewery Wash is alkaline in solution.  In addition to the sodium percarbonate (the oxygen release chemistry), we blend in sodium metasilicate, a non-caustic alkaline agent, into the powder.  The alkaline pH promotes the break down of proteins and organic materials.

Spraying an Iodophor solution for spot sanitizing is effective, just make completely sure you hit every surface you are sanitizing.  I’ve heard of cellar employees at breweries keeping spray bottles of Iodophor in a holster, ready for action!

28

Thank you for coming here to address questions. As you can see there are many. Here are a cpl more:

To purge a keg of oxygen, many homebrewers remove the oxygen from a keg by filling it completely with liquid then remove the liquid with CO2.  Finally we replace the CO2 with beer via “closed transfer”.  Can the liquid be Iodophor or is the air drying step you described above absolutely required?

Once a vessel is sanitized by soaking for 2 minutes and allowed to air dry [inverted], in a home brewery (aka my laundry room), how long would you conservatively expect the [inverted] vessel to be considered “sanitized”?  What factors would you suggest to increase this conservative estimation?

29

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?

30

I don’t have a septic system but this is an interesting point, as I believe I am not really allowed to dump this into the city sewer either (though I do, mildly worried how it may affect the water reclamation process downstream.)  Remember my mention above that Campden, SMB or PMB will reduce the iodine and turn the water instantly clear.  Would this be a viable solution for those with septic systems, and advisable for all of us who may be concerned about the effects or legality of discharging sanitizers?

31

Interesting. So if alkaline cleaners tend to neutralize iodophor solutions, it therefore suggests that highly alkaline water supplies might take a bit more of the concentrate than low alkalinity water such as rainwater, RO, or distilled? This also suggests that we can neutralize excess alkalinity in our water supply in order to make our iodophor solutions more effective.

If that’s the case, the Water Acidification calculator in Bru’n Water does make it easier to figure out what a brewer’s acid dose needs to be in order to neutralize most or all the water supply’s alkalinity.

32

I stand corrected and will refrain from further speculation.

33

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into myseptic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

34
35

No, mine is hundreds of gallons as well. I just hate to knowingly add a substance that could kill my bio balance. Now knowing it could simply be water after 24 hours I could simply add more Iodophor to the same bucket and not pour it down the drain at all.

36

It wouldn’t be just water, it just wouldn’t have iodine.  It would still contain the acids, surfactants and other ingredients that work with the iodine, so just adding more iodophor concentrate, I suspect,  would result in the wrong balance.  It’s cheap, why not just dump it?

37

Good point. I use very little to make a solution

38

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere and you are clear to dump that water into your septic.  The worst thing you could do is dump a bottle of Iodophor concentrate into your septic, that would be bad.

39

It is confusing, a bit, on our part to have two types of cleaners.  Both the Oxygen and the Alkaline Brewery Wash have an alkaline pH in solution, the difference is the Oxygen wash has sodium percarbonate for the “oxi clean” effect and the Alkaline Wash doesn’t.  The advantage to the Alakline Wash is that without percarbonate, Alkaline Wash can be used in cold water, whereas hot water is required to dissolve and activate percarbonate.

40

Really just water?  Surely there are other ingredients that remain?  These would affect any possible use of the water other than dumping it down the drain, right?