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I was talking to a friend today and complainIng about the clean/bleach/sanitize/rinse process I undergo when bottling. He dug a bottle of iodophor out of a back shelf and asked me to try it out. He said it was sitting there for years and has never used it. This I assumed would be better than rinsing as a final step to avoid re-contaminating my equipment. Not to mention making my cleaning process faster.

The directions say to let drip-dry. So my question is this: For the time it takes for this cold-water iodophor solution to dry is there greater risk of contamination versus rinsing and racking? Also, is there a lifespan to iodophore? I know it breaks down quickly when in solution and exposed to air and there is no exp date on the bottle.

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  • i'm sure that not all would agree with the word 'ideal'. It is one good solution that has advantages. But it's very similar to other no rinse sanitizers, such as StarSan. You might consider rewording the question. For instance 'a better alternative'.
    – Dale
    Commented Mar 17, 2012 at 13:12

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iodophor has a shelf life reportedly of 5 years, as describved in this article, which in addition provides a lot of information for the new iodophor user.

No rinse really means just that. Just turn the bottles upside down and let them run dry. A few drops left in the bottle will do no harm, and have no detectable taste. Again, the same article above describes an experiment to see how much iodophor needs to be left to be detectable.

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  • Thank you. Great article and answer... This alleviates most of my concerns using iodophor... Now its just the shelf life that bothers me with this specific bottle that was given to me.
    – Michael
    Commented Mar 17, 2012 at 3:37
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    A bottle tree is a great investment for the heavy bottler. THe bottles drip out while you are prepping more bottles. When you go to fill you just start from the first bottles put on the tree.
    – brewchez
    Commented Mar 17, 2012 at 11:36

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