There are a number of cleaning tools available, but which ones do you need? You may find a place for the following in your cleaning regimen. And don't be stingy about replacing worn-out cleaning tools — it's not worth ruining your hard work over a $5 tool.

• Brushes — The one piece of brewing equipment you absolutely need. The commonly employed brushes are the “L” shaped carboy brush and the straight bottle brush. Bend the carboy brush to better reach the carboy shoulders where the krausen piles on. Suppliers have brushes designed for many tasks, but your best investment is a new toothbrush.

• Plastic scrub pads — The ease of buckets comes at a cost. You must be supremely careful not to scratch them. The tiniest scratches can harbor a spoiling army. To keep things clean and scratch free, use soft scrub pads. Gently wipe, don't dig!

• Sink jet sprayers — Designed to attach to a faucet, these jet powered beauties blast gunk. Turn on the water and slide a carboy or bottle over the spout. Powerful spray blasts the surface crud. Spraying freshly poured bottles saves you the ache of soaking and scrubbing.

• Wallpaper trays — Long hoses and racking canes are challenging to clean and sanitize. It's hard to beat stacked wallpaper paste trays for soaking. Fill about half way with a gallon of solution and drop in your long items. Draw liquid through the hoses for complete contact.

• Drill brushes — Looking like a car wash refugee, soft felt noodles are attached to a drill fitting shaft. At high speed they easily slap away anything clinging to the fermenter.

• Spray bottles — Plastic spray bottles can be filled with the cleaner or sanitizer of your choice to effectively cover surfaces.

• Cleaning sprayers — Combine a cheap pond pump and crimped copper pipe with a bucket of cleaner and you've created an inexpensive home version of a professional Clean In Place (CIP) rig. Stick a carboy or a keg over the pipe; plug in the pump to wash off all the brew detritus.