Will Restaurant Sanitizer work for Homebrewing?

Hello, I work in a bar that I could get EcoLab's "Oasis 146, MultiQuat sanitizer" for dirt cheap. My manager would sell it to me at her cost, and since it is in a huge package im sure one would be enough for a long time. Would this work for sanitizing fermenters, bottles, ect... We use the sanitizer in the bar after washing and rinsing pint glasses, we dunk them in this sanitizer then put them on the shelves.
http://www.dadepaper.com/ProductInfo97b0583a-ed3d-4019-a59f-cb5cc0a74e9b.aspx

It dosn't say no rince even though it says it is good for food surfaces. Would you have to rince it before use?
It do look OK though, especially if you are already using it to sanitize drinking glasses.

No, we do not rinse after dunking the glasses in the sanitizer. The only question that i have is; is it good enough to sanitize fermentation equipment that has to be very sanitizied?

it's good, but I believe those sanitizer suggest allowing to air dry before use. They sell some at Sam's Club that is a gallon for like $5 . Will last forever, but it says to air dry before use. Starsan can be used immediately after a 30s wet contact time. I've had a bottle of Starsan for over a year now, with heavy use. I'd just buy starsan if it were me, I use the Samsclub sanitizer for countertop wipedowns and to sanitize food prep equipment and coffee maker.

Andysam said:

No, we do not rinse after dunking the glasses in the sanitizer. The only question that i have is; is it good enough to sanitize fermentation equipment that has to be very sanitizied?

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Okay, there aren't really "levels".

It's either sanitized or it's not.

To be "more than sanitized" would be sterilized.

+1 above, I mix up a quart or two at a time of Starsan, a pint bottle lasts a long time. It only takes 1/10 of an oz for a half gallon and that is plenty to swish around a keg or fermenter. Having to let things dry would not be acceptable for me.

Quaternary ammonia sanitizer would work fine as far as "sanitizing" goes (as Gila says, it is or it isn't). However, for brewing, the quat would leave a residue that would significantly reduce head retention. So, you could use it, but you would have to rinse everything with pre-boiled water.

menschmaschine said:

Quaternary ammonia sanitizer would work fine as far as "sanitizing" goes (as Gila says, it is or it isn't). However, for brewing, the quat would leave a residue that would significantly reduce head retention. So, you could use it, but you would have to rinse everything with pre-boiled water.

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at which point you may as well just buy chlorine bleach for even more savings since it too has to be rinsed thoroughly.


its REALLY hard to beat star-san or iodiphor for no-rinse sanitizers meant for brewing.