The Pol

Recipes 

True, but how many GALLONS of mixture do you make for a brew day? If you make 3 gallons to my one quart, you are using 12x as much solution as I am.

PseudoChef

Recipes 

Yuri's calculations still assume you dump out Star San after one use. I have been using the same mixture for about 4 months now. No infections (unless on purpose ) to speak of.

pizzaman

Recipes 

funny how all this ranting could've been avoided by a simple use of the search function...or google.

Back in prohibition days, moonshiners would add chemicals such as bleach to their brews to give it a little extra kick...white lightning anyone?

The Pol

Recipes 

I dont see this thread as a rant... more like a factually based investigation as to why Idophor or StarSan would be considered expensive, when it is cheaper than any other (that I know of) method available to the average Joe.

EvilTOJ

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I don't see how moonshining has anything to do with this thread at all. We're talking about sanitation, and they usually used antifreeze to make the moonshine taste more alcohol-y.

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

EoinMag

Recipes 

Ok what I do, as a noob so take it as you will, I read it on here, is I use a thin bleach, which is milton fluid which is used for baby bottles etc so is safe and I add vinegar.
The proportions are 30ml bleach:30ml white vinegar to 20l of water, so it's a very thin solution. This is supposed to be no-rinse and I have used it as such once with no ill effects, but the second time I used it I rinsed under the tap. 30 seconds of contact with this is supposed to be sufficient.
I've not had problems with it so far and no chlorophenols.

pizzaman

Recipes 

That looks like what this guy is talking about.

1oz Bleach
1oz Vinegar
5gal water

I'll have to give this a shot next bottling, would effectively cut my water usage down to a mere five gallons, instead of five gallons plus whatever I end up using on rinsing.

GilaMinumBeer

Recipes 

Just be sure to mix the solution properly and DO NOT mix the vinegar directly with the bleach. I forget what it makes but, I do remember that it is nasty.

remilard

Recipes 

Chlorine gas.

ChrisS68

Recipes 

I use Iodophor and I'm a dunker. I originally went with Iodophor due to the fact that it was less expensive, and that it requires such a short contact time. The problem with Iodophor is people use WAY too much of it. People will add it to water until they get a yellow or even amber color. The reality is, if you can actually see it, you're probably using too much. One Tablespoon in five gallons is all you need. That's roughly .6 teaspoons per gallon. Another mistake people make is that they feel that an item needs to be fully submersed in the sanitizer while all that's necessary is for the surface to remain wet for two minutes.

I don't brew as often as some people (certainly not as much as I'd like to), but I haven't been exactly strict with my usage, and the little bottle of Iodophor I bought a year ago still has about a third left in it. I use a plastic tub to store my brewing gadgets and such. this doubles as my washing/sanitizing tub. Once I get my stuff washed, I fill the tub with about 3 gallons of cool water and add around 2 teaspoons of Iodophor. After the utensils get their quick dunk, I pour a couple gallons into the bucket or carboy, leaving a gallon or so in the tub for the inevitable one item I forget to sanitize. With the sanitizer in the bucket or carboy I seal it up, and every 5 minutes or so I swish and roll the sanitizer to cover all the interior surfaces. I'll do this about 3 times over the course of the boil before dumping out the sanitizer.

Once I'm through this bottle I might give Star-San a try, but I have no complaints at all with Iodophor.