Sanitizing?

Ok why are there different sanitizers for beer and wine? Can't one do the same as the other? I have iodiphor for my beer and Kmeta for my wine. Why can't I just use one for both?

You can use one for both. I use Star San for my wine all the time. For some reason the wine industry hasn't kept up on the latest sanitizing methods.

That and the fact wine makers have K meta on hand for stabilizing their wines.

I asked teh same thing at winemakingtalk and many of them use star san too, with no ill effects.

Lots out there that work. As long as it kills the bad little critters it'll work for both beer and wine. Iodaphor included. Best advice I can give is to use a no-rinse one. My personal preference is StarSan. I've brewed many many different batches of beer, wine, mead, hybrids (e.g. braggot) and I've never had an infection while using starsan. Iodaphor is no-rinse too if memory serves, it's an older sterilizing agent, but still works fine. Careful it might stain some of your plastics browny-orange.

brewdude76 said:

Ok why are there different sanitizers for beer and wine? Can't one do the same as the other? I have iodiphor for my beer and Kmeta for my wine. Why can't I just use one for both?

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You can use one for both as long as it is the right one. Sulfite, long used by winemakers, is not strong enough to make a reliable sanitizer for beer. It's OK for wine as wine has both a lower pH than beer as well as higher alcohol content.

Sulfite is more of a microbial inhibitor than a true sanitizer which won't cut it in brewing.

I use Betadine for wine and hubby uses Betadine for beer. The stores love to sell you everything off their shelves. Some of the less expensive will do the job. Like Oxiclean for cleaning primary buckles and lids. Works like magic:fro:.

brewdude76 said:

Ok why are there different sanitizers for beer and wine? Can't one do the same as the other? I have iodiphor for my beer and Kmeta for my wine. Why can't I just use one for both?

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LiquidChemistry said:

Careful it might stain some of your plastics browny-orange.

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I remember someone awhile back posting that it tinted their hoses and other equipment. Not sure if it ever came clean but I remember hearing that staining is a distinct possibility with that one.

I started brewing in 1991. Went through periods of not brewing. Have been brewing solid now since October of 2015. I have always used chlorine. Have never had any issues.