Would you drink a beer where sanitizer hadn't been used?

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thefreeze

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So, my friend got a kit where he thought the cleaner provided was a sanitizer. He completed the brewing process and realized his mistake before bottling. Someone told him that it's not that big of a deal, as long as you sanitize the equipment being used to bottle the beer. But I don't really see the logic in that. With that said, would you drink his brew?

To be honest, I did the exact same thing (we got the same kit and are clearly both idiots), but I dumped my fermented beer out, cause I didn't want to drink it.

What's the worst that could happen if he did drink it? It just tastes bad? I'm new to this so I'd love to hear all the gory details.
 
Assuming there is no infection, it will taste fine and there should be no reason not to drink it. If there is an infection, there will be an off taste. It might be subtle or it might be strong. Either way it won't hurt you. You really shouldn't dump beer unless you know for sure that it is infected or bad.

Short answer: Yes, I'd have at least one.
 
The absolute worst thing that can happen is it will not taste good. It all depends on what strain of bacteria gets into it. Some bacterias do nothing to beer at all, some make it cloudy, or just make it smell different. But it's still safe to drink.

I kindof halfass my sanitization procedures; I just do a quick once over on my equipment before I use them and I have never had contaminated beer, at least from what I can tell.
 
Absolutely! You do realize that people used to brew beer to MAKE their unsanitary water safe, right? If it tastes alright, then it's fine.
 
They brewed before star san was invented? :eek:


_

I know, right? It just seems so... barbaric.

Did you know there was also a time when most people didn't have cellphones? So if you were trying to find somebody's apartment and got lost, you were screwed? Some people tell me most people didn't start having cellphones until I was in college, but that just doesn't seem plausible to me. It seems like most people would have died off if that had been the case.
 
So true everyone. I guess the jokes on me since I dumped mine. The thought of foreign bacteria and wild yeast and contamination just sounds so gross to me that I didn't want to think about what I was possibly drinking. Ha!
 
Also, you know, a lot of cleaners will work "okay" as sanitizers. Better to get the real thing, but if, for example, you used like oxyclean or something as your only sanitizer, you would almost certainly not get an infection in your beer.

That totally sucks you dumped yours. A real tragedy.
 
In my early brew days I did a split batch with a neighbor. My stuff was washed, well sanitized and just plain clean. His stuff had leftover crap from the previous brews he never properly cleaned up after. Sanitizing was a sometimes forgotten practice for him. Both brews came out fine, although mine was better due to proper fermentation temperature control and it was MINE after all. No infections in his batch.
 
Nothing that can kill you will live in beer. Things that can make you sick live in there, but a little stomach upset is no huge thing.

If it smelled like butt and had crap growing in it, I wouldn't drink it. If it looked and smelled decent, no harm in drinking it.
 
samc said:
In my early brew days I did a split batch with a neighbor. My stuff was washed, well sanitized and just plain clean. His stuff had leftover crap from the previous brews he never properly cleaned up after. Sanitizing was a sometimes forgotten practice for him. Both brews came out fine, although mine was better due to proper fermentation temperature control and it was MINE after all. No infections in his batch.

Cool story. I've thought about brewing a batch or two with no Sanitizer just to prove a point, but I was at least going to use reasonably clean equipment. Your story somewhat obviates the need for me to do that experiment. :D
 
Cool story. I've thought about brewing a batch or two with no Sanitizer just to prove a point, but I was at least going to use reasonably clean equipment. Your story somewhat obviates the need for me to do that experiment. :D

Its so easy to use Starsan I dont really see the point in using ZERO sanitizer, even if for an experiment. Brewing ingredients are (for the most part) cheap but it takes an awful lot of time and effort on the brewers part to make that beer. I know I wouldnt want to purposely risk infection by skipping a process as easy as spraying/wiping/dunking with Starsan.


Now I will be the first to admit that I don't always do an excellent job of sanitizing bottles, just a few squirts of starsan, a swisharound, dump and fill. No infections that I've noticed.
 
I have heard of brewers that just clean with soap and rinse with very hot water. I actually didn't start brewing 5 years ago because the literature made me so nervous. Sanitizing real good is never a bad idea but at the same time a bit overstated imo.
 
No pathogens (i.e., disease-causing creepy-crawlies and germie-germs) live in beer or wort. Even the tummy ache you might get from drinking contaminated beer is not so much a GI infection, but of ingesting things that may not be all that digestible. The same thing happens to me if I eat too many jalapenos (or drink too much Cantillion).


Doak
 
Bacteria and wild yeast shouldn't be "ichy" to you. We have all sorts of bacteria and wild yeast on everything we touch, and even consume. There's a very narrow range of organisms that can actually make a human being sick, and most of that is usually due to fecal contamination of our food..... at least that's my understanding of it.
 
So, my friend got a kit where he thought the cleaner provided was a sanitizer. He completed the brewing process and realized his mistake before bottling. Someone told him that it's not that big of a deal, as long as you sanitize the equipment being used to bottle the beer. But I don't really see the logic in that. With that said, would you drink his brew?

To be honest, I did the exact same thing (we got the same kit and are clearly both idiots), but I dumped my fermented beer out, cause I didn't want to drink it.

What's the worst that could happen if he did drink it? It just tastes bad? I'm new to this so I'd love to hear all the gory details.

Id drink it but then again i drink lambic's have you SEEN the inside of a LAMBIC BREWERY????????????????? Cobwebs, Spiders, Windows open, beer just exposed to open air, etc etc etc.
 

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