Sanitizing question...

I'm writing this new post, because i don't know if my unique situation (being in the middle of China)... would be covered in any other thread...

Basically, all i have available for cleaning and sanitizing is bleach, water... dish soap... thats it. Unless i know what the chemical name and makeup is of the one step sanitizing solution which you guys can get at home brew supply stores... I'd do best with a no-rinse solution, as the tap water here makes people sick... um so obviously it isn't clean...

What i want to know is:

Bleach is fine if its all you've got, just remember to rinse after using bleach...
-OR-
Never, ever use bleach... it does something very bad and explosive and evil and nasty...

-AND-

The one step sanitizers are made of 45% blah blah and 55% blaw blaw...
-OR-
Try to get (chemical composition) ...

Thank you... Sorry if this is redundant to other posts where people have asked for such information, but for me... i can either choose bleach, or possibly get chemical cleanser from a chemical supply...

BigStone777 said:

I'm writing this new post, because i don't know if my unique situation (being in the middle of China)... would be covered in any other thread...

Basically, all i have available for cleaning and sanitizing is bleach, water... dish soap... thats it. Unless i know what the chemical name and makeup is of the one step sanitizing solution which you guys can get at home brew supply stores... I'd do best with a no-rinse solution, as the tap water here makes people sick... um so obviously it isn't clean...

What i want to know is:

Bleach is fine if its all you've got, just remember to rinse after using bleach...
-OR-
Never, ever use bleach... it does something very bad and explosive and evil and nasty...

-AND-

The one step sanitizers are made of 45% blah blah and 55% blaw blaw...
-OR-
Try to get (chemical composition) ...

Thank you... Sorry if this is redundant to other posts where people have asked for such information, but for me... i can either choose bleach, or possibly get chemical cleanser from a chemical supply...

Click to expand...

I looked it up awhile ago for another brewer in china...China happens to be one of the leading manufactures of Iodine solution in the world. So if you lay your hands on a 1.5% tincture of iodine (perhaps at a drugstore) then at a dilution of 1 tablespoon/5 gallons of water you have a no-rinse sanitizer similar to iodophore.....

I don't know how far you are from any cattle raising/milk production areas but they will have a food grade dairy sanitizer that you could use (well at least we would hope they did.)

Thank you very much... I will see about getting this tomorrow.
A few days ago i found several chemistry supply shops. They stock stuff for high schools and um people that do chemistry, i guess... and i discovered many great and wonderful things... like 1, 3, and 5 gallon glass carboys, the goods to make my own racking cane, a glass beer thief, and among other glass goods, today i found a glass airlock. Just beautiful! and very fragile...
I think I've got just about everything i need (or i can easily get it now), and they said i can order custom glass parts, and they have them ready in 2 days...
And maybe the best part of this all is the price. I have spent about $30 total, and I've got almost everything they sell in those deluxe starter kits for $120. EDIT: Actually i have a bit more stuff than the beginner kits come with, just realized.
Now the main things i have yet to tackle are getting yeast (i found some yeast, but no variety), and a bottling solution.

Bigstone: Glad you found a source for most of your hombrewing needs. As to your bottling question, you might be able to find either a wing capper, or a floor/bench corker by asking around areas where they grow/process goji berries. I've read that in many of the areas where these are grown, the locals make a sort of wine from them. It would seem to me that they would want to keep some on hand for a few months at least, so they could enjoy it over time; they've got to be bottling the stuff somehow. As for a source for your corks and/or crown caps, my 1st choice would be mail order, but you might be able to nail down an in-country source by asking around at a bottling plant. You might find a guy who's willing to sell you a few hundred or a thousand crown caps pretty cheap, maybe even bottles, but then I've heard you can get just about anything in Hong Kong. Just a couple of thoughts I had, maybe you'll find some of the info useful. Regards, GF.
EDIT: If you can find a good supply of swing-top bottles (w/gaskets) your bottling problems are over. Regards, GF.

SO how about actual brewing ingredients...the other chinese brewer didn't have a source for malted grain, or extract, or other stuff like that...what are you planning to do?

gratus fermentatio said:

You might find a guy who's willing to sell you a few hundred or a thousand crown caps pretty cheap, maybe even bottles, but then I've heard you can get just about anything in Hong Kong. Just a couple of thoughts I had, maybe you'll find some of the info useful. Regards, GF.
EDIT: If you can find a good supply of swing-top bottles (w/gaskets) your bottling problems are over. Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

Very good thinking...
The same day i found the chemistry supply shops, well actually the reason i found them, is because i went to the KingStar Beer Factory (Brewery)... They make an 'all-right' wheat beer, but not much more. I got a private tour of the factory, and was asking them for supplies. I saw their laboratory, and in there i saw a 5 liter glass jar with a small mouth... (basically a little bigger than a 1 gallon carboy), and thats how i got directed to the shops...
I asked them for new bottles and caps... i think they will sell them to me, but i don't have a capper. They just have the huge machinery that auto sanitizes, fills, ultra violet sanitizes, caps, cleans, labels...
They were also willing to give me some of the yeasty goo from the bottom of the 300,000 liter tanks of beer... i didn't have anything to put it in, and wasn't going right home... but I'm sure there would be some viable yeast in there (right?)... Maybe i can go back for a return visit...

I do have a source for swing-top bottles, full of Belgian black beer, for less than the cost of new ones from beer supply shops. I ordered 2 cases (40 bottles), but they haven't got them in stock yet.

Today i got iodine... but its 100%, not 1.5%, and its in dry form... they said just make a solution of water and iodine using the ratio i need, and keep a small amount of the solution in a little bottle with a stopper. Fair enough.

Revvy said:

SO how about actual brewing ingredients...the other chinese brewer didn't have a source for malted grain, or extract, or other stuff like that...what are you planning to do?

Click to expand...

I can get all sorts of grain... not sure about malted grain... maybe... but im more interested in mead and fruit wines...

You go back and make friends with those nice people at the brewery, and you get as much of that nice yeast goo from them as possible...

Then you follow this tutorial and wash it up and you will have some awesome awesome yeast.... Active brewing yeast? You know how many of us would kill for the chance to get commercial yeast for free? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/


Now I have never heard of powdered iodine before...But in terms of it being only 1%, just use 1 and a half times the recommended amount...but how much I don't know...did you happen to ask at the brewery what they use to sanitize with?

Ok, I took a look at the yeast washing thing... yeah, i like that... I shall try it... I'll try to ask again for some yeast. They might even just give me some of the yeast they use... worth a try.

The iodine, i don't know exactly what form its in, just that its dry. I was reading about iodine crystals, which might be what this is. I haven't opened the bottle yet.

By the way, whats the difference between commercial yeast and the stuff most home brewers use?

Has anyone ever tried culturing yeast from champagne? If this is possible you could get a bottle of champagne locally and propagate a yeast strain from that. Just an idea.