Sanitizing

I am about to attempt becoming a homebrewer, and I was wondering is a steam "wand" would be the best tool for sanitizing equipment and bottles. It would be easy for me to make one, as I have a complete metal fab shop. Any feedback?

I would say no.

There are several sanatizers out there that work just fine

Idophor ( iodine )

Star san ( acid no rinse)

household bleach

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What I would use is whatever the homebrew shop suggests. I use a Sanistar sanitizer and it works just fine. I haven't had any problems with it. Let us know what you think. Happy Brewing!

any one-step, no-rinse sanitizer from a HBS will work great for you.

I would go to your LHBS and get some PBW and StarSan, you can get this in a kit together, it's by 5 Star. They are very easy to use and among the best on the market.

Hello all, new guy here. I figured this would be as good a place as any to jump in. I use One Step and have had no problems with it. Very easy and doesn't stain things the way Iodophor can.

The ordinary household bleach does the trick for me, and cheap too!

Hi also first time posting. I feel that if your just starting out house hold bleach is the way to go due to the fact that it's cheap and effective (just don't use it on/in stainless steel). Once you start getting into kegging etc I would then look into using the off the shelf sanitizers. DT

Daztrout said:

(just don't use it on/in stainless steel)

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What happens if you use it on steel?

Roy Boy said:

What happens if you use it on steel?

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Bleach has a nasty effect on the protective layer that makes stainless steel so corrosion resistant. Bacteria AND rust, yuck!

sweepking said:

Hello all, new guy here. I figured this would be as good a place as any to jump in. I use One Step and have had no problems with it. Very easy and doesn't stain things the way Iodophor can.

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Recently I have been using Clorox Oxi Magic for my sanitizing with no problems. In the research that I have done, I don't think there is any difference between it and One Step and you can get it a lot easier and cheaper.

I just joined the forum, but I've been brewing for about 10 years. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Up until Saturday, I hadn't brewed in almost 2 years (20 months to be exact....I know, shame on me!). I use glass carboys for both primary & secondary fermentation. My glass carboys had been sitting in the basement for 20 months with an iodophor/water sanitizing solution in them. They were sealed with plastic wrap and a rubber band.

In my opinion, they're sanitized, right? I hope so....My "Better-'n-Haggis" Scottish Ale has been in the primary since Saturday. The carboy had that sterile smell to it. I did clean off all the dust from the exterior of the carboy and spray some sanitizer on the outside.

I guess time will tell. I'm going to transfer to the secondary in a few days and am thinking the other carboy must also be sanitized after all this time. I mean, does it lose potency? Should I have re-sanitized. I'll let you know how I make out, but would appreciate any input some of you may have.

It feels good to be back at the kettle!

If the containers were airtight then they should still be sanitized even if the iodiphor lost its potency. But it may be worth re-sanitizing just for piece of mind. If the primary doesn't get infected (which I doubt it will) then the secondary would be even less likely due to the alcohol/yeast content of your beer. But why take a chance?

I, for one, am a great fan of Iodophor as a sanitizer. It doesn't require rinsing if used in the proper proportions. Bleach, even after rinsing, can leave aftertastes if not rinsed very, very well.

As for cleaners, I really like Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW). It is easy to use and does the job very well.