As always... Should I worry about sterilization?

Ok, so the next brew I'm doing is a winter warmer, now, apart from actually finding the ingredients for sale, I also have another worry. You guessed it, sterilization.
The recipe is going to include the following ingredients:
Ginger, Grated
Orange Peels (Homemade, not store bought)
Cinnamon Sticks
Whole Nutmeg
Whole Cloves

Now, i was wondering if I should worry about whether or not these ingredients are sterile. I was going to be adding them near the end of the boil. I was going to just toss them in a cheese cloth and soak them after the wort is done boiling.

Basically, what I'm wondering is what is the best way to keep infection at a minimum. One thought I had was soak the ingredients in some water with some campden, or add them while the wort is boiling. My main concern is whether either of these methods will hurt the flavor, and if they are even necessary. I've never cooked or brewed with whole spices like this and I could use some advice.

Thanks

Most of the spiced beers have had those ingredients either cold steeped in Vodka or they were added at secondary. By either of these methods you have significantly reduced the poptetntial for contamination as the alcohol will effectively sanitize them.

btw, unless you cook those spices for an hour at like 200*F you will never sterilize them.

First off, just so you're aware, it's not sterilization---you can't really get "sterile" wort. You're concerned about sanitation.

Anyway, just add that stuff at the end of the boil, like 2-5 minutes before flameout. The hot temps will likely kill any bacteria and wild yeast. This is standard operating procedure when adding spices (the other method is to make a spice "tea" with hot water, which you cool and add to secondary).

Thanks for the advice. I did mean sanitation, but i'm usually a little off in the morning :cross:

I figured adding it when the wort was still hot would be good enough to kill any excess bacteria, but I figured I see if anyone else had any experience with it

Evan! said:

---you can't really get "sterile" wort.

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<smarta$$>

You can if you pressure can it.

</smarta$$>

PseudoChef said:

<smarta$$>

You can if you pressure can it.

</smarta$$>

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That's what I was thinking but wasn't going to bring it up. I pressure can wort for starters, so there is always a few quarts of sterile wort in my cabinet.

If our OP was paranoid, I s'pose s/he could throw the spices in a mason jar and can it. Then open it right before tossing into the wort. I do not know what the canning would do to the flavors/chemistry, if anything.