Sanitizing

It has been about 15 years since I've done any home brewing. I brewed 8 batches and had mostly success with a couple of failures due to sour beer. I'm sure I did something wrong in my sanitizing efforts. In the past I used bleach as a sanitizer but now have ready access to a commercial sanitizer used in restaurants. Could I get some opinions on whether or not the commercial sanitizer is the way to go?

Thanks for any advice!

we used it a few times (my old room mate was working at papa gino's and used to take it from there), of the three batches we made together, none of them ever got contaminated.
just make sure you rinse well.

This thread is a good start...There are MUCH better sanitizer options than bleach...it's sort of oldschool.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/?highlight=sanitizer+question

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Welcome back to home brewing!

I'm sure there have been many changes in home brewing and sanitizing since you last tried it. I would not recommend bleach or restaurant chemicals. Too much work with iffy results and rinsing off sanitizer with unsanitized water always seems silly to me.

Using the right tool for the job will make your home brew much better. Buy a good FDA approved brewing sanitizer like Star San. It is effective with a 30 second wet application and is no rinse making sanitizing a snap.

I have been brewing for about 18 months. When I talk to people that were brewing 15 years ago they tell me it is a whole new world with much better ingredients and processes. You brewed good beer bak in the day and you will now begin brewing good beer again.

Welcome back.

I appreciate the quick responses. The book I used in the past was The Joy of Home Brewing (second edition). I've seen that the book has been updated again but I've also read that How To Brew is good information as well. Any thoughts on this?

bmac4007 said:

I appreciate the quick responses. The book I used in the past was The Joy of Home Brewing (second edition). I've seen that the book has been updated again but I've also read that How To Brew is good information as well. Any thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

You can check out an older version of, "How to Brew" here: How to Brew - By John Palmer - Introduction

I have yet to brew anything myself, but I do know from reading Palmer's first-edition book on his website (linked above) that he's pretty high on Star San, which will absolutely be what I use as well.

What kind of commercial sanitizer is it? Is it Quat? Thats good stuff. I think it's no-rinse. I really like Star-San.