Concrete Sinks

I am moving to a new house that has an old 3 bay concrete sink in the basement. I am thinking of setting up a brew room near the sinks. The sinks are old and somewhat nasty. Any thoughts on my plans? Can these sinks be cleaned up enough to reduce the risk of contamination? My concern is that, unlike stainless steel, the concrete might absorb bacteria and thus never be right for brewing.

Do you have a sanitary wall finish on the walls and ceiling of your potential brew room? If not, are you worried about the risk of contamination from them?

I wouldn't worry about the concrete sinks....truth is that all sink harbor bacteria to some extent...its just the nature of things that have water, sometimes food, run through them.

If it worries you....take a sledge hammer to them and put in a nice plastic laundry sink.

good luck!

Are you going to ferment beer in the sinks?

Do you, ever, sanitize your SS sinks?

If a penguin began flight from San Franciso to Dallas in an average 52mph headwind at 4200 feet, how many sardines would he need to catch for the inflight meal service?

GilaMinumBeer said:

Are you going to ferment beer in the sinks?

Do you, ever, sanitize your SS sinks?

If a penguin began flight from San Franciso to Dallas in an average 52mph headwind at 4200 feet, how many sardines would he need to catch for the inflight meal service?

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Why seventeen, of course.

Peterlovesbrew said:

I am moving to a new house that has an old 3 bay concrete sink in the basement. I am thinking of setting up a brew room near the sinks. The sinks are old and somewhat nasty. Any thoughts on my plans? Can these sinks be cleaned up enough to reduce the risk of contamination? My concern is that, unlike stainless steel, the concrete might absorb bacteria and thus never be right for brewing.

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I just finished college, and I did a lot of brewing in my messy apartment. I found mold growing in the trashcan right next to the stove where I brewed, and also on some bread right next to my boil kettle. I could go on and on, but what I'm trying to say is that at times my kitchen was probably considerably more disgusting than your basement sinks.

However, I've never had a single infection, and I've brewed nearly 30 batches. (knock on wood). I remember reading somewhere that the PH of beer, combined with the antiseptic properties of hops, makes it extremely difficult for airborne bacteria to infect a batch. That being said, you need to be very attentive to sanitation and anything you can do to clean up your area is a good idea.

Thanks very much. You all make make good points. I may paint the ceiling just so no loose plaster falls into my brew pot. Plus scrape the obvious crud from the sink, for aesthetics more than anything.

JohnnyO said:

Why seventeen, of course.

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Silly man. Penguins don't fly.

GilaMinumBeer said:

If a penguin began flight from San Franciso to Dallas in an average 52mph headwind at 4200 feet, how many sardines would he need to catch for the inflight meal service?

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It depends. Is it an unladen penguin? African or European?

Once you get them cleaned up, if you run the washing machine drain into them, use a gallon paint strainer bag over the outlet. It keeps that stuff from building up in the sink and more importantly, the drain pipes.

Hermit said:

Once you get them cleaned up, if you run the washing machine drain into them, use a gallon paint strainer bag over the outlet. It keeps that stuff from building up in the sink and more importantly, the drain pipes.

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The Penguins?

GilaMinumBeer said:

The Penguins?

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Don't be silly. You need the 5 gallon bags for the penguins. You can get the baby penguins into the 1 gallon bags, but that just isn't cool.

I ran into a penguin the other day at guitar Center.

He was wearing a red hat, and said his name was Puppy. I gave him a mint.

Why do you think the mob fashions it as shoes to their victims?

Consider yourself lucky to have an installed 3 bay sink. Clean that ***** w/ some muriatic acid, or maybe bleach or oxy, that acid is nasty stuff.

Just bleach the living crap out of the sink. I'd bleach every sink and kitchen/bathroom surface anyways when I move into a place. The only mess I trust is my own mess.

wilserbrewer said:

Consider yourself lucky to have an installed 3 bay sink. Clean that ***** w/ some muriatic acid, or maybe bleach or oxy, that acid is nasty stuff.

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That's kinda bottom line. My two bay was pretty nasty and I cleaned it up pretty well. I get a lot of use out of it on brew day. VERY handy to have it sitting next to my stove downstairs.