My 'Complete Homebrew Kit' doesn't seem to have a sanitizer?

I purchased a complete homebrew kit from Williams Brewing:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/COMPLETE-BREWERY-WITH-HONEY-CREAM-ALE-P2338C257.aspx

and the only thing it comes with for cleaning is this:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-CLEANSER-P11C58.aspx

I'm pretty certain i can't use that for a sanitizer, but since i've never done this before, im asking here. I actually just popped the yeast package today (says to do it 2-3 days in advance) as I was planning on brewing this saturday. What should I do about sanitizing the fermenter and transfer tube? I guess everything else will be sanitized with with the boil, except for those two items. Should I just soak them in a diluted bleach solution for a while (what concentration?) to make sure they are sanitized before I pour into them?

Another unrelated question. Can I take my filtered water out of the faucet a day in advance to allow it to get up to room temperature to speed up my boil or is that a big no no? I would think that would help allow some of the chlorine in the water to evaporate? From what I understand, we have pretty good water around here, but it is not hard water at all (which i've read can be better for brewing)?

Thanks in advance!
Dennis

One more question!! Does anyone know any local places to pick up Star San? I searched on google and it doesn't look like there are any brew stores around here!

Ive used iodine for many years as with a lot of old time brewers.. There is a stickie on sanitizers and contact times and such.. I won't use anything else but oxy-clean and iodine in my process unless it's bad.. Then I use a caustic solution for that stuff...

I personally wouldn't use bleach. I'd strongly recommend Iodophor or StarSan (I use StarSan).

Chlorine bleach really needs to be activated to have a good saitizing qualities. The Brew Strong Sanitation episode covers the topic pretty well. Find it here: http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/469

I would just go ahead and use the cleanser this time and buy some StarSan for your next brew. It looks like it is a chlorine based cleanser, like bleach.

As for your water, I wouldn't worry about it. There are many advanced techniques to brewing beer. Since you are just starting out, I would focus on the basics. Most homebrewers, me included, just use tap water all the time. I do filter mine since I brew all-grain, but I don't get into the water chemistry. I would focus on getting a good boil, adding the hops at correct times, basic yeast techniques, and temperature control while fermenting. If you do these things, your beer will turn out just fine.

ThePearsonFam said:

I personally wouldn't use bleach. I'd strongly recommend Iodophor or StarSan (I use StarSan).

Chlorine bleach really needs to be activated to have a good saitizing qualities. The Brew Strong Sanitation episode covers the topic pretty well. Find it here: http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/469

Click to expand...

+1 Regular bleach and water is not a great sanitizer. Plus it needs to be rinse WELL in order to avoid taste contamination. Bleach is really best at whitening and so-so as a sanitizer.

I highly recommend you look for starsan or Iodophor (I prefer Starsan) and use that if you can. Bleach only if you have no other choice.

Since your likely using brand new equipment you might not really need anything but the cleanser, but if you want to be safe here are some places to try for StarSan:

Seldon - http://www.brewersden.com/

East Northport - http://www.homebrewshop.com/

Islip - http://www.arborwine.com/

I googled 'homebrew supply long island, ny' by the way.

As for leaving the water out overnight it shouldn't be a problem since you are going to boil it anyway, thus killing anything that may have started to grow. Conventional wisdom is not to store water to cool down or top off the wort, but some do it anyway.

Wow! So many responses so quickly!!

I guess like my brewing expertise matches my google expertise!! I'll call up those places and see if I can find Star San there since they are really close to me!! AWESOME!!

If i can't get there tomorrow then i'll just use the cleanser and go there next week and pick some up. You guys rock!

expect to pay ~ $30 for the larger bottle of StarSan but don't get sticker shock!!! Listen to that show I suggested. The guy behind StarSan even says you can reuse the product if properly stored. I reuse over and over.

I make up a 5 gallon batch of Star San with DISTILLED water and use it for a couple months.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Home Brew Talk

Well everyone has hit uppon their recomendations. I second them get idaphor or star san if you have a LHBS. Otherwise you are on Bleach, or oddly not mentioned a long (10+mins) soak of Oxyclean (aka one step) - yeah I know the long beards here will say not to use oxyclean, but you can sanatize with it if you take a long soak and it is discussed in the sanitation thread (pro it can be used, con it is the easiest to screw up so you still get an infection)... But most people start with it because they don't know about better sanatizers. Now that I know, I won't use it again for sanatizing unless I find myself jammed up like you are, and then I will be sure to do a damn long soak.

Speaking of idaphor you might beable to find it at a local resturant supply store - I noticed on my bottle of it it mention being used for bar glassware sanitation, so it stands to reason that you might beable to find some at such a store. I'm sure there are bars in or near Holbrook NY

The nearest LHBS might be in NYC from where you are, which means if you like this hobby, there is a possible business opertunity for you - make a LHBS out in Holbrook

I mix my starsan with distilled water into 3 quart jugs and store it for months. Still crystal clear. And I also top off a spray bottle with it. I highly recommend using a spray bottle since you can apply nearly anywhere in a very controlled manner. You can sanitize SOO much stuff with very little starsan.

And don't fear the foam...

My kit had the same problem as the OP, and of course I was too excited to start brewing to pay attention that I only used two cleansers consecutively and no sanitizer until the wort was in the fermenter. I decided to let it ride and see what happened, and when I took a hydrometer reading 3 weeks later (I had ordered StarSan by this point) it smelled, looked, and tasted fine. I'm bottling tomorrow, so we'll see how it's holding up. The main reason that I don't think I developed an infection is that I was brewing with brand new equipment, plus vigorous cleaning. I'm definitely not taking chances next batch.

@phenry yeah new gear does have that advantage that it is unlikely to come coated with a lot of bacteria - but they are everywhere, so glad to hear your batch is ok and you have starsan on the way.