so maybe i don't take cleanliness seriously enough ...

... do people really sanitize their bottle caps? i would have never have thought to.


... and you know what i do ... i mouth syphon ! every time. i don't even own a wine theif. (i do rinse my mouth and lips with 70% alcohol)

am i asking for trouble?

justenoughforme said:

... do people really sanitize their bottle caps? i would have never have thought to.


... and you know what i do ... i mouth syphon ! every time. i don't even own a wine theif. (i do rinse my mouth and lips with 70% alcohol)

am i asking for trouble?

Click to expand...

yes and yes.

that sucks.

thanks.

The one thing that spoke to me about cleanliness/sanitation when I started with a kit years ago, was the fact that the instructions tell you to sanitize not only the dry yeast packet but the scissors you're going to open the packet with too.
Nothing - Nothing - NOTHING touches my beer or any of my brewing equipment that is going to touch my beer after the boil without being sanitized...NOTHING.

It is not hard to do and a good practice/habit to get into.

Sanitizing is the best way to make sure you beer doesn't get infected with something....and it's so easy to do. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid from Lowe's and I just mix up batches of sanitizer 5 gallons at a time and use it until it doesn't pass an pH test/starts to look nasty. I end up making a new batch every month or so and get 4-5 batches out of it.

I've always sanitized my caps, & anything else that touches the beer/wort cold side. I only dunk the caps in Starsan, shake off, & place on the bottles. And nothing in the mouth to get beer flow going will keep sanitary forever. Get an auto siphon, or as I did, get spigots on the fermenters. Besides the bottling bucket. Sounds like you could benefit from some gadgets in your brewery? I love gadgets that make various jobs easier &/or quicker.

i love gadgets...
... but the only reason i even brew is to save money on beer.

gadgets cut into that savings by a lot.

I have my caps soaking in a bowl of starsan when bottling.

If something takes 3 extra seconds and prevents a small chance of infection, then of course you should do it. That said, people do freak out and over-exaggerate the risks. I know this because I recently did a bottling experiment on an IPA where I didn't clean or sanitize 5 of the bottles and a month later each of them turned out basically indistinguishable from the ones that were cleaned and sanitized. Of course I still sanitize, because it's stupid not to. But it's not the end of the world if a few unsanitized caps make it on to your bottles.

i'm definitely going to do this now.

it's not the hassle of doing it, it's that, i didn't think there was any source of infection using clean caps out of a bag. not compared to the 300 billion yeast cells i'm adding.


how did people make beer without it getting sour in the olden days ? when people used porous clay growlers.

was beer just accepted to be a bit sour back in the 1700's ?

Soak everything in Starsans and then fill a large spray bottle of with Starsans solution and spray everything that touches the wort, just to make sure.

justenoughforme said:

i love gadgets...
... but the only reason i even brew is to save money on beer.

gadgets cut into that savings by a lot.

Click to expand...

I'm retired, with kids at home still, so i hear ya. But tacking on a few buck gadget or two to your next order should't break the bank over time. One can only go so cheap before they're hurting the beer & themselves. Here's a couple of my gadget videos for ideas I did a while back...


My comments on the BC mill may be a little dated though, but still useful.

justenoughforme said:

i'm definitely going to do this now.

it's not the hassle of doing it, it's that, i didn't think there was any source of infection using clean caps out of a bag. not compared to the 300 billion yeast cells i'm adding.


how did people make beer without it getting sour in the olden days ? when people used porous clay growlers.

was beer just accepted to be a bit sour back in the 1700's ?

Click to expand...

If you use a vinator / bottling tree, just drop the caps in the vinator reservoir.

Regarding "the good old days", beer was often sour back then. Taverns blended old beer with new to lessen that nastiness. New beers were referred to as "mild", a term that is still around in english beers.

justenoughforme said:

i'm definitely going to do this now.

it's not the hassle of doing it, it's that, i didn't think there was any source of infection using clean caps out of a bag. not compared to the 300 billion yeast cells i'm adding.


how did people make beer without it getting sour in the olden days ? when people used porous clay growlers.

was beer just accepted to be a bit sour back in the 1700's ?

Click to expand...

Many beers were in fact sour a few hundred years ago. In England it was common for them to age beer for a year or more in giant barrels to get the proper flavor.

And get an autosiphon.

I sanitize caps in small amount of starsan - when I bottle.

I also start siphon by mouth, but I use a removable device so that my mouth never touches the transfer tubing. A turkey baster with the small end in the tube and your mouth on the other works well. I only get the beer within about 6 inches of the end of the tubing; then pinch the tubing; then remove the baster with teeth; and drop the tubing into my keg/carboy/bucket. All done using sanitized hands as well.

okay new question...

... my wife has put in a somewhat commercial kitchen. one thing we have is a dishwasher with a certified steam sanitizer.
it's 180 degrees for 30 minutes in steam, under some mild pressure.


i've always just used that for all my sanitizing, that's at least as good as star san, isn't it ?

The problem is more like getting hot air/steam inside the bottle, where it'll do the most good. Besides taking half an hour, Starsan is quicker, easier & does the job.

When you finally get an infection and waste gallons of beer and hours of time, you'll realize sanitation is worth the modest (very modest) investment of time and money.

If you're anything like me you can find somewhere to justify buying a small gadget like an auto-siphon. Eat out one less time. Ride your bike somewhere instead of paying for parking. Buy a couple less coffees some week. Boom. Paid for.

unionrdr said:

The problem is more like getting hot air/steam inside the bottle, where it'll do the most good. Besides taking half an hour, Starsan is quicker, easier & does the job.

Click to expand...

Not to mention probably cheaper when you factor in electricity and water usage.

Starsan + 5 gallon bucket = Lots of reuse.

But I would say, with my unexpert opinion, that the dishwasher @ 180F for 30 minutes is sanitizing them. Just make sure you store them upside down after you sanitize them to make sure no new bacteria or wild yeast floats in.

..& that they were squeaky clean to start with!

i keep them in the washerand take them out to fill them immediately. i have to use a hot mitt to pull them out.


alright guys, you're selling me on the star san, and all the paranoia too : )

stpug said:

I sanitize caps in small amount of starsan - when I bottle.

I also start siphon by mouth, but I use a removable device so that my mouth never touches the transfer tubing. A turkey baster with the small end in the tube and your mouth on the other works well. I only get the beer within about 6 inches of the end of the tubing; then pinch the tubing; then remove the baster with teeth; and drop the tubing into my keg/carboy/bucket. All done using sanitized hands as well.

Click to expand...

I use this same technique but with a pipette. I clamp the center piece from my auto siphon to the bucket so I can use both hands to hold the pipette to the end of the tube.

My auto siphon would suck air so I quit using it.

ba-brewer said:

I use this same technique but with a pipette. I clamp the center piece from my auto siphon to the bucket so I can use both hands to hold the pipette to the end of the tube.

My auto siphon would suck air so I quit using it.

Click to expand...

I dislike auto siphons due to their extra parts, extra nooks/crannies, and extra girth. Plus, I just love my 1/2" SS racking cane. Use it for everything from clean beers, to sour beers (boiled afterwards), to bashing intruders over the head with (it's THAT heavy-duty) .

And, you're right about using some sort of "helping hand" for racking, I use a racking cane clip that I picked up from morebeer a few years ago. It holds it well enough that I don't have too.

If you use carboys to ferment in, don't bother with an auto-siphon get a sterile syphon starter from morebeer.com

Great little product. My auto-siphon is retired.

And yea, chuck the bottle caps in starsan prior to using. Sanitized bottles match well with sanitized caps.

you guys have been amazing.

thanks so much

If you use carboys, you could look into use a sterile siphon started (link below) [edit: Gavin C beat me to it!]

http://www.morebeer.com/products/sterile-siphon-starter-3-5-6-65-gallon-carboy-smooth-necks.html

If you use buckets (I do) you'll need to 'prime' your siphon with clear water or starsan, or use an autosiphon. I love my autosiphon, and if it starts to seem dirty I soak it in very hot oxyclean.

As for caps, if you're using them right out of the bag, or you keep the baggie of caps sealed when you're done, I don't see the problem. But, if you keep your caps open to the air all the time, or they are of questionable quality, it's real easy to just sanitize them and go.

Also, if you haven't considered it already, get a cheap spray bottle (or re-use one.....after heavy cleaning) and use that also for starsan. My friend goes through starsan like crazy, while I go through not even a gallon per brew day (or bottling day, respectively) by using a large bowl plus the spray bottle.

Happy brewing!

Yeah, I go through 1/2 gallon o less of Starsan myself each time. I'm still working on the 8oz bottle I bought over 4 years go.

I don't sanitize oxygen caps, but if I bottle condition I would.

I use $0.30 of starsan every brew day.




It's not really something I use sparingly. 2 gallons of solution every brew day.

justenoughforme said:

i keep them in the washerand take them out to fill them immediately. i have to use a hot mitt to pull them out.


alright guys, you're selling me on the star san, and all the paranoia too : )

Click to expand...

If your dishwasher uses a rinse agent, it can leave a film inside the bottles which can affect head retention. Starsan has no effect on head retention.

justenoughforme said:

... do people really sanitize their bottle caps? i would have never have thought to.


... and you know what i do ... i mouth syphon ! every time. i don't even own a wine theif. (i do rinse my mouth and lips with 70% alcohol)

am i asking for trouble?

Click to expand...

1. I sanitize everything that touches my fingers before it goes in or on the bottle.

2. Only if you swallow.

They all get dunked in Starsan, o2 barrier or no.

double that didn't show first time?

why not compromise. Gargle some starsan and continue mouth siphoning

I have some small items that I use several times during a brew day (thermometer, stirring spoon for wort chilling, etc.). A one-time run thru the dishwasher won't help for these re-use items. I keep them in a pan of Star San. Also, for sanitizing your hands, 30 minutes in the dish washer at 180 degrees would be painful. Star San is great.

Ask yourself this:

Have you ever had an infection?

Yes...you probably have not been taking sanitation seriously enough.

No...you are probably just fine.

MaxStout said:

If your dishwasher uses a rinse agent, it can leave a film inside the bottles which can affect head retention. Starsan has no effect on head retention.

Click to expand...

This wasn't true for me. I did it for a couple of years with JET in there. No issue.