New brewer

[Kellenm]

I started my first brew almost a week ago, and I really enjoyed the process. I'm itching to make more, but I don't necessarily want 10 lbs of beer in the house.

The only part I was iffy about was sanitization. Can anyone recommend tools and steps for sanitizing, specifically the fermentation bucket?

I look forward to contributing to these forums when I am more experienced. Thank you!

 

[TopherM]

If you are not using StarSan, get some. A 22 ouncer lasts for a year. And get a spray bottle. Basically, once everything is clean to the eyes, just blast it with your StarSan spayer and it's sanitized on contact!

 

[EyePeeAy]

i got my kit and seperately i bought star san. im pretty sure thats what alot of guys on here use. the beginner kits only come with a cleaner, not a sanitizer, good luck, and welcome.

edit:^^^ what he said.

 

[birvine]

Though apparently a no-no here on hbt I use a weak bleach solution to sanitize the bucket, carboy and implements. Some things like strainers can be sanitized by putting them into the boil.

B

 

[unionrdr]

Get some PBW to clean everything with,use 4 3/4tsps per gallon of water. Also get star-san no rinse sanitizer,great stuff,Both are by Five Star chemical. Mix 1 1/4tsp of star-san per gallon of distilled water. It's 1oz per 5 gallon bucket,so it worked out to 1 1/4tsp per gallon.
When I need to clean the fermenter,I rinse out as much yeast trub & gunk as I can. Then,dump in 3TBSP of PBW & fill to the top with water,& put the lid on loosely. Let it sit for a day or two,then use a paper towel or soft cloth to wipe all the loose gunk off that didn't already dissolve. You never want to use abrasive ANYTHING in your fermenters,or bottling buckets.
Then,drain and rinse,both done through the spigot to wash that out too. Then remove & clean the spigot in PBW too,not forgetting the hole it goes in. That hole can hold a lot of bacterium/germ spores. If I don't clean mine,I can smell it inside the pale.

 

[Kellenm]

I appreciate the quick response! My kit came with c-brite. I read about the spray, and I will definitely be using that on my next brew.

Can someone explain to me the advantage of using a secondary fermentor? I need to read more on the entire brewing process/chemistry, but I was so exited to brew, I just followed the instructions and enjoyed my evening!

I am happy to be amongst the proud beer drinkers, and thank God that there is beer with flavor!

 

[unionrdr]

Secondaries are a hot topic around here. I built a combination secondary/bottling bucket,& so far only secondaried once. Unless you're wanting to add fruit,oaked liquor,etc,it just isn't needed. Many of us even dry hop in primary after FG is reached.

 

[bniesen]

I just went through the same process. Get yourself a 5 gal bucket and a lid (home depot homer bucket) purchase some Star-San and 5 gal of distilled water. Mix the Star-San (per directions on the bottle) with the distilled water in the 5 gal bucket. This Star-San solution should last you a real long time as you can re-use it if you keep debris out and you can soak anything that will fit into the bucket. Spray bottle is nice to have around for spot sanitizing when you can't soak like a bucket.
Fermentation buckets/carboys: Go and purchase a large tub of Oxi-Clean. An overnight soak for the heavily soiled buckets/carboys with a solution of hot tap water + Oxi-Clean will clean it up. Anything that is stubborn, use a soft sponge and be carefull not to scratch the surface.

 

[shanecb]

If you are not using StarSan, get some. A 22 ouncer lasts for a year. And get a spray bottle. Basically, once everything is clean to the eyes, just blast it with your StarSan spayer and it's sanitized on contact!

 

[unionrdr]

And don't forget to rinse oxyclean really well! PBW just needs a quick rinse,& you're good.

 

[Zixxer10R]

I started my first brew almost a week ago, and I really enjoyed the process. I'm itching to make more, but I don't necessarily want 10 lbs of beer in the house.

The only part I was iffy about was sanitization. Can anyone recommend tools and steps for sanitizing, specifically the fermentation bucket?

I look forward to contributing to these forums when I am more experienced. Thank you!

Only 10lbs? That's what? 2.5 gallons of beer?! :rockin:

 

[bniesen]

^ what he said

 

[johnnyspade]

I don't necessarily want 10 lbs of beer in the house.

I'll take whatever you don't want.

 

[shafferpilot]

um... i'm confused. Who WOULDNT want 10 gallons of beer? Hell I brew 10 gallons at a time and have trouble with not brewing often enough...

 

[Kellenm]

Lol I drink a beer or 2 a day, and my friends drink tasteless crap beer. Whoopsie on the 10 lbs, I meant gallons.

We will see what happens when this beer is done, maybe I will make more in larger qualities, and send you all the surplus.

 

[GasHouseBrewer]

And don't forget to rinse oxyclean really well! PBW just needs a quick rinse,& you're good.

What does PBW stand for?

 

[mrduna01]

What does PBW stand for?

It's a brand of cleaner.

 

[mrduna01]

It's a brand of cleaner.

Duh after reading the post you had already gathered as much. It stands for public brewery wash if I'm not mistaking

 

[BrewinJay]

I use StarSan myself, love the stuff. As for a secondary, I use one. I have found that it really clears the beer up. I drink even less then you do, but I always have at least 10 gallons on tap. its nice to have a variety...

 

[Matty22]

I too recently brewed my first batch of beer. I've been making homemade wine for 6-7 months. For wine everyone suggested I use Campden tablets and water solution for sanitizing. Is that an ok substitute for these other sanitizers or should I not use that for beer?

The first batch's equipment was all sanitized with it and at 5 days into fermentation everything seems to be going well (at least through my quite inexperienced eyes it does).

 

[shafferpilot]

use santitizer for sanitizing... use campden for stopping wine yeast when it's time to stop wine yeast....

 

[mrduna01]

use santitizer for sanitizing... use campden for stopping wine yeast when it's time to stop wine yeast....

+1. Camden is used to kill off the yeast at the desired finished gravity as I understand it.