sanitizing question for newbie

[sanibel14]

I'm brewing this weekend and unfortunately my Star San didn't come in the mail. I found a food safe sanitizer at a restaurant supply store locally in town. It's called Betco Sanibet 256 Sanitizer. Here's the link. Anybody see anything that might make the beer taste bad on the active ingredient list? Spent a lot on ingredients for a double IPA and don't want to ruin because of stupid sanitizer.

http://www.betco.com/FoodService/Pages/Sanitizers.aspx?ProdDispGrp=120

 

[TinyBubblesDub]

Well, it says no rinse and fragrance free. So I can't imagine it would do anything noticeable. I mean it made for use with food so I wouldn't worry about it.

Starsan is a acid sanitizer. This is a base, like lye (remember fight club?.) Though lye is used in the food industry.

When diluted it will be safe. Though admittingly i'm a philosophy major, not a chemical guy haha

 

[unionrdr]

It looks like that yellow stuff they shmear all over me at the hospital when they sew me back together.

 

[joetothemo]

Bleach and water worked for years before Star San. Not my preference, but it is effective. Just make sure to rinse, rinse, rinse.

 

[TinyBubblesDub]

Bleach and water worked for years before Star San. Not my preference, but it isn't like it can't be effective. Just make sure to rinse, rinse, rinse.

I formerly used rinse sanitizer (beer brite, I think its sodium carbonate and sodium silicate) and it worked for the couple batches I made with it. Although when I think about it, when you rinse the sanitizer off you have a slight risk of contamination (unless you use boiled tapwater to rinse or something ridiculous.) Is worrying about that a little nitty? yes it is, but it certainly exists.

No rinse is more convenient and safer. Although I would use rinse if I had it over driving to the store for no rinse.

 

[beerkrump]

You can go down to the local market and grab some Iodine.

 

[TTB-J]

You have to jump through a lot of regulatory hoops to get a "food safe sanitizer" label - so I don't think you'll be in any trouble using that stuff.

 

[joetothemo]

I formerly used rinse sanitizer (beer brite, I think its sodium carbonate and sodium silicate) and it worked for the couple batches I made with it. Although when I think about it, when you rinse the sanitizer off you have a slight risk of contamination (unless you use boiled tapwater to rinse or something ridiculous.) Is worrying about that a little nitty? yes it is, but it certainly exists.

No rinse is more convenient and safer. Although I would use rinse if I had it over driving to the store for no rinse.

I understand this risk of contamination. But if there are dozens of "It's OK to top off with tap water" threads on this forum, how much risk is there in rinsing off some bleach?

For the record: I use Starsan. This is all about finding a solution (pun intended) for the OP.

 

[TinyBubblesDub]

I understand this risk of contamination. But if there are dozens of "It's OK to top off with tap water" threads on this forum, how much risk is there in rinsing off some bleach?

For the record: I use Starsan. This is all about finding a solution (pun intended) for the OP.

Admittingly I have topped off with tap water (I even posted about it a few mins ago, but I was saying I soak the facet in no rinse before using it for good measure as I think the problem is more there than your city water supply)

Yeah its very nitty, but I'm just saying it exists. Full wort boils are better than the top off cool down for sanitation (and other reason e.g. hop utilization) but it seems plenty of people use tap water.

 

[KevinW]

Bleach and water worked for years before Star San. Not my preference, but it is effective. Just make sure to rinse, rinse, rinse.

++1 Joe pretty much says it all!

A sanitizer is a sanitizer, besides, if the prep-work is done properly (cleaning very good) then the sanitizing is not such a big deal anyway. Bleach and percarbonates have not been around for the last 5,000 years and beer has been good for the masses so far!

 

[PT Ray]

It's your standard no rinse quaternary based sanitizer used in the food industry. I've been using it on and off for the last 15 years. No complaints. I'll use iodophor but get tired of the stains so I'll switch up.

 

[JonK331]

Yeah the only thing I would wonder about with that is whether the directions say that it has to dry before using the container. The directions are not on the website so I can't tell. I would probably use it exactly as the directions say and then rinse with some distilled water just to be safe. There's no question in my mind that it will sanitize, I would just worry about effects on the yeast. Regardless, using that and rinsing is still a heck of a lot better than bleach.

 

[sanibel14]

thanks. I've used bleach in a pinch before and ruined batches simply because I wasn't thorough enough in cleaning it off. I would have just gone ahead and used this stuff but found another thread in the sanitizing board that said quaternaries are not to be used for brewing beer because they leave a bad taste. Can't imagine a "food contact sanitizer" leaving a bad taste though.

 

[PT Ray]

......another thread in the sanitizing board that said quaternaries are not to be used for brewing beer because they leave a bad taste. Can't imagine a "food contact sanitizer" leaving a bad taste though.

If you mix it too strong I can certainly see this. I was told it doesn't break down like bleach so even when it dries the residue can still contaminate your food.

 

[JonK331]

thanks. I've used bleach in a pinch before and ruined batches simply because I wasn't thorough enough in cleaning it off. I would have just gone ahead and used this stuff but found another thread in the sanitizing board that said quaternaries are not to be used for brewing beer because they leave a bad taste. Can't imagine a "food contact sanitizer" leaving a bad taste though.

Just use it and rinse thoroughly with distilled or boiled water. The $2 spent on 2 gallons of distilled water are worth it to make sure you don't mess up your batch.