Sanitizing Work Area?

[jstampler]

Quick question. Do you guys sanitize the area that you brew on? I generally work on a wooden kitchen table and I was wondering if I could spray the whole table down and wipe it up before I put my hydrometer, spoon, etc on it. Would this keep everything pretty well sanitized? Would this ruin the finish and stain my table?

 

[mrdonbonjovi]

I would only worry about sanitizing the parts that contact the wort after its cooled post-boil. Leave a cake pan or something with sanitizing solution and you should be okay. Remember, only need to worry about sanitation post-boil. Don't sweat too much.

 

[RobInOre]

I brew in my garage/shop. On brewday I use 409 on the workbench (Formica top) and I'm careful to use Star-san on everything that touches the wort after the boil. Bottling happens in the kitchen. I clean the counters as normal then spread a clean kitchen towel out. On the towel I spread my caps and spray them with Star-san. Then I set my racking gear on top of the caps after I've sprayed it while I set up the rest of the bottling apparatus. According to Star-san it shouldn't be used on wood. I don't know if this is because it's ineffective or because it will harm the wood.

When I think of all the measures we homebrewers take to keep our stuff clean I can't help but wonder about the ancients. They were making beer for thousands of years before the germ was discovered. Was something as basic as hand washing part of their brewing process? I saw on TV once that the Vikings considered their mash paddle to be a family heirloom because the beer it made would have specific characteristics that made it different from any other family mash paddle. Modern scientists have figured that the difference in flavors was caused by the bacteria held in the wodden paddle.

All I really know for certain is this Belgian Tripel I brewed in March is really good and the glass is nearly empty.

 

[unionrdr]

They also produced a lot more dumpers in those days as well. Let's not forget that. I think our success rate is def higher these days,since we understand all facets of the process now more than ever before.

 

[TyTanium]

Nah, just sanitize stuff that'll touch the chilled beer directly. Bucket/carboy, funnel, filter, sample-taker. Never seen the need to do anything else.

 

[bob1852]

Don't forget to take off your shirt and coat your body in Star-San....as well as spray Star-San in the air to sanitize the air.

You can't make this **** up - I saw it on-line...

 

[evrose]

When I think of all the measures we homebrewers take to keep our stuff clean I can't help but wonder about the ancients. They were making beer for thousands of years before the germ was discovered. Was something as basic as hand washing part of their brewing process? I saw on TV once that the Vikings considered their mash paddle to be a family heirloom because the beer it made would have specific characteristics that made it different from any other family mash paddle. Modern scientists have figured that the difference in flavors was caused by the bacteria held in the wodden paddle.

Just because something was done thousands of years ago doesn't mean it was done as well. The quality control of the Vikings was laughable by our modern standards. I bet a HUGE proportion of brews from that time didn't result in a drinkable swill... and those that did certainly didn't come out nearly as good as what even a beginner homebrewer can make today.

Having said that, no, I don't sanitize my work surfaces. Bacteria are everywhere... reasonable measures are a good thing - but we are sanitizing, not sterilizing, and our breweries aren't operating rooms.

 

[mikescooling]

First off I think some here are not thinking about how beer drinkers and brewers of the past loved their beer. For example, the great beer flood 200 years ago, where 323,000 gallons of beer broke out of the brewery and killed at least 7 people. People did make beer back then, and they kicked ass doing it. Not this story, but you get what I'm saying? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood
Back to the question; I would not use a wood cutting board, because each time a knife passes over it, it makes little micro slices. I would spread paper towl's over it and use that instead. Poster above said post boil, AKA; hot side and cold side. Cold side should be a short trip into the ferment'er.

 

[boscobeans]

Pre boil no problem...

Post boil:
Clean the table and sanitize as best you can, or lay a few paper towels on the DRY table top.
Put the SANITIZED fermenter lid topside down on the table.
Put your SANITIZED spoon, hydrometer, airlock and whatever on the SANITIZED lid.
Pour in your wort, stir or whatever, take a hydrometer reading, add the yeast and mix if you must.
Put the SANITIZED lid on the fermenter and install the still sanitized airlock.

Wait a few weeks and you have beer.

bosco

 

[dgr]

You can soak a kitchen towel in starsan and have it laying there for anything you need to set down.

Don't forget to take off your shirt and coat your body in Star-San....as well as spray Star-San in the air to sanitize the air.

You can't make this **** up - I saw it on-line...

I actually do this with honey. I read on the internet it has antiseptic qualities.

 

[ImNoExpert]

I brew in my kitchen so we use kitchen cleaners that sanitize anyway. Can't be too careful with food nasties and little kid around.

That said, when brewing, I just make sure the place is clean and keep my wall paper tray (a trick learned here of HBT!) loaded with some starsan and my racking/tube equipment.

 

[Clonefan94]

I keep a spray bottle handy full of starsan solution. Plus, I always mix my star-san in 5 gallon batches at a time, so I also always have a bucket of it sitting around on brew day. Usually when I start my day, I just fill my primary fermenter with starsan, cover and shake the heck out of it to get it good and foamy. I let that sit there for a while. As soon as I start my boil, I usually pour from the fermentor into another bucket, seal the fermenter lid and put a paper towel, soaked in star san over the hole and get it out of the way. In a third bucket, I fill that with water. Anything I don't need during the boil, goes into the starsan bucket. My stainless steel spoon I just keep putting back into the bucket of plain water, in between stirring. I also keep a towel handy, to wipe anything down coming out of the water. Then when I go to cool, it all goes into the starsan bucket.

I usually don't mess with sanitizing table surfaces, because nothing that touches the beer ever touches the tables. This is what works for me.