Beer Brite Quesrion + more

[Hello]

Hello, I've brewed my first batch of hefeweizen this weekend. I bought a starter brew kit from a local home brewer store called American Brewmaster that included Beer Brite. After reading more threads here, I've come to realize that this sanitizer may not be best. This place sells this product as part of their kit and I think it was reasonable to expect they'd be right with their product choices but these forums can make me question myself.

That said, it seems to be more of a cleanser that I used to sterilize everything. I was going to use it for my bottles but I'm now thinking I'll buy something else. Should I be worried about the beer? I've read the collaboration of posts about ruining beer, but I didn't see much on this product.

Some other questions, if I may...

I didn't know that I was supposed to use sanitized water in the airlock, is it incredibly necessary?

When I bottle beer do I have to chill it or can I store it in a closet? This will make or break whether I immediately brew a second batch after bottling the first.

Can I store bottles in my dishwasher after cleaning and just sanitize the day of? I don't really use the dishwasher otherwise. I did read sanitizing the day of bottling is best.

If I use star san sanitizer, do I really just spray the inside of a bottle and then pour beer in there without rinsing?

I think that covers it. I know with more searching some of these questions are likely answered here, but I figured I'd ask all the same.

 

[Potamus]

I haven't used Beer Brite, so I can't speak to that. But if it's advertised as a sanitizer, it should be fine, I'd think.

Using sanitized water in the airlock is a good idea in case there is suck back. But I've used plain distilled water plenty of times without issue...if a few drops of clean water fall in a 5 gallon batch, the yeast and alcohol should be able to handle it. Some people also use vodka, from what I've heard.

When bottling, you absolutely do NOT want to put it in the fridge for at least a few weeks. Chilling it makes the yeast go dormant, and you need them eating the priming sugar for carbonation. I store my bottles in the basement at about 70* for about three weeks before chilling.

I don't think it matters when you wash the bottles, but you definitely want to sanitize immediately before bottling to make sure no organisms are creeping around. I fill my bottling bucket with 5 gallons of water/sanitizer to get it ready and then dip in all my equipment, bottles and caps to sanitize them too. As long as you have a no-rinse sanitizer (I use Star San), you can fill the bottles with beer and cap them when they are still wet with sanitizer. My bottles are usually full of Star San bubbles when I bottle, and the beer is always fine.

Cheers!

 

[flars]

Hello, I've brewed my first batch of hefeweizen this weekend. I bought a starter brew kit from a local home brewer store called American Brewmaster that included Beer Brite. After reading more threads here, I've come to realize that this sanitizer may not be best. This place sells this product as part of their kit and I think it was reasonable to expect they'd be right with their product choices but these forums can make me question myself.

That said, it seems to be more of a cleanser that I used to sterilize everything. I was going to use it for my bottles but I'm now thinking I'll buy something else. Should I be worried about the beer? I've read the collaboration of posts about ruining beer, but I didn't see much on this product.

Some other questions, if I may...

I didn't know that I was supposed to use sanitized water in the airlock, is it incredibly necessary?

When I bottle beer do I have to chill it or can I store it in a closet? This will make or break whether I immediately brew a second batch after bottling the first.

Can I store bottles in my dishwasher after cleaning and just sanitize the day of? I don't really use the dishwasher otherwise. I did read sanitizing the day of bottling is best.

If I use star san sanitizer, do I really just spray the inside of a bottle and then pour beer in there without rinsing?

I think that covers it. I know with more searching some of these questions are likely answered here, but I figured I'd ask all the same.

B-Brite is a cleanser and sanitizer. As a sanitizer it must be rinsed off before using the equipment. So what do you rinse with that may not contain a contaminant? StarSan is a great choice for a no rinse sanitizer.
Fill your airlock with vodka or StarSan. This will keep flies and bugs from swimming through. It is possible for the contents of an airlock to get sucked into the fermenter especially with the use of flexible buckets or better bottles if they are moved during use. Vodka or StarSan will not hurt your brew.
Store your freshly filled bottles warm. Conditioning and carbing will work the best above 68°. 78° and above can be risky though.
Unused dishwasher is a great dust free environment for storing cleaned bottles.
StarSan is a wet contact no rinse sanitizer. It continues working as long as it is wet. Fill your bottles with a bottling wand and any foam left in the bottle will be floated out.

 

[Hello]

Ok I will add sanitized water or make the excuse that I need to go buy Vodka today, you know, for science.

I will most definitely buy StarSan and use beer brite for the cleanser. I used it today to soak a half dozen bottles that I accumulated over the weekend. It took labels off quickly and I only had to wipe the glue. It was easier than hot water for a few hours. OxyClean is my next purchase as well.

I have a bottling wand. The same place sold me a deluxe package so the bottling wand and auto-siphon are in there. I should be pretty well set.

I'm nervous about my airlock since it bubbles now and then but I thought the water was supposed to change color. I could be wrong.

Thanks for the answers. I imagine you get these questions a lot but I just couldn't nail down the answers.

 

[flars]

I like to use StarSan in my airlock. Little bubbles are left when CO2 is pushed through and I can't stand the smell of cheap vodka. StarSan is reuseable as long as the pH remains less than 3.2. Places that sell wine making supplies will have the low pH range test strips. Just keep it in gallon or other containers that can be sealed.
You can also Google your questions. Google searches all the forums and works better.