Bleach harmful?

[NicKageB]

I've heard bleach can impart some pretty nasty flavors, even in very small amounts. The spray bottle I was planning on using to sanitize my bottles with starsan with had pretty diluted bleach water in it. I rinsed it out pretty well but it still smells like bleach. Whatcha think? Will this be enough to affect my beer? (A 2 <3'd clone) thanks!!!

 

[Brewddah]

Get a new spray bottle from Home Depot or somewhere. I personally wouldn't risk it.

 

[Homercidal]

You won't notice any issues. The bleach smell is stuck in the plastic. It's not likely to come through much in the fermentor. If so, it will be diluted by an AMAZING amount.

I would also get a new spray bottle, but mostly because it's nice to have a spare.

 

[Paradigm]

It'll probably be fine, but I agree with Homercidal. For more detail...

There are pretty much 3 camps on this topic here:

1. The "never use bleach" camp.
2. The "use bleach but rinse well and let it dry" camp.
3. The "use bleach and rinse well" camp.

The one thing all three groups share in common is that we all agree that starsan is always the best option.

I'm in the 3rd camp. I've used bleach to santize bottles before, and I've never had an isse. But the key is really to rinse well. Really well. I rinse the entire batch 3 times usually.