Brew Superstition (rant)

[Zamial]

I see the main point of contention being "wasted money". If someone is more comfortable spending an extra 5 bucks a brew day for the piece of mind that in 1 month or more they will be enjoying good beer, is it really that big of an issue to you?

Let's say we make 2 imaginary batches of beer. Both batches yield 50 12 oz bottles and cost $30.00 a batch. Batch A is completed at $30.00. Batch B the brewer went over board and wasted some Star San and replaces all the tubing for every batch.

Point being, tubing is .14 cents a foot at the hardware store So if the brewer replaced all 10 feet of it... let's see that is like... $1.40 + tax, let's just say $1.50. Let's add in the "extra,wasted star san in an abundant "over use" scenario and say that is $4.00 so you have an extra $5.50 "wasted" on the batch.

30 / 50 = .60 or 60 cents a bottle for Batch A.

30 + 5.50 = 35.5
35.5 / 50 = .71 or 71 cents a bottle.

71 - 60 = 11

So every beer you drink from batch A you save .11 cents. To demonstrate the power of savings...after 273 beers (or 6 batches) you would save enough money to brew an entire batch of beer. Which is just fine as long as the brewer never has a bad batch.

My point is that the "wasting of money" vs. the peace of mind that can be had for .11 cents a beer may not be as large of a concern for some people. Let's face it, the "savings" is minimal at best.

 

[jpsloan]

But, but...what if you're in the Southern Hemisphere?!

You know, I've always wondered if Australian wiccans circled widdershins.

Maybe we should do a study to see if drunk Australians stagger in a clockwise motion or counter-clockwise. That should be our true indication of the beer gods' preference.

 

[remilard]

$4 is a lot of wasted star-san. I pay like $40/gal for it (and it can be had cheaper on group buys) and a tenth of a gallon undiluted makes an awful lot of solution. If anyone is using that much on a batch, they could get away with less I concede that. At the same time, I'm not sure I want to sanitize my kegs with a spray bottle. There is a happy medium.

 

[smizak]

At the same time, I'm not sure I want to sanitize my kegs with a spray bottle. There is a happy medium.

I'm the same way. Pour a bunch in, shake it around, and run it out. I don't keg yet, but I feel much better racking into a bottling bucket full of Star-san foam, any dust/hair/whateva is going to hit sanitizer foam first before it hits my beer.

 

[doctorRobert]

Im getting tired of hearing people so afraid of infection, that they use NEW TUBING EVERY-TIME THEY BREW! -- to prevent this mysterious infection that 99% of us brewers have never experienced.

Or the people claiming leaving water out at night will make it "stagnant".

Or the people obsessing with starsan to the point it becomes wasteful and expensive.

Or how about DMS and HSA. I rarely do a 90 minute boil with pilsner malt, and have never had DMS. I stir it vigorously, and my beer is never oxidized.

Fact is, its tough to eff up a beer (unless of course its just a bad recipe). The only time i will get an infection is when I PURPOSELY INFECT MY BEER.

A canister of starsan will last us multiple batches. And we have a lot of equipment.

all the people being "super sanitary" are wasting money, on a risk that's very low. Im obviously not condoning no sanitation, but just not overdoing it!

Take for example this logic. I read one post where some guy buys new tubing for every brew.... BUT does he change his racking cane? Does he change his fermenter? Does he change his chiller? NO. Therefore is it logical to change the tubing every brew? No. Of course not.

Or the guy who friggin wastes half a bottle of $10 star san on each brew "just to be sure". Its a total waste.

And these are just a few examples. I could go on and on.

My goals for this hobby are to (and in this order). Brew quality, delicious beer, have fun, experiment, and keep costs low.

Wasting sanitizer when its not necessary raises costs per batch, and NEW TUBING EACH TIME!!!! come on... Your looking at raising your costs 15-20% just in those two steps.

So everybody, don't get to anal to the point it costs you money each batch. Your beer will come out just fine. Don't waste sanitizer, propane, or tubing!

why do you care so much what other people do?

 

[artyboy]

People can sanitize their beer as much as they like. It doesn't affect my brews in any way. Personally, I just use Oxyclean and bleach. My beers turn out "fine". Your recipe and your process makes a lot more difference than how clean you are. For my kegs I just clean everything very well then dump some boiling water in it and seal it. The steam should sanitize it as well as an expensive sanitizer. Considering that I've never had an infection I must be doing something right.

 

[smizak]

expensive sanitizer

Your method is fine and all, but I'm just not getting this. I've had the same $12.99 16 oz. bottle of Star-san for the last 2 yrs. and 15+ batches. How it that expensive? That's 16¢ a gallon.

 

[pacebrew]

A note on the cost. 5.5/30 is close to 20%.

Please people it was a rant!!! Things that annoy me. Do I care? No. Doesn't mean I can't get annoyed and offer a different viewpoint.

 

[Pilgarlic]

More pugilistic posts to help wean me from Mixed Martial Arts... I only wish you could hear me cheering y'all on.

 

[tamoore]

I think it's been determined that many home brewers have 'infection' in their beer.

I think it's also been determined that a sizable percentage of microbreweries have infection in their beer.

Sanitation is something that is cheap compared to a 5 gallon batch of beer to try to mitigate the effects, IMO.

Never had an infected batch, don't want to start any time soon, either.

 

[munche]

More pugilistic posts to help wean me from Mixed Martial Arts... I only wish you could hear me cheering y'all on.

Why would you want to be weaned from MMA!

Also, I imagine if I were in the person's kitchen brewing with them it might bug me if they were sanitation crazy....but otherwise what do I care!

 

[remilard]

Remilard. Stfu. You were rude. Still are.

So you value opposing viewpoints as long as they don't oppose yours?

 

[pacebrew]

I value your input. Didn't like your tone. And your last post makes nosense

 

[homebrewer_99]

I think it's been determined that many home brewers have 'infection' in their beer....

I thought all beer was infected with a fungus we call "yeast"???

 

[northernlad]

Here is one more reminder that this thread was a rant.
On the subject of sanitizers: If a solution of 50 ppm bleach is sufficient to sanitze a surface, 100ppm is a waste of money.
If you replace only a portion of your system due to fears of contamination it is a waste of money.
Our beloved OP posted to express his bewilderment that people would go to ridiculous extremes when the proper applications will prevent infection AND save them money for more ingredients. Thats why he cares what other people do.

I wonder what those parts of the definition that you chose not to highlight mean?

I guess it means it is time for you to launch your superiority ship for another trolling expedition.