Brewing in less than sanitary

[2wide]

I'm itching to get back into home brewing after a lag due to health issues. Once the smell of boiling wort has you...

But things in my brewing environment have changed. Without being too graphic, we now have too many beloved dogs and cats that do things where they should not. We do our best--but most of the house is less than sanitary.

Question: Does anyone here know of success, or chances of success in brewing in an "earthy" environment? I can clean the kitchen where I actually brew pretty well. It's what is probably floating around in the air that concerns me. My nose knows, and I wonder if the beer would also.

Thanks, Jim

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Before fermentation it is boiling, while it is fermenting the beer is safely behind an airlock.

Just be careful that a cat doesn't fall into the wort while it is cooling and you will be fine.

 

[lumpher]

most sanitizers can keep something sanitary for about 45 minutes, if no fleas or nasty "uric fluids" jump in them.

 

[sacrifice]

I brew in my garage - my wife parks her car in the garage. There is dirt and spruce/hemlock leafs needles everywhere and it is dusty. I no longer have a cat, but when I did I would get cat hair in my wine and wort, in bottles that I just cleaned and sanitized, on corks and bottle caps as I bottle my product. Basically, hair in everything at all times! When I brew, the neighbor dog comes over for free samples of any grain I happen to spill. He puts his nose in everything, including my cooling wort. I imagine his hair is going into everything also. I live in Alaska where mosquito's and ugly orange flies are in great abundance and seem savagely attracted to the smell of burning propane - they also fall into everything.

The point is. I have been making wine for 3 - 4 years and beer since summer, with about 475 gallons under those conditions. Some of the wine was covered only with damp cheese cloth (that the cat loved playing with) during initial fermentation. In all of that time I have never had an infection or a bad batch, and I no longer worry about contamination from most things that are floating around in the air. I do, however, over sanitize all equipment before and after use, but the things that I cant control I don't worry about.

Just have fun and brew beer - and then drink it

Here is a (blurry) pic of a Strong Dark Belgian Ale I bottled yesterday in my garage.

 

[JBrady]

I caught my little maltese puppy hiking his leg on my better bottle filled with a pliny the elder clone the other night, lol. I know thats a little off topic but this thread just reminded me of that, lol.

 

[2wide]

Where there's beer brewing there is beer, and where's there's beer there is hope!

The dark Belgian looks awesome. :rockin:

We have a Cocker Spaniel who would be glad to whiz on one of my BetterBottles.

 

[JBrady]

We have a Cocker Spaniel who would be glad to whiz on one of my BetterBottles.

LOL I hear ya. I had my little pup trained to use his little indoor puppy pads, which he did very well with. But once he learned to hike his leg and pee on trees and bushes he thinks that he's supposed to mark everything in the house too.