Do I need to sterilize my carboy?

[RJL2]

I am making hard cider for the very first time. I have a carboy and a BSG pail fresh from the store that appear to be very clean. Do I need to sterilize them? The info sources I've looked at were not clear about this.

 

[nettekdl]

You need to sanitize them using a solution such as star san, triple san or iodophor not sterilize

 

[j1n]

get some starsan and sanitize it. also dont fear the foam

 

[TwistedGray]

Sterilize everything and anything that might come in contact with the cider you are making.

 

[flars]

I would clean the fermentors even though they look good, then sanitize. A solution of Starsan is a easy, no rinse sanitizer.

 

[Schecter]

I would clean the fermentors even though they look good, then sanitize. A solution of Starsan is a easy, no rinse sanitizer.

I ever so lovingly appreciate the correct use of "fermentor" here. Bravo.

 

[60acresbrewclub]

When asked this I usually say if you don't wash your dishes you don't need to sanitize your brew gear.

If you only rinse your dishes then you should at least rinse your brew gear.

If you clean your dishes clean your gear with PBW when finished and sanitize with starsan before using it.

 

[BreezyBrew]

Thought that Starsan sanitized and only an autoclave sterilized?

 

[Dcpcooks]

Thought that Starsan sanitized and only an autoclave sterilized?

Your correct any sanitizer will only sanitize. You need heat or harsh caustics to sterilize which isn't necessary unless to culturing yeast.

 

[thekraken]

^ And bears.

@RJL2, there is a difference between sanitizing and sterilizing. I'll just copy and paste some info I googled up:

Cleaning is the process of removing material from the surface.

Sanitizing is the process of reducing the number of organisms (in brewing, we're worried about bad bacteria, mainly - but others also like fungi and unwanted yeast).

Sterilizing is like sanitizing, but removing ALL microorganisms (any living being - microscopic).

If I remember right, sanitizing is a technical term that means a certain allowable amount of microorganisms remain, and sterilization is removing ALL of them.

For the most part, brewers don't need to sterilize, only sanitize. The chemicals made for brewing are made to sanitize.

You need to both clean AND sanitize. The analogy I like is this: if my Dog pees on my floor, I first wipe up the liquid (clean), then use bleach (sanitize). If I merely use the bleach I've still got pee on my floor.

http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/q...erence-between-clean-sanitized-and-sterilized

 

[slym2none]

deleted by moderator.

Classy.

 

[Vaydor]

I've been brewing and making cider for years now. Some popular podcasts even question whether or not it even matters if you use sulfites to kill the wild yeast, with expectations that they won't survive alongside the primary strain. It makes me curious, if you don't sulfite your unpasteurized cider, why bother sanitizing your equipment. There are some crazy wild bugs in the orchard. I sulfite and sanitize... Just a thought.