oteixeira
Well-Known Member
Am I going to have an issue, or will this be ok. I was just not thinking, since it was my first smack pack, and didn't cover it with starsan.
Orlando
Orlando
Forgot to sanitise the outside of my smackpack
- Thread starter oteixeira
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Edcculus
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't make a habit out of it, but you won't have any problems.
oteixeira
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the quick response!
BrewThruYou
Well-Known Member
My first 3 smack packs weren't sanitized and I had no problems.
Some folks do, some folks don't, some folks do somethimes, and forget other times....it's one of those things that isn't mandatory and may or may not mean anything so it's nothing to stress out about if you don't.
i usually don't.. .but then again, i usually use dry yeast
Well, you can't really say that with 100% confidence, but yeah, unless it was grossly mishandled, it's hugely unlikely that it will cause any problems 99% (made up number, but you get the point) of the time. It's just that other 1% of the time that stuff is unfortunately bound to happen that makes it good practice to sanitize the pack.
chemist308
Well-Known Member
On my first brew I washed my fermenter and sanitized everything but the fermenter. Wow was I freaked out. But it worked out good anyway.
Did you put your pack into the beer or just pour it in?
Did you put your pack into the beer or just pour it in?
RugenBrau
Well-Known Member
I think your beeer is ruined. Please bottle it up and send it to me
Fantastical
Well-Known Member
You will be ok. But do it next time
For what it's worth, I've never done it and I've been fine. My rationale is that the slurry inside isn't touching the outside of the pack, so why bother? I do sanitize the scissors i use to cut the pack, however.
bctdi
Well-Known Member
This is one of the benefits of making sure plenty of yeast is pitched. It helps to overwhelm any unwanted wild yeast due to imperfect sanitation. Lets be honest, who among us is perfect every time when it comes to sanitation? I know I'm not .... So I make sure to pitch as much yeast as I can without overpitching.... With enough yeast pitched I will venture to guess you could be almost sloppy with sanitation and the huge army of yeast you have enlisted will overrun and overwhelm the wild yeast pretty much every time.
mikebowman
Well-Known Member
same here, though i dont even do the scissors. ive never sanitized the outside of a packet of yeast, and all my batches have turned out fine (and if they have gone awry somewhere, its been because of something other than contamination). I also use unboiled tapwater to top up, no problems yet
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
I would say that as long as your hands were clean, you should be ok without doing a full sanitize dunk of the smack pack. I do keep enough StarSan mixed up so that I can just give it a fast dunk a minute or two before tearing it open. I don't use scissors to open the pack (one less thing to sanitize/worry about)...
I would at least dunk the top half (or 1/3) of the smack pack in the future. Do it a minute or two before opening it up, and you'll also be fine.
I'm sure I'm not the only person here that keeps StarSan mixed, and on hand, in their brew area. I typically make 2-1/2 gallons at a time, which tends to last a couple of brew days (depending on what else is going on)...
I would at least dunk the top half (or 1/3) of the smack pack in the future. Do it a minute or two before opening it up, and you'll also be fine.
I'm sure I'm not the only person here that keeps StarSan mixed, and on hand, in their brew area. I typically make 2-1/2 gallons at a time, which tends to last a couple of brew days (depending on what else is going on)...
I have it constantly on hand as well, except in a 32oz (quarter gallon) spray bottle. I spray the crap out of literally everything... I probably go a bit overkill with the sanitizing, I even use the Blichmann brewing gloves and spray THOSE down as well.
The spray bottle makes things more efficient to begin with, but the highly foaming nature of Star San makes the spray bottle solution go an insanely long way. It might seem lile not being able to "reuse" the solution would mean using more, but using a coarse mist really makes all the difference. Literally 1/10th of that 2.5gal batch and it lasts through multiple brews (and testing during ferments, racking to secondary, bottling, etc) as well.
It takes 1.5ml to get the right concentration of the stuff in a 32oz spray bottle, and I've barely put a dent in the "big" 32oz bottle of Star San I originally bought - which is hardly surprising, since, at 1.5ml per batch, I can fill up that spray bottle more than 630 times. Works out to about 1 cent per brew... not that I have cost in mind when I use the stuff - like I said, I go nuts with it, I'm not about to risk ruining a batch to save on sanitizer - but it's nice to know that the practically negligible cost of it means it's not at all a problem to use it to the extent that I do.
Meh, i have brewed 29 batches so far *knock on wood* without sanitizing my smack pack, think on it, what percent of the package is exposed to the contents. Then what percent of the germs on the package would contain something that can combat 1 billion yeast cells. Hell, honestly as it goes i never forget to sanitize anything because i sanitize twice. I make it my business to keep stuff clean but on smack packs and yeast. good grief, its no bother. at that point even wild yeast in the air can contaminate your batch. so don't be too picky just rely and have faith that the yeast knows what it is doing and will go in and kick some serious sugar butt:rockin:
and btw i never sanitize my smack packs. this could be bad advice, so i hope i dont hurt u, but im just stating what seems apparently obvious to me. you have a army of angry yeast and a possible bacteria. now if you are toting wild yeast on ya id be worried but chances are that isn't the case. I'm no doctor or a scientist but i can tell ya one thing, pitch on and be sure not to drop your smack packs in the toilet prior to use, or the urinal, or coat em with a sanitizer and not rinse. just saying that one step stuff is still in need of a good rinse, even iodine, after its 8 min soak and drip dry is in desperate need of a rinse imo. never hurts to be sure
geez, my third post in a row, star san, hmm is this something i should consider. I have been enjoying my fully operational tap n draft so lol, i may forget, so ill recheck tomorrow, but, as it goes, it seems that a couple are saying it is a good sprayable sanitizer. I am good with sprays, cleaned carpet a bit and have the spray down pat, and would love to have a spray bottle of sanitizer for hydrometers and my spachler each time i stir my wort as it cools off, i lack a wort cooler. so i have to do the ice bath around the pot and stir to cool off, currently takes 35 to 40 mins. i really need to upgrade but really it seems trival, i shave it by 15 mins big deal, is how i feel looking at spending 100 bucks.
I don't even sanitize the scissors, and I haven't had a problem.
Yeah, i never used to until about 2 years ago. Even then i never had a problem.
oteixeira
Well-Known Member
Just a follow up. I did spray the scissors. I do keep starsan in a spray bottle at all times, good to hear I am not the only one that always keeps it on hand and sprays the crap out of everything. The fermenting is looking good, it is bubbling very nicely, but it seems less violent then say us-05 dry yeast. I look forward to tasting this one, since it is my first time using anything other then us-05. This was just a wyeast american ale, but it is a stepping off point for me. Thanks everyone for making me feel better.
Orlando
Orlando
I brewed with my first smack pack last month. Really glad I sanitized my pack and scissors really well, because in a moment of share idiocy I cut the top of the smack pack over my open fermenter full of wort. Of course the piece I snipped fell right into my vanilla stout and disappeared. Bottled today and everything tasted fine. I did freak out racking to the secondary when I saw this huge weird floating object in the beer.
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