Grandpa made beer before Star-san

[lapaglia]

I am bottling cider today and have sanitizer so that's not an issue. I was thinking that my grandfather made beer and wine and all he ever did was wash out the bottles and go for it. What are the chances of a problem if I were to just wash really really well and drip dry then bottle? I'm not talking about not sanitizing the equipment, just the bottles. In the "old days" it seemed to work. Shouldn't it do the same now?

Please don't totally freak out on this concept. I am not doing it, just wondering how they managed to get away with it and we seem so sanitize obsessed.

 

[ChshreCat]

Sure. It'll work. People didn't used to even use yeast. Just let whats in the are invade the wort. But people found that using "pure" yeast worked better and gave more reproducible results. Same with sanitizer. Sure you can go without and people did for centuries. But they turned out bad batches more often than we do now. Sup to you.

 

[Brakeman_Brewing]

I would assume that they got away with it because most nasties cant really infect the beer/wine after it has been fermented due to the alcohol present in the liquid. Thats not to say that it will never get infected, but it sure goes a way to prevent it.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

My dad made beer, and it tasted like crap strained through a used tampon. I agree with you to an extent. We are obsessed with sanitation, but for a good reason. Eliminate all possibilty of infection at every opportunity. Making beer (or cider) is like sex. It feels good. Having sex with a hooker feels good too, but it causes less pain if you wear a condom.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

It seems when you mention home brewing, a lot of people have an old relative or friend who homebrewed way back when, and they always seem to remember the beer being pretty terrible.

Nowadays, pretty much all home brewers who use the internet or have a halfway decent LHBS should at least know a thing or two about sanitization, and anyone that puts some amount of effort into sanitizing can pretty reliably make decent beer.

Considering how little effort it takes to squirt some starsan into each bottle, shake and dump, it hardly seems worth it to skip it and risk bottle bombs and nasty beer.

 

[Snuffalupagus]

I am bottling today and have sanitizer so thats not an issue. I was thinking that my grandfather made beer and wine and all he ever did was wash out the bottles and go for it. What are the chances of a problem if I were to just wash really really well and drip dry then bottle? I'm not talking about not sanitizing the equipment, just the bottles. In the "old days" it seemed to work. Shouldn't it do the same now?

Please don't totally freak out on this concept. I am not doing it, just wondering how they managed to get away with it and we seem so sanitize obsessed.

plenty hot water and a good dishwashing soap should kill or lift off damned near anything on a glass bottle. Hell, I don't own a dishwasher and yet I drink and eat off of, and store leftovers in dishes that I clean in the sink using hot water and dawn dish soap and I haven't died yet. would think the hops and alcohol in beer and the slightly higher alcohol content of wine would be a less than ideal place for most harmful microbes to live/reproduce in - yeah there are microbes that evolved to live in/feed on alchohol laced beverages (isn't that where vingar comes from?) but the likleyhood of the specific strain of microbe that would try to live and thrive in your brew being around in your home on bottling day is unlikely... right?
that does not mean I don't sterilize my bottles and equipment mind you - cause as a previous poster pointed out - you don't bang a hooker without hedging your bet and using a rubber.

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah, but using StarSan is cheap and such an easy step, why not stack the odds of good beer just a little more in your favor?

 

[eschatz]

Considering how cheap starsan is I dont think you're gonna find anyone who is gonig to stop using it. Technically you could make good beer without but who wants to chance it?

 

[lapaglia]

Well the first batch is bottled. YES I did sanitize everything including the bottles. I was bottling while people were replying. I am not at all against it I was just curious about then vs now. My father said my Grandfather made a good beer, but thats a different show.

Ill have to take your word on the hooker thing. SWMBO said I cant have that hobby with or without a raincoat.

She did help me bottle it.

Wound up with one bottle with about 10 oz's. I capped it anyway. Do I need to worry about oxidation since there are no hops? Will it carb properly with the excess head space. Yes I know I can always let it go and see what happens but its easier to ask you people (no use of the word guys, yooper ).

 

[EvilTOJ]

That one with the extra headspace will carb faster. You don't really have to worry about oxidation, but that one can be your test beer since it'll be carbed faster than the rest. Yea. That's it.

 

[ChshreCat]

I've read a thread or two on here about partially filled bottles over-carbing because of the extra headspace. Like, blowing beer all over the kitchen kinda over-carbing.

 

[RugenBrau]

you will realize just how cheap starsan is when your dumping 12 gallons of apple cider down the drain!

 

[CiderPat]

From what I've heard, if you brew in a location long enough, brewing yeast crowds out the local native yeasts in the environment, so beer made in an old brewery will just be better than first-run homebrew since it's only being contaiminated with more brewing yeast.

I've heard a rumor about a guy who simply couldn't brew in his house, because there was such a presence of ambient, non-brewing yeast there that anything he made tasted terrible, and no amount of sanitizer would help.

 

[lapaglia]

you will realize just how cheap starsan is when your dumping 12 gallons of apple cider down the drain!

If thats directed to me, I did sanitize EVERYTHING bottles included. It was just a thought. Never a decision to not sanitize. It's certainly not a money issue. Nor am I advocating we stop using it or any other sanitizer.

 

[JayC]

I wonder if bleach was one of the things your grandpa used to clean the bottles?

 

[lapaglia]

Nope, all he used was the Lye soap they made and water. Then a good rinse and a fill. My dad did it a lot with him so he is sure of what was and was not done.

And yes I know Lye soap will kill anything so that may have been what saved him.