Is the faucet on my sink sanitized?

[bobonthenet]

I just realised that I've never made any effort towards sanitation when it comes to the faucet I get my water from. It has never posed a problem with my beer though. How come I have to sanitize everything else but not the faucet?

 

[EJay]

You should sanitize everything post-boil. Pre-boil generally doesn't matter. Depending on your process, you may not need to (i.e. if everything from your faucet gets boiled).

Otherwise, go ahead and sanitize it.

 

[seefish]

It isn't even necessarily the faucet, but the water coming out of your faucet may also have contaminants. I wouldn't worry about sanitizing your faucet, but any water touching your beer should be boiled first to sanitize. What is your application? If it is strike water I wouldn't worry about it since it's pre-boil, but if you are partial boiling and using it to dilute then boiling that water separately is a good idea.

 

[bobonthenet]

Yeah that is the thing. I've been using the water to add to the carboy to top it off without sanitization. Like I said, it has never been a problem. I guess I've just been lucky perhaps.

 

[dkevinb]

City tap water is generally treated with chlorine or chloramine to sanitize it. I've never boiled top-off water and I've never had an infection. I have, however, had off flavors from the chloramine turning into chlorophenols. I've used store-bought spring water to get around that, and I'm trying Campden tablets in the currently fermenting batch.

Well water is a different issue.