Nu Foam Sanitizing Tablets?

[CCMuggs13]

So I am very new to brewing, haven't even made my first one yet but have been reading up. I got a container of B-Brite with my equipment kit but there's clearly some controversy as to whether that can be used as a sanitizer or not.

Well I don't really feel like ordering and waiting for Starsan or something like it if I don't have to and I work at a bar where we use Nu Foam tablets to sanitize our glassware. So I was wondering if anyone has ever used them before for their brewing equipment or if they have any input on whether you think it'd work?

 

[Pratzie]

Whats the active ingredients in that. The main reason for something like Star San or Iodophor is that at the particular concentrations they recommend, u don't need to rinse the items ur sanitizing afterwards. With something like that U prob would have to rinse it with boiled and then cooled water to get anything off that might harm the brew ingredients.

Edit: Update.

looks like someone posted about it on the Northern Brewer forum. The found that the ingredients are toxic but are considered safe for what they needed it to do. The guy said he was going to try it out and post back with results but I can't seem to find those results so i'm not sure how it turned out. If it IS the stuff that I see my bartenders using, they normally wash/sanitize in one sink of that and with a scrub brush, and then rinse in another sink of water before air drying. There may be a reason for that but maybe someone here can add a little more insight. I know it sucks to wait but u might be better off instead of ruining a batch with off flavors or something that might be toxic if not rinsed.

 

[CCMuggs13]

Whats the active ingredients in that. The main reason for something like Star San or Iodophor is that at the particular concentrations they recommend, u don't need to rinse the items ur sanitizing afterwards. With something like that U prob would have to rinse it with boiled and then cooled water to get anything off that might harm the brew ingredients.

Best I could find for active ingredient was:

"Alkyl (95%C14, 3%C12, 2%C16) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride dihydrate"

Don't know if that helps, I don't have the bottle with me right now

 

[Pratzie]

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60211&start=15

Here's that link from the NB forum if u wanna look. I also found a pesticide forum that give it a level 2, moderate toxicity risk. But that's all I can offer I dunno anyone else who uses or used it and can't find much else for ya, sorry.

 

[CCMuggs13]

If it IS the stuff that I see my bartenders using, they normally wash/sanitize in one sink of that and with a scrub brush, and then rinse in another sink of water before air drying. There may be a reason for that but maybe someone here can add a little more insight.

Well the way it's done (at least at our bar) is that we wash them in one sink with regular dish detergent and brushes (to clean), rinse them in a second sink of water to get out the soap, and then dip them in a third sink with the nu foam (to sanitize) and let them air dry without another rinse after the nu foam... Thank you for the info though and if I do end up trying it at any point I'll update to let people know cause it seems like it could be a useful and pretty cheap sanitizer in a pinch if it works and is used by a lot of bars and whatnot.