Paranoid about sanitation!

[Hunter]

Gang,

I plan on starting my first ever batch of beer this weekend and feel confident about the "mechanics" of getting it all together (ingredients, preparation, fermentation, etc.), but I'm paranoid about having the best laid plans wasted by an invisible contaminent.

I plan on bleaching and one-stepping the hell out of everything I touch by soaking everything small in a cooler or keeping the solution in the carboy and priming bucket for at least an hour before starting the initial boil. Am I just too uptight about this or am I appropriately concerned.

Dumping my first batch of beer would be a crushing blow.

Hunter

 

[Beer Snob]

Umm.... uptight.... hmmm... I don't think that is an appropriatly strong word here. You need to sanitize everything, but relax a bit here (take a couple of deep breaths).... Because you are so concerned about this, I would really NOT USE bleach. It just sounds as if you will be overdoing the sanitation and bleach is nothing to overdo... One Step is a very good product that I have used for a VERY long time. Well it is obvious that you need to be drinking WELL BEFORE YOU START BREWING.... I mean... start about 2 hours before That should get you just in about the right frame of mind to have some fun and brew your first batch!

 

[Ivan Lendl]

Gang,

I plan on starting my first ever batch of beer this weekend and feel confident about the "mechanics" of getting it all together (ingredients, preparation, fermentation, etc.), but I'm paranoid about having the best laid plans wasted by an invisible contaminent.

I plan on bleaching and one-stepping the hell out of everything I touch by soaking everything small in a cooler or keeping the solution in the carboy and priming bucket for at least an hour before starting the initial boil. Am I just too uptight about this or am I appropriately concerned.

Dumping my first batch of beer would be a crushing blow.

Hunter

just follow directions and use proper amounts and youll be alright. You shouldnt have to worry on the first batch, all equipment is new and no microbes have a reason to hang out on it. After a few batches is when crud i.e. microbe food starts to be left behind (especially in plastic fermenters which will eventually suffer all kinds of unseen scratches caused by cleaning, etc ) and wild yeast et al. then do have a reason to hang out.

 

[mysterio]

Don't worry about using bleach, it's used extensively by British brewers and it's no problem if you rinse well.

Anyway don't get sucked into homebrewing hypochondria, I've not had a bad batch yet and I'm sure my sanitation has never been perfect. Just make sure everything that comes into contact with the cold wort is sanitized, especially your fermenter and keg/bottles.

 

[Hunter]

Thanks for the encouragement! I like to do things right the first time and for a month or more in waiting around for some good beer I'd be pissed off beyond measure if my first batch turned out bad.

Hunter

 

[Beer Snob]

Don't worry about using bleach, it's used extensively by British brewers and it's no problem if you rinse well.

I just want to be sure I am understood here. I also think there is nothing to worry about using a propper amount of bleach, if as you said you rinse well. I was simply saying that in this first batch it sounds like you might want to overdo things (and soaking for an hour in bleach would certainly be in the category of possibly overdoing it). You said you have One Step, which will sanitize things very well without you worriing about... did I rinse enough. Thats all really

 

[Ivan Lendl]

I just want to be sure I am understood here. I also think there is nothing to worry about using a propper amount of bleach, if as you said you rinse well. I was simply saying that in this first batch it sounds like you might want to overdo things (and soaking for an hour in bleach would certainly be in the category of possibly overdoing it). You said you have One Step, which will sanitize things very well without you worriing about... did I rinse enough. Thats all really

in Russia, tiny fishes eat you!

 

[Brewpastor]

I always count on my yeast to kill the butts of all those little beasties that want to have sex in my brew. Yeast wants to run the carboy and if you get a good culture going, you are well on your way to great beer. Lag time is the enemy.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Did someone say bleach!?

As long as it's clean, I'd go light on the bleach or skip it all together if you also have one step - er, using the one step of course.

Sanitation is important. There's no two ways about it. The more brews you do, the more you'll get a feel for things and the paranoia will subside a little. But then again, microbes are everywhere. Even here, yeah, right here. Look out! Behind you!

 

[Beer Snob]

Hey Hunter, all this talk of a small part of the process and we don't even know what ya brewing? So whatcha brewing? Give us the nitty gritty here (no pictures though.....this is not one of the safe threads for that kinda thing)

 

[brewhead]

hot side - clean
cold side - clean and sanitize

the problem i see with indiscriminately beaching and star sanning everything is that you are bound to get these caustic chemicals on things that shouldn't come in contact with them.

the main thing i would say do not star San or bleach would be your aluminum kettle. no you didn't say you had one but it's pretty darn common to use the old bayou classic turkey fryer...and it makes for a good example.

i would personally jettison the bleach because you sound just like i was when i first started and you have a tendency to over mix the bleach solution which is a b***h to get off even with copious amounts of rinse water.

yes there are a ton of people that use it with no problems and if you can control yourself and trust the chemicals - they will work for you in the proper dosages.

that being said...settle down beavis! relax have fun! your chances of making a decent beer your first go round are much higher imo than you skunking one right off the bat.

 

[Hunter]

Glad I found this place!

I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about getting this whole thing now.

My main anxiety was the carboy. I found it behind the house I bought. It had about 10 years of green grime in it. I cleaned it out well and let an industrial strength cleaning agent soak in it for a couple of months then rinsed it out and used one step as a finishing touch. It LOOKS clean as a whistle now...hopefully it is.

As to what I'll be brewing...

It gets pretty hot here in TX. I'm in the mood for something a little lighter. Perhaps a light-colored summer-type ale or a white Belgian brew.

Not sure yet, but I'll be picking up the ingredients this weekend. I'll talk to my home brew guy and discuss it.

Hunter

 

[Trapaddict]

I gotta agree with the masses here. It's actually pretty hard to make bad beer unless you just get really careless. I have only been at this for about 7 months but have put down 10 batches so far and have yet to have a "failure". I was really anal about the sanitation at first (as I think most of us are thanks to Papazian) and if a little bleach was good then by God, a little more is better. I now just use One Step on all of my equipment and bottles with excellent results.

 

[squatch]

Well, it's not like you need another opinion that agrees with everyone here but I've had a few and feel like talking.

The first batch of beer that I made, I wore latex gloves the entire time. Talk about overkill! All it did was make me uncomfortable the entire time.

Some pretty interesting things have happened during some of my brew sessions (pushing the airlock too hard and dropping the grommet in the beer, forgetting to sanitize the racking hose, etc) I have not had a beer go south on me in 14 batches. I feel that I have been lucky in some instances, but being overly paranoid will do nothing but stress you out. Making beer is fun and being freaked out the whole is not fun.

This also extends into brew session preparation. Take time and measure out ALL of your ingredients before you even turn on the burner. Put them in soup bowls and cover them with foil and label them 1, 2, 3, etc. Then get a timer and set it. When it beeps, add your hops or spices, reset the time for the next addition and sit back and drink a beer. Being prepared makes the entire experience much more fun.

I have friends that are so high strung while brewing that I do not enjoy brewing with them. That's a shame.

Casey