Pardon my ingorance....I have some "new guy" kit sanitation thoughts/questions....

[SiegIPA]

I guess Oxy Clean is as easy to get as anything else. That said, I was thinking....what if I scrubbed everything out "clean" and then sanitized by swishing around and/or wiping all the potentially contaminated items with Vodka or Everclear several times (in order to increase exposure time). Alcohol is a pretty effective sanitizer and it is not a chemical that we are avoiding ingesting. It is expensive I suppose but I am not advocating total immersion in vodka...just liberally and thoroughly wiping everything down with it.

Any thoughts on this from experienced brewers out there?

 

[Gameface]

I believe that would work just fine. I don't do it because I wouldn't want to waste perfectly good alcohol. It might also be a fire hazard depending on how/when you use it.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

just clean how ever you want, I've even just used plain water with a spray hose and a light scrub with a sponge but I would sanitize with star-sans, its cheap if used right and lasts a long time

 

[Jupapabear]

Use something like Star-San for your sanitizer after you clean your gear. It is a no rinse sanitizer, so don't be afraid of the foam! Good Luck.

 

[alane1]

You could use alcohol just like star san and mist your gear with a sprayer and let air dry. Since alcohol evaporates quickly I wouldn't see the need to wipe down afterward.

 

[max384]

I guess Oxy Clean is as easy to get as anything else. That said, I was thinking....what if I scrubbed everything out "clean" and then sanitized by swishing around and/or wiping all the potentially contaminated items with Vodka or Everclear several times (in order to increase exposure time). Alcohol is a pretty effective sanitizer and it is not a chemical that we are avoiding ingesting. It is expensive I suppose but I am not advocating total immersion in vodka...just liberally and thoroughly wiping everything down with it.

Any thoughts on this from experienced brewers out there?

I guess my only thought would by "why?" There are much cheaper sanitizers available that are proven to work well and would be easier to work with. This seems like a case of trying to fix something that isn't broken.

 

[unionrdr]

I bought an 8oz bottle of Starsan when I started brewing & still have about 3/4" left in the bottle. Cheap over time & works well.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

just bought one of these, should last for years, makes 160 gallons

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064O7YFA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[unionrdr]

That 32 ouncer would probably last me 10 years!

 

[dnslater]

Starsan is SO much cheaper than vodka.

 

[Peruvian802]

Star San is cheap insurance against infection. Easy to use and it even acts as a yeast nutrient.

 

[krackin]

If you use vodka heavily for any purpose, it is also wise to have iodine on hand. And aspirin.

 

[SiegIPA]

Well... after all the considerations....there was a tub of sanitizer buried deep in the items in the kit. that said, when I initially put the airlock in, I accidentally popped the rubber grommet through the lid and into the fermentation bucket. So, I did use a bit of vodka to wipe my arm off with from fingertips to above my elbow and reached in an got the grommet.

My IPA is now fermenting.

 

[Peruvian802]

Star San also lubricates the air lock so you won't have that problem again. Wink!

 

[unionrdr]

But as it dries, it also acts like a sealant. We used to use similar chemicals at the engine plants for installing the vacuum lines on the engines. They'd seal up in hot test.

 

[MattyIce]

I used rubbing alcohol to sanitize my racking cane last month. It caused it to crack & split.

 

[max384]

Lol! I love your username!

 

[m00ps]

I bought an 8oz bottle of Starsan when I started brewing & still have about 3/4" left in the bottle. Cheap over time & works well.

Dude, you must have an extra efficient way of using that stuff. I go through an 8oz every other week...

 

[hunter_le five]

Dude, you must have an extra efficient way of using that stuff. I go through an 8oz every other week...

How?

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, really. That's a lot of Starsan to go through in two weeks....

 

[mdbrewer1]

Dude, you must have an extra efficient way of using that stuff. I go through an 8oz every other week...

Holy Moses. That would be 40 gallons of sanitizer. How often are you brewing?

Each brew I usually end up using about 7 gallons. 3 gallons on brew day (soak fermenter, drop in airlock, lid, and thief). Keep a little of this to soak the thief for hydrometer samples. Bottling day is usually 4 gallons. Soak bottling bucket, siphon, hoses, wand, etc. Dump into extra bucket to sanitize bottles. Granted, I'm a little tight, but that's about as close as I can cut it.

 

[max384]

The large 32 oz bottle of Star-San will last me about 25-30 brews, which is over a year for me.

 

[unionrdr]

I make it a gallon at a time. 3/4's of the way up to the 1/4oz mark on the bottle & dump it in a gallon jug of water. I top off my spray bottle at that point too. I pour it down the sides of the fermenter about to be filled & run it out the cleaned & sanitized spigot to sanitize that inside one more time. I use a small funnel to run it through racking tubes, etc. Then push the tube down into the jug to sanitize the outside if needed. I don't need or use large amounts of the stuff.

 

[m00ps]

Holy Moses. That would be 40 gallons of sanitizer. How often are you brewing?

Each brew I usually end up using about 7 gallons. 3 gallons on brew day (soak fermenter, drop in airlock, lid, and thief). Keep a little of this to soak the thief for hydrometer samples. Bottling day is usually 4 gallons. Soak bottling bucket, siphon, hoses, wand, etc. Dump into extra bucket to sanitize bottles. Granted, I'm a little tight, but that's about as close as I can cut it.

Maybe 8oz lasts me 3-4 weeks....I sometimes have more than one open bottle lying around because I misplace them all the time.

But I consistently brew and bottle 2 batches per week. I use fresh starsan each time because I'm paranoid about infections. I'm doing BIAB in my dirty ass kitchen after all. My downstairs neighbors probably think I'm nuts from how often I vacuum up dust and messes in there...

 

[dnslater]

I consistently brew and bottle 2 batches per week. ...

 

[mdbrewer1]

Maybe 8oz lasts me 3-4 weeks....I sometimes have more than one open bottle lying around because I misplace them all the time.

But I consistently brew and bottle 2 batches per week. I use fresh starsan each time because I'm paranoid about infections. I'm doing BIAB in my dirty ass kitchen after all. My downstairs neighbors probably think I'm nuts from how often I vacuum up dust and messes in there...

I guess if you're doing 4 batches every 2 weeks, that makes the number a lot more reasonable. I imagine you might be able to get by with a little less, but it sounds like the extra couple bucks are worth it to you if you're really concerned with infections.

 

[IslandLizard]

The large 32 oz bottle of Star-San will last me about 25-30 brews, which is over a year for me.

You dump the Starsan after each brew? What a waste!

Mine stays in use for months or until too scummy for my taste. That 32 oz bottle can last 5 years.

 

[max384]

You dump the Starsan after each brew? What a waste!

Mine stays in use for months or until too scummy for my taste. That 32 oz bottle can last 5 years.

I'm much more concerned with sanitation than making my sanitizer last for five years. I'm fortunate enough in life that I will not notice an extra $20 a year (not that I'm rich by any stretch of the imagination). I feel better working with fresh sanitizer solution mixed with warm water for each brew than having to reuse the same cold and grimy solution I used the last few brews.

 

[m00ps]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. It costs like, what? $0.50 maybe for a few gallons of starsan, and compared to how much time and effort for a ruined batch of beer?

I mean I've heard of people re-using it a bunch of times, but mine always looks cloudy the next morning and I thought I remembered hearing when you can't see anything thats dipped in it, its time to dump it

 

[unionrdr]

Nope. Wrong. Cloudiness has no baring on acidity. A ph of 3.0 or lower & it's fine.