potassium metabisulphite

[jake]

ive always bollied my bottles however, I recintly got a bottle washer, the kind where you fill a reservoir and it sprays into the bottle. my local homebrew shop recommended a mixture of potassium metabisulphite 2oz to a gallon as a no rince sanatizer to use with it. looking at the lable it looks to be primarly to kill yeast making me think rinsing the bottle after might not be a bad idea although it does defeat the purpose of sanitizing a bit in my mind. does anyone have any experince with using this solotion as a sanatizer that might be able to shed a little more light on it for me. also he said i could reuse the solution for up to 4 weeks but thats got me a bit worried too.
any recomandions or advice would be much appreciated
-jake

 

[Beer Snob]

ive always bollied my bottles however, I recintly got a bottle washer, the kind where you fill a reservoir and it sprays into the bottle. my local homebrew shop recommended a mixture of potassium metabisulphite 2oz to a gallon as a no rince sanatizer to use with it. looking at the lable it looks to be primarly to kill yeast making me think rinsing the bottle after might not be a bad idea although it does defeat the purpose of sanitizing a bit in my mind. does anyone have any experince with using this solotion as a sanatizer that might be able to shed a little more light on it for me. also he said i could reuse the solution for up to 4 weeks but thats got me a bit worried too.
any recomandions or advice would be much appreciated
-jake

They use that in wine a lot. Campden tablets is another name for it. Some people are sensitive to it. Can't say I've seen a lot of references to it used in beer brewing though....

 

[budbo]

I use star-san in mine

 

[jake]

I came across a reference to it in Charlie papazians book the Joy of Home Brewing, the jist is its no where strong enough to be used as a sanitizer and when it comes to brewing beer it should be avoided all together, its basic use is in wine and meed as a bacterial inhibitor. I think my local homebrew shop owner hates me he also told me it would be fine to just give everything a rinse in c-brite when cleaning my carboys and what not. I take it i should probably be looking the way of bleach or star-san in that area too.
thanks
-jake

 

[Beer Snob]

I came across a reference to it in Charlie papazians book the Joy of Home Brewing, the jist is its no where strong enough to be used as a sanitizer and when it comes to brewing beer it should be avoided all together, its basic use is in wine and meed as a bacterial inhibitor. I think my local homebrew shop owner hates me he also told me it would be fine to just give everything a rinse in c-brite when cleaning my carboys and what not. I take it i should probably be looking the way of bleach or star-san in that area too.
thanks
-jake

I've used C-Brite before. Everybody seems to have "thier" thing they toot on using. I use One-Step to sanitize everything with. Once you find something that you feel comfortable with in using, it will be your sanitizer for everything One thing is for sure though... all of these products have been in the market for a while. If they did not work, they obviously would not be on the shelves right?

 

[El Pistolero]

I think my local homebrew shop owner hates me he also told me it would be fine to just give everything a rinse in c-brite when cleaning my carboys and what not. I take it i should probably be looking the way of bleach or star-san in that area too.

Your LHBS is probably trying to help you out, believe it or not. If you follow the threads in this forum closely for a while, it becomes apparent that at bottling time sanitation is not really critical, as long as everything is very, very, clean. I know many will say that is heresy, but if you read back a ways you'll see that many people use techniques that really can't be classified as sanitation...yet report that they've never had a problem. The only conclusion you can logically draw from this is that sanitizing your bottles really isn't an issue, as long as those bottles have been cleaned very well before they're used. Your LHBS guy is trying to clue you in that even a quick spritz with a weak sanitizing solution is probably going to be good enough...assuming again that you're cleaning technique is impeccable.

That said, I submerge all of my bottles in an iodopher solution for two minutes, then let them drain on the bottling tree until they're used...but I'm extremely anal.

 

[rewerb]

I was also given a one step sanitizer from the homebrew shop... thinking it a good all around cleanser/rinse, I managed to cloud my plastic tubing, leave white residue in my glass carboy, and (stupid as I was to rinse my brew pot with it) oxidize my aluminum. But, now I know how not to do it!

 

[Beer Snob]

That said, I submerge all of my bottles in an iodopher solution for two minutes, then let them drain on the bottling tree until they're used...but I'm extremely anal.

I do the same thing, but use One-Step. I often wonder if I should be using the kitchen sink for this or not. I firs thought that bacteria could be in it, but I'm using a sanitizer...so.... what are your thoughts on using your sink?

 

[kornkob]

If your sink is clean and then you put sanitizer in it then it is sanitary.

 

[magno]

I use iodophor in the sink, and in the bottling bucket, makes sanitizing all those bottles go a lot faster. Also temporarily discolors the sink.

When I first started brewing, I used bleach to sanitize (I know, I know) when that became to much of a pain I went to a HBS in houston where they sold me some onestep. I used that until I got a nasty infection. I went to the HBS in dallas, and they told me that onestep should not be used as a sanitizer, only a cleaner. Since then I have kept some onestep around, mostly for soaking racking canes and hoses in to remove water spots, and have been using iodophor religiously.

About those bottle washers, will the one cup or so of sanitizer be enough to clean five gallons worth of bottles, especially since the sanitizer is being reused so much?

- magno

 

[Beer Snob]

Cup? Usually the measurement is in Tbs... or tsp.

 

[magno]

Cup? Usually the measurement is in Tbs... or tsp.

Oops. What I meant was: will one cup of sanitizer/ water mixture be enough to clean five gallons worth of bottles since the iodophor mixture is being reused.

- magno

 

[alemonkey]

I'm a big fan of Star-San. Switching to it was one of the best things I've done as far as convenience is concerned.