Rinsing after sanitising - Bacteria?

[Andoe]

My first brewing.
If you sanitise the brewing container and then rinse it with tap water. Can there be bacteria in the tap water rinse that can cause infection? I rinsed with tap water but didn't dry the container, I just shook out as much water as i could and then mixed the beer kit in. Are you supposed to dry the container first?


Another question is - can you open the container lid before brewing is finished? (to check on the brew or stir it) should you open and stir it after you've sealed it.

I've been reading up on the infection topics and I'm not jumping on the infection panic wagon. But I had a "Reschs Draught" beer at the pub the other day and it tasted what I would imagine an infected beer would taste like..."off". I gave the beer back to the bar to throw out as I couldn't drink it. Then I took a gravity reading of my homebrew and it smelled a bit like the Reschs Draught from the pub. It brought back the sick feeling from the Reschs Draught taste.
Is it all too hard to make a clean beer at home? With all the talk of brews really needing a starter to ferment properly? And if I have a go at making a starter for my next brew, it's just another area/chance for infection to occur.
Somewhere I read today that every home brewed beer has some degree of infection.
I just wish I hadn't have tried that Reschs draught at the pub. Everything that smells like it makes me feel sick.

 

[bosox]

Well I've made 2 beers now, and have rinsed after sanitation without problem.

I will run a fair deal of tap water in the fermenter, and in the spigot, as well as the bottles. I've even tried the plastic bottling bucket with a paper towel, and have left the little water residue on the glass one.

As for opening the fermenter, I would suggest not doing that as you want to expose it to as least air as possible. I don't think anything drastic would happen if you DO open it, but I would assume it's best to leave it be.

There really shouldn't be a need to stir the brew. If the fermentation is stuck, and something went wrong with the yeasts, I've heard of people opening the bucket and adding more yeast with water to it. Other then that, I'd say best bet is to leave it until ready to bottle, and then you can make your inspections on it.

 

[HBHoss]

You should use a no rinse sanitizer like Iodopher and that way the sanitizer can stay and do its job. I wouldn't open the fermentor any more than absolutely necessary. If it happens to have a stuck fermentation then just lightly swirl the fermentor to wake up the yeasties.
It's easy to make a clean beer at home, thousands of people do it all the time.
RDWHAHB.

 

[GRHunter]

After sanitizing my equipment I don't let anything touch it except beer. That being said, you will probably be alright but in my mind I figure why risk it. I would hate to waste $20, 6-8 hours of my time, and then have to wait 5-6 weeks to find out I have spoiled beer.

 

[bosox]

Well, using no rinse sanitizer would I guess be the ideal option.

I still feel that a quick rinse shouldn't really do any harm at all. I've done it, and I'm still alive and happy with my beer

 

[SweetSounds]

After brewing I wash and sanitize my equipment. Sometimes I'll rinse it off, but then I re-sanitize during the next brew cycle. Use a good no-rinse sanitizer and you'll have nothing to worry about, or rinse!

The only good reason to open your fermenting beer is for a gravity sample.
DO NOT stir fermenting beer. It's a bad idea, and will introduce oxygen.

 

[smitty2324]

The most common defect that Ive experienced in bars is diacetyl. It has a taste that many compare to buttered popcorn and is in fact the same thing they use tomake fake buttered microwave popcorn. Another less likely defect would be skunked beer or oxygenated beer (wet cardboard). Look these up to see if these are what you tasted, and there is a ton of info in here how to avoid them.

 

[malkore]

After brewing I wash and sanitize my equipment. Sometimes I'll rinse it off, but then I re-sanitize during the next brew cycle. Use a good no-rinse sanitizer and you'll have nothing to worry about, or rinse!

The only good reason to open your fermenting beer is for a gravity sample.
DO NOT stir fermenting beer. It's a bad idea, and will introduce oxygen.

No real reason to sanitize if you're not going to use it soon. Clean after use, and store. Sanitize before use.

Saves time and money.

 

[BlueSunshine]

I use no-rinse sanitizer yet I find myself rinsing some of it out with tap water. I know you're not suppose to fear the foam, but I'm always fearful of using chemicals in something I'm going to consume. I have yet to have an infection.

Also, where did you hear about every homebrew having a minor infection? That's the first time I've heard that.

 

[stedtale]

I never rinse. I use starsan. I love the foam.

 

[Raven2k360]

I remember I had a pint of Newcastle at a bar once; they hardly sold it, and it REALLY tasted bad, like it was skunked. I guess if they hardly sold it, then they'd have the keg longer and the beer would go bad.

 

[CiscoKid]

I'm always fearful of using chemicals in something I'm going to consume.

Ok... so let's look at the MSDS for StarSan:
Phosphoric Acid - 50%
Dodecylbenzene Sulfonic Acid - 15%
Isopropyl Alcohol - 10%
The other 25% is a secret, but does not require being listed on the MSDS.

You use 1oz per 5 gallons of water... so figure that the foam is a small percentage of that 1oz. There are 640 oz. in a gallon. If even 10% of the original 1oz of starsan you put in was left behind as foam (and I doubt it is that much), we're talking about 1.5 hundredths of a percent of total volume (0.00015) in a 5 gallon batch of beer.

As for the actual ingredients, well, I doubt any of us have a problem with alcohol, and phosphoric acid is used in soda... that sort of leaves the DDBSA as the odd man out. You're going to need to inject more than 15% of a tenth of an ounce of it to cause ill effects.

Also, where did you hear about every homebrew having a minor infection? That's the first time I've heard that.

I wouldn't be surprised if you sent out your bottles of homebrew to a lab for analysis, they'd find a number of different yeast strains and maybe even a bacteria strain living in there other than the specific yeast you pitched. (Actually, the yeast you bought might also have a number of different yeast strains by design.) Our houses are not sterile environments.

I also suspect you'd find the same thing in bottle-conditioned or unfiltered beers.

 

[BioBeing]

My first brewing.
If you sanitise the brewing container and then rinse it with tap water. Can there be bacteria in the tap water rinse that can cause infection? I rinsed with tap water but didn't dry the container, I just shook out as much water as i could and then mixed the beer kit in. Are you supposed to dry the container first?


Another question is - can you open the container lid before brewing is finished? (to check on the brew or stir it) should you open and stir it after you've sealed it.

I've been reading up on the infection topics and I'm not jumping on the infection panic wagon. But I had a "Reschs Draught" beer at the pub the other day and it tasted what I would imagine an infected beer would taste like..."off". I gave the beer back to the bar to throw out as I couldn't drink it. Then I took a gravity reading of my homebrew and it smelled a bit like the Reschs Draught from the pub. It brought back the sick feeling from the Reschs Draught taste.
Is it all too hard to make a clean beer at home? With all the talk of brews really needing a starter to ferment properly? And if I have a go at making a starter for my next brew, it's just another area/chance for infection to occur.
Somewhere I read today that every home brewed beer has some degree of infection.
I just wish I hadn't have tried that Reschs draught at the pub. Everything that smells like it makes me feel sick.

Don't worry about it just yet. The beer will change a lot between now and when it is done. And the "smell" you got might have just been a nose full of the CO2 which blankets the beer in your bucket, which can be quite harsh.

 

[remilard]

I use no-rinse sanitizer yet I find myself rinsing some of it out with tap water. I know you're not suppose to fear the foam, but I'm always fearful of using chemicals in something I'm going to consume. I have yet to have an infection.

Also, where did you hear about every homebrew having a minor infection? That's the first time I've heard that.

http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue7.1/bonham.html

These are some of the lab results from the great pale alexpreiment carried out by the HBD members like 500 years ago.

Take away points:

75% of the beers showed contamination and that was without using the industry standard method of concentrating bacteria on a .25 micron filter before plating.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I remember I had a pint of Newcastle at a bar once; they hardly sold it, and it REALLY tasted bad, like it was skunked. I guess if they hardly sold it, then they'd have the keg longer and the beer would go bad.

A beer in a keg will not be skunked, but it is likely that their lines are dirty and infected. So gross.

 

[Andoe]

Another question - what chemical should I use to clean all the crud in the fermenter after I bottle my beer. Something that you can put your hand in with a soft spounge and srub? Can I use sodium metabisulphate for this (cos I already bought some - before I heard about "Star san").
( But I read that starsan is just a final rinse chemical for the fermenter - and that you should use something else first to actuall clean it.)


haha (the metabisulphate instructions say - ".....and leave equipment to dry for 1 hour and then rinse with water" - stuff that, I'm not gonna wait an hour for it to dry just to rinse it - what's the point of that - it also suggests a mix of 50grams to 4 litres - is that too much?)

also should I use starsan or saniclean are they exactly the same but without the foam in saniclean?

 

[Dr_Gordon_Freeman]

My first brewing.
If you sanitise the brewing container and then rinse it with tap water. Can there be bacteria in the tap water rinse that can cause infection? I rinsed with tap water but didn't dry the container, I just shook out as much water as i could and then mixed the beer kit in. Are you supposed to dry the container first?


Another question is - can you open the container lid before brewing is finished? (to check on the brew or stir it) should you open and stir it after you've sealed it.

I've been reading up on the infection topics and I'm not jumping on the infection panic wagon. But I had a "Reschs Draught" beer at the pub the other day and it tasted what I would imagine an infected beer would taste like..."off". I gave the beer back to the bar to throw out as I couldn't drink it. Then I took a gravity reading of my homebrew and it smelled a bit like the Reschs Draught from the pub. It brought back the sick feeling from the Reschs Draught taste.
Is it all too hard to make a clean beer at home? With all the talk of brews really needing a starter to ferment properly? And if I have a go at making a starter for my next brew, it's just another area/chance for infection to occur.
Somewhere I read today that every home brewed beer has some degree of infection.
I just wish I hadn't have tried that Reschs draught at the pub. Everything that smells like it makes me feel sick.

Just keep in mind that there is no way to sterilize brewing equipment. The best you can do is sanitize, with the goal being that there are far more yeast cells exposed to the wort than there are bacteria. In this way the yeast will take nearly complete control of the fermentation.

I would never rinse with tapwater unless I had to... there is plenty of bacteria in it. No-rinse sanitizer is the way to go for sure.

You can open your fermenter to look in, but there is no reason I can think of that you would ever want to stir the wort. If you want to agitate, just swirl it around with the lid on.

 

[CiscoKid]

Another question - what chemical should I use to clean all the crud in the fermenter after I bottle my beer. Something that you can put your hand in with a soft spounge and srub?

Rinse out the crud. Then use PBW - 1 tablespoon per gallon of water and let sit overnight. Empty and rinse out the next day - you likely won't ever need to scrub.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...d=514&osCsid=81698a008f51c635fd257ae4d0645852