Sanitizer Mixup! Is my beer done for?

[panzer]

Hiya,

New brewer here! I got a small container of no-rinse "bleaching" cleanser with my starter kit, and mistakenly assumed it also worked as a sanitizer. The home-brew shop I bought it from said the kit contained everything I needed to brew...

Here's the scoop... I started 3 batches of beer so far.

Each one has had it's own brand new primary fermenter (I haven't re-used any so far). I've made up 1-2 gallons of cleanser each time I've brewed, and I've soaked all the equipment I used in that for 1-2 hours each time. This includes the airlocks, tubing, spoons, everything. I then rinsed each item really well, usually 2-3 passes under clean water. I also kept a spray bottle filled with the cleanser around, and I hosed down any random items that I would use during the brewing process, let them sit for awhile, then rinse before using. I would estimate I spent about 1-2 hours per batch doing nothing but cleaning and (what I thought) was sanitizing.

Each of my batches of beer has been looking great, each fermented on schedule and seems to be doing everything it should be. They look & smell like beer!

My question is, is it possible that my beer is going to be ruined from contamination? I'm really upset that I've spent so much time and work brewing these batches only to find out I've been making a really stupid mistake from the start.

 

[chefmike]

if it looks like beer and smells like beer... it is likely beer!

If it was a no rinse bleaching cleanser, why were you rinsing it?

Who did you get it from, and what is it?

But relax RELAX! It is probably fine. You rinsed it all... it is fine! It is clean... and now it is fermented, so you know it is beer.

I think you are fine.

Star San is what I use now... it is a no rinse sanitizer. Spray it on and leave it on. Hence no rinse. Big foamy bubbles of star san? no worries. That is why a lot of us use it.

But relax! Welcome to HBT! stick around and you will laugh at this post eventually!

 

[Revvy]

Don't worry about it, this is a hobby not anything to freak out about. Our beer is much more resylant than most new brewers believe. It was brewed for thousands of years before anyone even heard of sanitization or germ theory, and long before we had roofs, running water, and SOAP.

That doesn't mean that you want to skip sanitization, it just means that if you f- something up, more than likely your beer will turn out just fine.

Just read through some of these stories and you'll see....https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

Just get yourself some real sanitizer, like starsan or iodophor for the future, and chill out.

 

[pweizman]

Sounds like you got some "one-step" type stuff.

I think you did everything exactly correctly.

What am I missing?

Patrick

 

[jds]

When I started brewing in the early '90's, the only sanitizer I knew anything about was bleach -- and I used a LOT of it, like 1/4 cup per gallon of water, which is way more than necessary.

I rinsed the hell out of everything I sanitized in it (theoretically 'de-sanitizing' everything), and didn't suffer any infected batches from it.

I'd guess that your beer will turn out fine, but for the future, I recommend the usual one-two punch of oxyclean free (or any other percarbonate-based cleaner), followed by a good no-rinse sanitizer like star-san or iodophor (I use iodophor).

Remember, cleaners don't sanitize, and sanitizers don't clean. You really should use both separately.

In other words, what Revvy said. yeah.

 

[panzer]

Thanks for the fast replies, everyone!

This is the product I used: http://new.midwestsupplies.com/easy-clean-jar-w-screw-off-lid.html

I rinsed it because even though it says "no-rinse", I'm kind of a spaz about getting chemicals in things that I eat or drink. I realize that might be counterproductive following sanitizing, but I try really hard to maintain a clean working environment when I brew, so I figured things would be OK.

I guess I didn't realize there were "one-step" products! Whew...

For the record, I've got:

Irish Red Ale = in the secondary

Light lager = in primary in the basement @ 62F

Belgian Witbier (with Wyeast 3522) = in primary in my apartment

 

[Dave258]

Don't worry about it. I am new to brewing also, it has been about four months, and 12 batches.
On one of the early brews, I forgot to even sanitize the fermenter. Don't ask how...
The beer turned out great!
Good luck and have fun brewing!

 

[lowlife]

In my opinion if you are spending more than 10 minutes sanitizing you arent doing it right. Just my opinion. Relax though you will probably be just fine.

 

[pweizman]

I use the same "no-rinse" product...and I rinse too.

I also use tap water added to my wort to bring my level up to 5 gallons in the fermenter.

Unless you have really bad stuff in your water...this isn't an issue RIGHT?

Patrick

 

[MeatyPortion]

I used one-step for all my brews and didn't have a problem. You should be alright.

 

[MeatyPortion]

I used one-step for all my brews and didn't have a problem. You should be alright.

I used it for all FOUR of the brews I've made so far so don't take this as gospel.

 

[Revvy]

I use the same "no-rinse" product...and I rinse too.

I also use tap water added to my wort to bring my level up to 5 gallons in the fermenter.

Unless you have really bad stuff in your water...this isn't an issue RIGHT?

Patrick

They don't call them no rinse for nothing. If it says no rinse, and you rinse you run the risk of nulling the sanitizer...if you rinse the sanitizer away any micro organism that comes in contact with the sanitized object, rather than being killed by it, makes the object no longer sanitzed.

And that includes the micro-organism ladened water you rinse with.

No rinse/wet contact sanitizer are double edged swords. Literally. They kill two ways. The kill everything on the object prior to sanitizing, and then as long as they are still wet they form a sanitizer barrier that kills everything that comes into contact with object.

So even if you were to rinse with boiled water, so still are reduce the germ busting efficacy of the sanitizer by 50%.

So basically it's a coinflip then as to if it's sanitized or not. Not odds I particularly like, imho.

There's a lot of info on sanitizers, the pseudo santizers like onestep, tips and tricks, and links to podcasts about using starsan and iodophor in this thread;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/multiple-questions-about-secondary-fermentation-140978/#post1601829

 

[pweizman]

They don't call them no rinse for nothing. If it says no rinse, and you rinse you run the risk of nulling the sanitizer...if you rinse the sanitizer away any micro organism that comes in contact with the sanitized object, rather than being killed by it, makes the object no longer sanitzed.

And that includes the micro-organism ladened water you rinse with.

No rinse/wet contact sanitizer are double edged swords. Literally. They kill two ways. The kill everything on the object prior to sanitizing, and then as long as they are still wet they form a sanitizer barrier that kills everything that comes into contact with object.

So even if you were to rinse with boiled water, so still are reduce the germ busting efficacy of the sanitizer by 50%.

So basically it's a coinflip then as to if it's sanitized or not. Not odds I particularly like, imho.

There's a lot of info on sanitizers, the pseudo santizers like onestep, tips and tricks, and links to podcasts about using starsan and iodophor in this thread;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/multiple-questions-about-secondary-fermentation-140978/#post1601829

Interesting. I have learned something.

I won't be rinsing now.

I use one step for my equipment and rinse. Won't do that now..

And, I use Star-San for my bottles, and rinse...and I won't do that now either.

Patrick