Sanitizing glassware

[MrClint]

Having made Chinese/Asian rice wine a number of times before I got into brewing beer, and before I ever bought StarSan, I can tell you that hot tap water and a clean paper towel is all that is needed and all that I ever used. The yeast balls for this kind of brew are as suspect as you can get, no where near as well packaged (or pure) as any thing like US-05 and such, and the jar is simply covered with cloth and a rubber band. It is as low-tech and low effort as you can get (outside of having to cook the sticky rice before hand).

I would now just do a sanitizer cycle in my dishwasher at this point.

 

[bwible]

Jeeze, what are we so concerned about here that bug-bombing glassware is actually necessary?

My favorite beer glass for the last many years has literally never been intentionally "sanitized". It's barely even been "washed".
It's never seen sanitation temperatures as it never goes in the dishwasher and I don't have the hot water heater set to "sanitize"
I basically rinse it under warm water while "scrubbing" the inside with my fingers - no soap, no sanitizer - then towel dry it and put it away.

Cheers! (That's all, folks. And I'm still here )

Very informative article. This posted, I pretty much put mugs in the dishwasher and hand wash things with logos I wouldn’t care to lose, or any tall or thin walled glasses that either don’t sit well in the dishwasher or thst i would be afraid of breaking. I’ve had Glencairn glasses destroyed in the dishwasher.

The article talks about how much effort we put into brewing the beer so we should make the most of the glassware we use to enjoy it. The industry term is “beer clean” and what that means and why it is important.

https://content.kegworks.com/blog/beer-clean-glass

 

[frithy]

Having made Chinese/Asian rice wine a number of times before I got into brewing beer, and before I ever bought StarSan, I can tell you that hot tap water and a clean paper towel is all that is needed and all that I ever used. The yeast balls for this kind of brew are as suspect as you can get, no where near as well packaged (or pure) as any thing like US-05 and such, and the jar is simply covered with cloth and a rubber band. It is as low-tech and low effort as you can get (outside of having to cook the sticky rice before hand).

I would now just do a sanitizer cycle in my dishwasher at this point.

We don't know that the OP is using whatever "yeast balls" you found in California. He could very well being using something like

or

or

or, you know, any of hundreds of professional Chinese wine starters that have very high levels of purity. Further, even if he was using some traditional yeast mother, would you talk about how "suspect" it was like you are now if it was Scandanavian Kveik or perhaps you only reserve this type of thinking for things prefixed with "Chinese".

 

[MaxStout]

Meanwhile ... OP took advice given in post #2 ... put a diluted bleach solution in the carboy , rinsed it out fermented their rice wine and drank it , and moved on

Bah! Answering a question and simply leaving it at that is not the HBT way. What fun is it if we can't run off on several tangents?

 

[frithy]

Bah! Answering a question and simply leaving it at that is not the HBT way. What fun is it if we can't run off on several tangents?

Haha, exactly!

Still though, I'm wanting to argue a bit, but it's like walking a tightrope trying to avoid being moderated. #The-struggle-is-real

 

[MrClint]

@frithy, so much the better if higher quality yeast can be found. That wasn't really my point. I'm only speaking from my own experience which would indicate that the same level of sanitization, care and vigilance used in brewing beer (air locks, StarSan, yeast sourcing, etc) isn't really all that important for making traditional rice wine. By all means do what gives you confidence, and feel free to disregard my input and experience. I will gladly remove my post if it causes a great deal of confusion, or if my clarification causes controversy.

 

[balrog]

Bah! Answering a question and simply leaving it at that is not the HBT way. What fun is it if we can't run off on several tangents?

Tis the honor of the forum at hand, gents! Tangents are truth, life, and the way of the

Carry on.

 

[day_trippr]

"This is not Argument, this is Abuse!"



Anyway...

Cheers!

 

[frithy]

@frithy, so much the better if higher quality yeast can be found. That wasn't really my point. I'm only speaking from my own experience which would indicate that the same level of sanitization, care and vigilance used in brewing beer (air locks, StarSan, yeast sourcing, etc) isn't really all that important for making traditional rice wine. By all means do what gives you confidence, and feel free to disregard my input and experience. I will gladly remove my post if it causes a great deal of confusion, or if my clarification causes controversy.

No, no, no. Actually, I think pedantic sanitizing in general is over-rated. Why was I arguing then? Simple: I'm not the type of man to stand idly by while the reputation of yeasty Chinese balls are on the line.

Wherever evil lurks, wherever the forces of darkness threaten humanity, wherever there are those questioning yeasty Chinese balls, I'll be there.

 

[MrClint]

Wherever evil lurks, wherever the forces of darkness threaten humanity, wherever there are those questioning yeasty Chinese balls, I'll be there.

You could do a great service by providing some links to resources for better rice wine yeast. I had to buy some yeast balls from Ebay - from someone in the USA -- that really were sketchy. Not a single part of that has anything to do with any of the "-isms." You shared pictures of wine yeast that I have never seen before. How do we get some of those?

 

[day_trippr]

Words to live by...

Cheers!

 

[BrewZer]

bleach is not a very good sanitizer.

Found the Star San salesman.

I have to chime in again, I thought something was wrong with mixing bleach and vinegar - yup. PLEASE DO NOT MIX BLEACH AND VINEGAR. While doing so will make it a stronger disinfectant, doing so WILL RELEASE CHLORINE GAS.

Even small amounts of chlorine gas can be dangerous. and the small increase in efficiency does not outweigh the health risks.

https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/contaminants/bleach-mixing-dangers

Wow. Well, at least he admitted he doesn't know anything about chemistry.

I'll just keep on using my dilute bleach solution to soak my bottles, fermenter, spigots and tubing, and go another 20 years without an infection...

 

[KillahBeast]

Meanwhile ... OP took advice given in post #2 ... put a diluted bleach solution in the carboy , rinsed it out fermented their rice wine and drank it , and moved on

Yes, did the same. I think it's doing great. ..