What product to sanitize the fermenting bucket/bottles

[Brice2]

Hello everyone, I am currently buying for the first time product to make my own beer (I had a kit before).
The thing is, I cannot find what product to buy to clean all the tools and stuff, can you guide me on this ? I am ordering from https://www.brouwland.com/en (living in Europe). If you also happen to know any better websites, I would be interested as well (brouwland does not have "citra" hops for example).

Another small question, does the yeast I choose matters a lot ?
Thank you !

 

[AZBeer]

I use 2 products for cleaning.
-PBW for cleaning tools, buckets, fermentors, etc after use.
-Starsan for sanatizing tools, buckets, fermentors, etc before use (and after a thorough cleaning).

Yeast plays a huge part in what you are brewing.

 

[cubalz]

PBW to clean all brewing equipment. You only need to use Starsan to sanitize equipment used post boil. Heat takes care of any nasties pre boil. Yeast is crucial for most, if not all, beer recipes. You need the right one for the style you are brewing, I really cannot overemphasize this enough.

 

[flars]

Browland has Star Sam available. They do not call it a sanitizer though as it is labeled here in the States. The description also says it needs to be rinsed after use. Here Star San solution mixed at 1 oz Star San per 5 US gallons of water is a no rinse sanitizer. Sanitizes with a wet contact time of 1 to 2 minutes. PBW is one of the best cleaners I've used.

Difference in labeling may have something to do with the cost of government certifications.

 

[shoengine]

I would read this:
http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/brewing-preperations/sanitation/cleaning-your-equipment

 

[Brice2]

Thanks ! But do I need two products ? when i made my first batch, I just had a product that put on the post-boiling things and had to let it dry for some minutes without rincing it.

About the yeast, the recipe I found (to make dead Pony IPA from brewdog ) does not specify the yeast.. I found another beer recipe for a citrusy beer, that uses : " CA Ale yeast ", but I can not find it on the website. Do you know any common yeast for light/citrus beers ? Thank you

 

[cubalz]

If the recipe does not specify and it is an IPA, my recommendation would be to use either WLP001 White Labs California Ale Yeast (liquid) or Safale US05 (dry) both are neutral.

 

[RM-MN]

Lets think this through. If you use a common soap used for washing dishes it should take care of bacteria. However, as soon as you rinse it off and dry it the bacteria in the air will begin to settle on it. I think we tend to be overly cautious here and use a sanitizer just before adding our wort but probably don't really need to. There won't be much bacteria in the air to settle out into your fermenter and you will be adding billions of yeast cells that should quickly overpower any bacteria. The wort itself will be somewhat acidic which ******* bacterial growth, then the activity of the yeast makes it more acidic and adds alcohol and CO2. Those also hamper the bacteria to the point that there are very few bacteria that can survive in it and those are not hazardous to your health but will change the flavor and possibly ruin the beer. (acetobacter make vinegar)

If you cannot find a sanitizer I would brew anyway but I'd make sure to wash and rinse the fermenter within minutes of adding the wort and pitching the yeast.

 

[Renegade Brewer]

Simple answer: yes, you need a cleaner and a sanitizer. Anything that claims it cleans and sanitizes in a single step I avoid like the plague and won’t stock in the shop. We only carry five star products because they work.

You must must clean something before you can sanitize it. A no rinse sanitizer is imperative to brewing.

Listen to The Brewing Network episodes which deal with sanitation and also the one with Charlie from Five Star Chemicals. Also read “How To Brew” by John Palmer; he goes into this extensively. Jamil also preaches this to every newbie. Lastly the UC Davis Brewer’s Guild will stress the importance of cleaning vs sainting. This was a two day course when I went through.

As a microbiologist I can tell you the microbes living in your tap water are quite capable of infecting your beer. The bugs that reside in your hot water heater are even nastier.

 

[MaxStout]

Another thing to consider is to invert bottles right after treating with a no-rinse sanitizer, and just before you bottle your beer. Rinse with Starsan, put them on a bottle tree. This will allow the excess Starsan to drain out, but microbes can't get in (they can't fly upward, as they have to ride on dust particles or water droplets). Ever seen petri dishes in a lab? They have loose-fitting covers to allow air to get in, but outside microbes cannot.

 

[Brice2]

Thank you very much for all the answers ! I will look into that