Cleanser vs. Sanitizer

[cabaiguan juan]

I'm getting ready to do a batch of Brown Ale. This is my 3rd batch and the 1st in about a year. I had some questions that I was hoping some of those more experienced folks could help me out with.

-Cleanser vs Sanitizer: As i was familiarizing myself with the instructions, it mentioned that i need to clean and sanitize the equipment. I was at the brew store the other day and bought a jar of cleaner. Is that the same as sanitizer? Also, does the fact that the water was boiled prior to adding the ingredients, mean that the water and pot are now sanitized?

-When the instructions say let the beer ferment for 4-6 days. It also says make sure that the F.G. is at the required level. Should I be testing the F.G. on days 4, and 5 and 6 until its where i want it? Or can i just wait till day 6, check the F.G. and if its good, then bottle?

I'm not a cook, and my inexperience in the kitchen is making me want to check how "exact" and "precise" some of these instructions are.

Thanks.

 

[tomthirtysix]

Cleaning is getting rid of stains and gunk on the equipment. Sanitizing gets rid of bacteria. You'll still need to sanitize.


And you'll want to check FG more than just the once, to make sure fermentation has stopped. Once you get repeat readings that are the same, then it's done. If you just take the one reading, and it's not finished, you run the risk of bottle bombs.

 

[smellysell]

Cleaning is getting rid of stains and gunk on the equipment. Sanitizing gets rid of bacteria. You'll still need to sanitize.


And you'll want to check FG more than just the once, to make sure fermentation has stopped. Once you get repeat readings that are the same, then it's done. If you just take the one reading, and it's not finished, you run the risk of bottle bombs.

Yep, I usually wait until day 14 or so before I even check though.

 

[Astrobeerman]

Although cleaner and sanatizer can be a gsrey area sometimes, certain cleansers can be sanatizers. What cleanser are you using, and I can tell you if its a sanatizer. As far as pot and water, the heat kills everything.
I leave my brews 14 days minimum, but really depends on few things (temp, amount of yeast pitch....etc)....
Goodluck

 

[smellysell]

Although cleaner and sanatizer can be a gsrey area sometimes, certain cleansers can be sanatizers. What cleanser are you using, and I can tell you if its a sanatizer. As far as pot and water, the heat kills everything.
I leave my brews 14 days minimum, but really depends on few things (temp, amount of yeast pitch....etc)....
Goodluck

What cleaner is a sanitizer?

 

[Astrobeerman]

One-step is labeled as a cleanser....but its a good sanatizer.....I use it A LOT......its basically a labeling ordeal......hence I asked what is he using, and I wld say if it can be used as a sanitizer....or is both.......its a weird grey area

 

[DePasta]

One step is a light cleanser....the surface should already be free of organic soils. If it is not the effectiveness of the Hydrogen peroxide solution created by one step is diminished. Get yourself some Star-San. Much easier and no rinse is required, the little yeasty critters love to eat it....

 

[Shooter]

Star- San is great... Don't worry about the foam..

 

[cabaiguan juan]

i'm using LD Carlson's Easy Clean.

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to ask for this stuff at the brew store.

 

[smellysell]

One step is a light cleanser....the surface should already be free of organic soils. If it is not the effectiveness of the Hydrogen peroxide solution created by one step is diminished. Get yourself some Star-San. Much easier and no rinse is required, the little yeasty critters love to eat it....

There is a lot of debate as to whether One-Step is or isn't a sanitizer. The one problem with it that I buy into is that precarbonates lose their characteristics of a germicide if there is any organic material in contact, and then do nothing to bacteria. The argument is a lot of he said she said mixed in with hypotheticals. If it works for you, I say keep using it. I'm partial to Star-San personally, but I know a lot of people that like Iodopher too, but I can't use that because I'm on septic (not sure about septic and One-Step?). One Step is also more expensive and needs a longer contact time. Probably my favorite feature with starsan is that I mix it with diluted water and it lasts indefinitely.

 

[tomthirtysix]

Probably my favorite feature with starsan is that I mix it with diluted water and it lasts indefinitely.

Justin - how much do you dilute your water? :laugh:

 

[DePasta]

Add 2 cups of water for every 1 cup....of water.

 

[Gonz]

Star- San is great... Don't worry about the foam..

Really? The last several batches I've made I've used the star-san and wasted probably 15 minutes trying to get out all the damn foam from my fermenter. That would be nice to avoid that.

 

[tsmckenney]

Star- San is great... Don't worry about the foam..

Really? The last several batches I've made I've used the star-san and wasted probably 15 minutes trying to get out all the damn foam from my fermenter. That would be nice to avoid that.

I've used bleach for all of my brews. No problems. I don't even clean the bottles any more. I rinse them well after they're emptied, then store them in the garage. The night before I bottling, I let the them soak in a tub of bleach (1/4 cup to the gallon). Following day they dry off in the dishwasher and away we go. Saves a lot of time as well.

 

[Shooter]

Uhhhh don't fear the foam... Rack and bottle right onto it.. You should have a huge star-san snake coming out of your fermenter as you rack.

Www.homebrewtalk.com

Read up

 

[smellysell]

Uhhhh don't fear the foam... Rack and bottle right onto it.. You should have a huge star-san snake coming out of your fermenter as you rack.

Www.homebrewtalk.com

Read up

The man speaks the truth.


Diluted water... :facepalm:

 

[LilBastage]

Star- San is great... Don't worry about the foam..

Really? The last several batches I've made I've used the star-san and wasted probably 15 minutes trying to get out all the damn foam from my fermenter. That would be nice to avoid that.

I've used bleach for all of my brews. No problems. I don't even clean the bottles any more. I rinse them well after they're emptied, then store them in the garage. The night before I bottling, I let the them soak in a tub of bleach (1/4 cup to the gallon). Following day they dry off in the dishwasher and away we go. Saves a lot of time as well.

Make sure you get every speck of bleach out of the bottles, Mick. You don't want to know what chlorine tainted beer tastes like.

You could use Star San just before bottling and not even have to worry about drying the bottles. Yeah, it's a bit more costly, but there is zero risk of off flavors from Star San residue.

Once Star San's ph reaches a certain level, it's basically yeast food.

 

[souldog]

Screw all of this hard work. I usually just have my local Neophyte priest stand over my bottles and equipment and utter a word of blessing to produce a fruitful batch and harvest.

Works every time. To the OP, you may be able to do the same of you hit up your local seminary. Or just send a totem to Astrobeerman and he can bless it.

 

[Gonz]

Screw all of this hard work. I usually just have my local Neophyte priest stand over my bottles and equipment and utter a word of blessing to produce a fruitful batch and harvest.

Works every time. To the OP, you may be able to do the same of you hit up your local seminary. Or just send a totem to Astrobeerman and he can bless it.

Does star-san work on car hair?

 

[Shooter]

Dunno never had a problem with car hair...

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